The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1903-01-23
DID COLUMBUS Discover AMERICA 4?
Reply 10 ON Article Published IN
EVeTyD0dy'S MaglZiIe.
By Captain C. A. NJ. Taber, Lake
Como, Florida.

IL Id5 BoneIb ~ .DeeH SuppOSeu bndl
Columbus discovered America, ever
since he sailed ross the Atlantic ocean
| in 1892 and discovered the islands that
| border on the western continent, and
returned with such ample proof of his
great discovery that no one at that
time was so fOOlhardy as to attempt to
disprove it. For Columbus took the
precaution to bring with him the nat
lives and their handiwork, and so
plants and valuable metals taken from
the new found land Therefore the
people, instead of doubling the new dis
coVery, were eager to furnish ships and
accompany the great captain on his sec
ond voyage, which proved the new dis
covered land to surpass the descriptions
given of his first voyage.
Since these earchinB voyages the
people of the eastern world have for
over 400 years been coloLizing and tx
ploring the new western lands and Civ
giving the credit Of their discovery to
christopher Columbus, although they
knew that defamatory reports had been
fabricated to impair his reputation
Still, from what could be learned of hie
management while conducting his fa-
nous voyage, the general impression
has been that he wa+ the only navigator,
up to that date, that was prepared 10
cross the wide ocean and make the
grand discovery. But 1t happened thr
old defamatOry pilot story, which un-
fortunately could not be refuted while
Columbus lived. may nave caused him
c0nsid cradle veXattUn And it is said
that the story passed current among his
enemies even after his death.
Now, according to the magazine arti-
Gle, Mr.. Henry Viguaud, first secretary
of tho United Staes embassy in Pari T..
has given the subject long and careful
study, and has embodied his invcstiga.
tiOns in a book, recently published H.
France. The story, on which Mr.. Viz
naud's conclusions rest, are given in the
fOl owing wo ds "During the year
1884 ship manned by four d, ing S il.
Ors gained the island of Madeira. She
was merchantman, her CANVASS in
ribbons, her Uimbers grOanng. When
someone offered to care for the four
survivors the other islanders went their
way and thought but little more about
the affair.
He who had extended succor de-
served at this date no more of. his
torian'S notice than any other man In
Madeira whatsoever. He was simply a
stranded wanderer, capable, indeed, OF
an act Of charity but starding for moth
ing that means sustained usefulness.
He was born of Italian laborers and ed
ucated in a weavers' schoo! at Genoa,
He had drifted through life to middle
,f io tfit
and soldier, which were mostly lies, as
he had never served under arms, and
had been no further than the Azores. |
But his bavardage had one cumpensa-
ton he could also listen. The yarns
of old mariners pleased him most, so
you may believe that the four ship
wrecked men, among them the vessels |
caItain, were welcome guests. He took |
them TO his home and sOrthed their last
nours, but they would not te their |
who story. They had left Spain with
goods for Flanders, but storm had
beaten them out of their course. Thrn
they would glance enqiri Ugly at theil |
captain and tell no more. One by one |
the sailors died. But when the captain |
himself lay dying and knew that there
was NO hope, he called his host to him |
and out of gratitude-a debt he couI' |
ay only one way-he revealed his Sc
cret. Never, perhaps, has such another
secret been revealed 1t involved simply |
a new world. The captain, an Anda
lusian, named Sanches, related how, for
twenty-nine days, Il gale had blown them
westward with unabated fury, till at
last hey found refuge among some
strange islands, peopled by naked saw
ages, In this lay the secret, for the
Islands we're totally unknown 10 navi |
cation. did you take your bearings?'
the host demanded rather sharply. The
DIVING man nodded yes, for he had hoped |
to find the islands again, as reward |
for his sufferiugs. And the chartY As
he died the chart passed into the hands |
of his host, Christopher Columbus. At
last had fallen the OccasiO Tor high en-
deavor, and the charitable idler was
equal to it. He now had II proposition |
of vast import for T. onarch's consid-
Grafton"
With this defamlng, fictitious story |
the writer goes on to tell how Colur bus
was able, after pickering with King
Ferdinand, to obtain his cara 7els
This attempt to i'm ,air the wel-earrrd |
fame of Christopher Columbus with an
incredible story wouli be TOO contempt
able to n, ,tice were the people generally |
better acquainted with the laws that
govern the elements OF the ocean worli.
Because a compr, hensien Of such Laws
would show why a voyage like that
said to have been performed by Sanchee,
the Al Ldalusian, couli never havr taken
place, for the reason that vessel, white
on the way from Spain to Flanders,
could never have been exposed to a
gale of wind blowing from the eastwar:
for twenty-nine days with such unabated
fury as to force ship across At
iantic ocean.
Any person who is prompted to study
the tract of storms, on that portion Of |
the Atlantic, will find L at all storms
that move over the sea between Spain
and the West India islands, with suiil-
cient force to drive a vessel from her
course toward the west, are hurri' ane's,
which always move around a storm CEN
ter, while on their way from the West
India seas to the coast OF Europe. B t /
they only cover such parts OF the ocean
as lie In their track, while the northern
portion of the yc one is the only area
to ma. ntain an essterly wind. For this
reason the continuance of all such
storms are of short duration, aud never
spread over more than one third of the
width of the Atlantic at the same time.
While the whole movement of the storm
is from the American side OF the At an
tic towar IS the European shores.
Therefore, when such winds have ar
rived off the coast of Europe, they have
ceased to blow on the American side Of
the Atlantic. Consequently, vessel
overtaken by storm from the east
ward while on voyage from Spain o
Flauders, never could have been drivrn
from her course for twenty-nine days