Phoenix weekly herald., 1898-10-20
NOT COLUMBUS REMAINS.

| 'emainS which Spain is removing frol
Havana are not those of ChriStophe
| Columbus AS one of the few citizen
IF this country who have seen and hat
u his hands the veritable and gen
zine relies of the great discoverer.
nave several times called the atten
ion of the public to an incident il
| MODERN history. which entirely dis
| 'rOves the Havana claim.
| After the treaty of Basle. in 1875
rhen Spain ceded to France her par
| f the Isalnd of St. Domingo, she re
arved the privilege of removing tht
zones of the illustrious Admiral from
he cathedral there, where they ha(
1een since 1886 or 1911. to Spainisl
oil. But when the bones were
brought from Seville and placed il
he CO al.edral a ST Domingo. no mof1u
nent nor Inscription was made tC
mark the exact place where they were
deposited N0reau st. Merry. writing
n 1TS3. twelve years before the time
If the supposed removal TO Havana
avs that ''their location had become q
natter of absolute doubt and uncer-
tainty" But when the transfer was
bout to take place. II search was made
" excavating in the chancel of the
oathedral. about Nhere the relic was
supposed TO he. The record states.
hat they came upon "the remains of
ONE deceased person" But there was
10 fnscrintfon nor anything by which
they could be identified. The records
If the cathedral were claimed to have
heen destroyed when the soldiers of
Drake piHaged the city. over two cen
uIies ago. so 1t was thought there was
10 WAY of arriving at any absolute
certainty.
The remains of this deceased per-
SON. were however. taken to Havana
md deposited in the cathedral there.
With great pomp and ceremony. For
over three-quarters of a century no
question was raised as to those being
-he veritable remains of the great Ad-
miral. Washington Irving accepted
t as Il fact and nearly all our school
histories so state it.
But in the year 1877 the Rev. Canon
Rellini. while making some alterati tionS
in the chancel of the cathedral at st.
Domingo. came upon small crypt un
lerneath the thing on the chancel floor.
Thinking that the find might prove OF
historic value. in order to have wit
0esses to SuhStantiate whatever might
he revealed. before proceeding to open
the crypt. he sent for the Archbishop.
several of the state officials and
HUmher of the foreign ConSuls. among
which was our representative. Mr..
Paul Jones. After their arrival the
doors were shut 70 keep out the crowd.
md the process of eXplOrat tion was
.ontinued. On the removal of the
stone lid or cover of the crypt Il leaden
OK was discovered about IS inches
'ong by about S15 inches deep and
vide. This little box or cas1et was re-
ity of dust and quite Il number of
,ieceS ofbones. which medical men
~eadily identified as the bones of n
ran. \ small plate lay upon the box,
nd a couple ofscreWs which it is sup
Hcsc3 fastened the pate to a wooden
ny which origina1iy contained the
'9sket, but which had entirely rotted
iway. On one side of this plate. of
liver. very much tarnished. was an
'aScltnticn which became plainly legi-
Ee. after rubbing the plate and was
.'A. CRISTOBAL COLON"
~hir-h = we would read it, is Ad-
niral Christopher Columbus. On eX-
lining ;le leaden casket. which had
ikeWiSe be: Cnle much OXidiZed other
Inscriptions were found, which after a
rite rubbing. could also be easily de-
iphered. On the top of the lid was
d de Ia A. Per Ate" which was in
-erpreted in several ways, but the fol
owing was considered 10 be the pro
1able one: "Descubridor de Ia Ameri- |
iue. Primer Almirante. i. e.. Discover
+ of America, First Admiral" On
he under side of the lid was also
1urd the following: "Ill'tre Y Es'cOg |
u Varo1. Don Cristoval Colon" which |
translated means the most illuSTi |
)us and enlightened squire, Christie |
lher Columbus
This find caused the greatest ex-
.itement in St Domingo and filed the
authorities with amaZement. The |
most careful record was kept of the |
examination and was certified to by |
hose present Previous TO that time |
here had been little doubt that Spain |
lad removed the remains of Colule- /,
aus 10 Havana. but this find was CO. F.!
-incing proof that Il mistake had been 4,
made. and that the relics taken - !
havana were those of some one else /
'r0bahly of Don Diego, the son of the |
ADMIRAL. which were known to have !
Jcen deposited near by.
While in St Domingo l examined |
he evidence carefully, and become |
.onvinced that the bones of Columbus |
never were removed from the cathed |
al there Mr.. J. Brevoort. in an ar
icIe in the Magazine of American his |
ory makes the same concession. |
spain. of course, claimed fraud and |
hough her own consul was present at
he find and testified as to the accu- |
'acy of the investiga tons, vet he was
1t once superseded. In 1890 Herr |
]ronan went from Germany for the |
lurcgse of ascertaining the truth as Il |
ma ttor Of history and spent month |
n St Domingo making Il thorough eX-
.mination OF the subject. He left
With the "cOnviction that the vener
lble remains of the great diScoverer |
IRE still lying in the cathedral at St |
Domingo
See Mag. Am. History, 27:161; also !
l:12. etc.
Never have [ seen relies of saint or
,atr;ot treated with more profound /.
elsnect than those of Columbus are 1T |
>s. Domingo. They are kept in a care |
uly guarded chamber or vault in the
-athedra2 locked with three sets of |!
ocks. those keys are held by the Arch !
fshop and two state officials. The
equations require that the chamber
an oniv be opened in the presence of /
me official Of the cathedral and two
# the government. and record is
,ert Of all visitors who are allowed to
lew the remains. 1t is only on rare
occasions that this is done In my
mind. there is not the faintest doubt
hat the remains which Spain is re-
moving from Havana are those of
Don Diego and not of Christopher Col
imbus. and that an appropriate des-
my decreed that the oldest surviving
tx- which ba founded and which he