Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-27

| six keys. each intrusted to a different canon,
and we had to wait until they were all
rounded up before we4aould get In. Some
must weigh poaSas = two, and the the bolts
| upon the three sets Sof~doors are as large
| as your arm. OF would think that the
archbishop would let set of modern locks
keep these incalcuA bIa< treasures, instead of
| retaining the cluI4sy nd fifteenth century
| guards that he present, For the ne
great room eontas several mqn d1l,ass
and tapestries that ard worth any price. 1t
is a wonder that burshrs haven't got at
them.
The reliquary contains a collection OF
relics of saints so numerous that the cata-
logue covers thirty pages There are pones
and teeth and fingers of hundred martyrs,
and among them stands a plain cross Endoe
of black wood without an ornament per
haps six feet high and two inches by three
inches thick.
In Danger of Collapse.
This magnificent building, this PRIDE ana
glory of Spain. is IN danger OF collapse.
The tower, which is 800 feet In height ana
was finished in 1880, has been declared I'M
safe and tourists are no longer allowed 10
climb it, and unless something is done very
shortly to strengthen the walls and secure
the roof the cathedral is likely to collapse
Cardinal Saneha has warned the govern
ment and has asked for funds to make the
necessary repairs. The ministry gave MIN
$4,000, but several hundred thousand doi-
lars is required, and the cardinal does not
know where 1t is coming FROM Although
the diocese of Toledo was once the rlchest
in the world and enjoyed three times the
revenue that is now collected by the pope
at Rome, the cardinal declares that his in
come Is only sufficient to MAINTAIN the
canons and keep the cathedral in order
without devoting anything to repairs Inc
same danger attends several other 1mpor-
tant churches in Spain. No country, not
even Italy, has many splendid cathe-
drals, and they are all in similar condl-
ton. Most of them were built previous 10
the sixteenth century, and, although the
material is enduring, the walls massive
and the workmanship much superior to
that Of the present day, every one of them
requires immediate attention, and the
longer the repairs are postponed the more
expensive they will be.
Some years ago a large section OF the
roof Of the cathedral at Seville came down
with tremendous crash, and thousand
or more persons who were worshiping there
at the time narrowly escaped death. Since
then until recently that celebrated building
has, been filled with scaffolding. The warn
ing was observed, the people of the city
contributed two or three hundred thousand
dollars to restore it to perfect security, and
1t Is now good for 500 years more. But the
city of Toledo is poor. There is no money
here, and, although it is the headquarters
VI Inc Spanish people take very
little interest in 1t any longer, and few
travellers ever come this way except for
eignerS.
Other Beautiful Churches.
I wish l could tell you about all of the
other beautiful churches in Toledo, for
there are half dozen more that would be
considered monumental in any other town.
But l can only say word about Saint
John of the Kings" which is next to the
cathedral in interest and in splendor. and
was erected by Ferdinand and Isabella as
their burial place, although for some rea-
son they were buried in the cathedral at
Grenada. They came here fresh from the
union of their hearts and kingdoms, in full
fillment of a made lat their marriage,
and here was born to them their daugh er
Joan, who afterward became insane, and
their son, whose death before he reached
manhood changed the fate of the nation.
The church that they built for their tomb
is one of the most exquisite examples of
modern Gothic that can be imagined, and If
architecture is frozen music as some
ina ginative person has said, it's ciois ers
are Beethoven symphony. A curious fea-
ture, which first attracts the attention of
the visitor, is a mass of chains and shac-
kles which hang upon the outside walls.
They were stricken from the limbs of the
Christian captives whom Ferdinand and
Isabella rescued from the Moors.