The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-09-30
THE ASHES Of COLUMBUS
Removed From Their
Tomb in Havana.
TO BE TAKEN To SPAIN
The Urn I'm Which they Have Lain for
Over a Century Opened that the Re-
mains May be Taken to Spain-The
Proposed Monument and Mausolcum
Never Erected-Free Entry of Food
for the Starving Allowed at Havana
The ClfntOn's Fine

Havana September 26.-At 9 O'Clock
this morning exhumation of the re-
mains of Columbus took place in the
presence of General Blanco, Secretary
Gown, the civil governor, the bishop,
the dean of the cathedral n other
authorities. The general public Were
ordered out of the cathedral and no
one was allowed inside after that hour.
The entrance to the cathedral was
guarded by police which kept back
the crowds which assembled in front
of the edifice.
The remains of Columbus a laid
in their resting place since January
10, 1896, when they were brought from
SantO Domingo, that island having
been ceded to France by Spain.
Since the date mentioned the re-
mains have lain in an open niche in
the wall of the presbvterv of the ca
thedral, a yard and a half above the
ground between a pillar supporting the
main arch and the choir. In 1892 there
was placed in front Of the niche a slab,
of doubtful artistic taste, representing
in relief the bust of the great admiral
n bearing his inscription in Span
ish:
may lie ld1 anu ll1ldSS VI the
great Columbus lie a thOuand centu-
ries preserved in this urn n in the
remembrance of our nation"
After the 400th anniversary of the
discovery of the New World by Column
bus the Spanish cortes included in the
Cuban budget large sums for the pur
pose of erecting a fitting monument
symbOliZing the travels of the dis
cOverer, to be placed in the most con-
cniaI1n1JC p1oon in Ho ~ on1 the
construction of q mausoleum to hold
his ashes. This mausoleum, the work
Of the Spanish sculptor, Melida, was
rough to Havana and placed upon a
base erected in the centre aisle of the
cathedral, close to the main door.
The monument, the work of which
was entrusted to the sculptor, SusiIlo,
has not come and probably never will
come to Havana. 1t was to have been
paid for by the appropriation included
in the budget of the island, but cir
cumstances have overturned the plans
made on the occasion Of the celebra-
ton of The 4O0th anniversary of the
discovery of America, n it is proba-
BILE that both the and the
mausOleum was placed in a fitting
place in Spain, where they will be
looked upon as one of the treasures OF
the Spanish nation.
Il
sion has been officially notified that
Manzanillo will be evacuated by Oc-
tober 7th.
General BlancO has authorized the
free entry of the COmal and other YES
sells bringing supplies for the relief OF
the sufferers in Cuba.
The captain general has decided to
remit a fine Of 500 imposed upon the
Clinton because she did not have a
manifest and has ordered the money
to be refunded. The payment was
made under protest and by direction
of President Mckinley.
The "junta p~atriotica" of Matanzas
held a meeting there last night, at
which it vas decided to address a let
ter to President Mckinley, setting
forth that IAN immense majority of
the people of this island adhere strict
ly to the government constituted by
the revolution, as being the only ideal
of the Cuban people" Committees
have been appointed for the pun pose
Of securing signatures to this docu-
ment in every city and village in Cuba.