The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-06-08
THE WARSH|P'S DIARY.
Continuation of Account of West
Indian 'lCruise.
CHRISTMAS ON A

CHklSIMAS ON bUAhO.
Description of San Domingo and Uncle
Sans New Island-Many Interesting
Places Visited.
AS we rounded the point in the ships
boat the river wound up before us,
while upon the left could be seen parts
of the old walls, overlooking the low
domiciles of the living generation, while
towering over all appeared the. turrets
and belfries that were built IN the 18th
century. We found the landing place
covered with a sleepy crowd of natives,
and still sleeper donkeys and goats,
and passing under the great arch of the
ancient wall, climed a brick stair case
worn into many hollows by centuries OF
use, and just then serving the purpose
of a grand stand for the Dominicans,
who were engaged in watching two
game cocks slashlng each other in the
patio below. On the summit we were
led into the castle of Diego, the son of
Columbus. Only the vertical walls OF
the ancient edifice remain, with bits
here and there .of the former arches.
1t was not a pleasant place to visit
being the resort of beggars and pulled
goats, and leaving its stencil behind,
we proceeded toward the center of the
city, one of the first objects attracting
our attention being the t%hree-ball sign
of a paWnbroker. In fact the whole
city reminds n of a gigantic second
hand store. Everything is antique, as
of course is natural in the Oldest city of
the New World. On the Central Plaza
sklrted by a narrow gauge street car
line, we visited the Government Build,
ings. and also a splendid statute of
Christopher Columbus in front of the
Oldest cathedral on this side of the At
lantic Ocean. 1t was completed in
1910. We entered from the rear, and
found the attendants most courteous,
and others smiled a welcome from the
manhattan, where they were engaged
in dressing the figures preparatory for
the Christmas Day services. Besides
being noted as the Oldest Cathedral, the
the Dominicans consider it the un-
doubted resting place of the bones of
Columbus. In December, 1898, the
the Spanish authorities removed with
great pomp from the Cathedral at Ha-
vana what they considered the bones of
the great Admiral. At that very time
the patriotic Dominicans were rejoicing
in having here in this cathedral the
real, genuine, and officially authentic
ated ashes of the %discoverer of America
Each party, confident in their records
pursued their charlottesville Spanish
buryiDg their casket in Seville, Spain,
while the people of Santo Domingo as.
sert that Spain harbors only the bones
of Diego, Columbus son.. Space will
not allow me to explain how the cas-
kets were confused; let it suffice to say
that in 1895 Spain coded to France her
claim to sovereignty over the Island of
Hayti, and expressly reserved the right
to take the bones of Columbus to Ha-
vana, the Dominican ecclesiatics, who
were naturally very unwilling to lose
their venerated relic, ~purposely misled
the Spaniards. and allowed the latter to
take the wrong casket. / believe the
remains are really in the Santo Domin-
go cathedral, and a feeling of awe over.
came us as we looked upon the mag
nificent monument, with the sarcopha.
gus containing the remains in the cen.
trail space, guarded above by the figure
OF the Indian girl Quisqueya, the Indian
name for San Domingo. The mauso-
leum is built of white marble, is As feet
high and is richly decorated with bas-
rellefs and statues, historical groups
and categorical figures in bronze and
marble. 1t was dedicated in December
1898. After looking at this beautiful
pile we lost somewhat Of our interest
in the large central altar, and the MANY
little ones, and even in the solidity and
%grandness ofthe building itself. Cattle.
Idrals in all stages of ruin are scattered
and spread over the city, some with
but few vestiges of the walls remain.
ing. We found the most interesting OF
all to be the remains of the convent
church of ST. Nicholas. built in 1909
the church of San Francisco, In which
are the remains of men who voyaged
with Columbus, and at the convent
church of Santo Domingo we were
shown the fragments of walls of the
first University of The new world. A
Spanish artist in the vicinity had a very
good collection of Indian weapons and
/. relics. and gave to us rare pieces o1
mosaic tillng from the floors of the an.
Gent university. Everywhere the
people treated us with a marked sin.
} cerity, and there was absent that desire
to o%vercharge strangers. We tried a,
several places to purchase antique
things-invariably they had none tc
sell, but would not allow us to depart
without bestowing some little token
upon US. The business life of the re
public and the city has not yet recover