The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-07-23

sent his young nephew, Alonzo de Vera, with twenty eight soldiers, from Asun- eion to found another city in some ad- yantageous position lower down the river. Don Alonzo selected the site of Corrientes. and on the third of April, in the year above mentioned, he climbed the high, steep bank with his handful of followers. According to the invariable custom of the pious frauds of those days, the first thing the Span iards did before laying violent hands upon the property of others, was to erect huge cross, not only as sym bol of the faith within them. but as a signal that they had taken possession of the country in the name of the Span- ish sovereign and San Jago. patron of Spain, and all the saints in the calen- dar. At that time this section was in habited by the Guaranis, a War-like tribe. numerous as the sands on the shore. They knew, from the sad expe- rience os their brethren who were suf- fering in bondage in Paraguay, how dreadful was the tyranny of the white man; and naturally. at sight of the hated usurpers, they prepared for des- perate resistance. Having set up their cross. at the entrance to a wood pal isading built for defense, the pale-faces mustered behind it--tewnty- y-eight against six thousand dusky warriors. The latter poured deadly shower of arrows upon the little band, who found the fraiI barraeade of branches and brambles but indifferent protection. Before returning the assault with their arqueduses, the Spaniards, as usual, knelt at the foot of the cross and of fered fervent prayer in loud voices The Indians. hearing the earnest cries to heaven and observing the (to them) strange movements of those who were on their knees, believed that the mys- tic symbol contained some charm which would protect the foe as long as it stood intact. Therefore they turned their attention to destroying this sym bol, piling dry branches and grass around 1t and setting fire to the heap amid savage yelling and dancing. For more than an hour the mass famed up itself to thu palisade and adjacent tree; but wien all the combustible material within reach was exhausted, great was their surprise to find the sacred symbol standing in the midst of the ashes entirely uninjuredA They returned to apply new fire. but when the first Indian approached to stir up the smoldering enbers, he was struck deed on the spot-true believers say by thunderbolt sent from heaven to punish inlpiety, while the ungodly are of the opinion that his timely talk ing off was due to a shot from a Span ish arquebuse. The savages, however. took 1t as a mark of displeasure from the white mans deity, and as once the whole six thousand, with their power ful caciques and women and children, fell upon their faces and submitted to the yoSes of handful of adventurers.
 The beloved cross is still preserved in a beautiful chapel built especially for it near the spot where the miracle was performed.
 About a hundred years later the fierce Guaicarus Indians, from the Gran Cha co side of the Parana, came over in a fleet of canoes and attacked the coio- nists. The latter discreetly took to the woods. abandoning the town and all their property to the mereiless n1arau ders. The savages reached the city and destroyed everything except the nirac- ulaus cross They riddled the church containing it, and left nothing but the bare wall and the small square of brass railing curtained with purple silk, with in which stands the holy relic; for the fate of the Indian who was stricken with death for neddling with it a cen tury before yet fingered in tradition.
 As in duty bound, we made solemn to the "Columna. which. marks the spot where the cross was planted. I. is a simple col- umn of rough stones smeared with plaster, about fifteen feet high and six feet square at the base. Small brass plates are set in two sides of the pe- destal, inscribed Gin Spanish) as fol- lows: The people of Corrientes erect this monument as testimonial of their gratitude to the sovereign author of omens with which his omnipotent right hand deigned to work in favor of their fathers on the Sd of April, 1868" The day the monument was completed was by great national fiesta: and to this day, on each recurrence of the anniversary of the miracle, the bishop and other clergy, the governor and House of Represen tatives, civil and corporations, and all the peo- pie march out to the Colunna to the sound of martial music and booming cannon. Mass is said on the scene of the ancient miracle, and then the rest of the day is spent in sGaucho games, and gambling, followed by balls in the evening and general spree.
 The early Spaniards dubbed this place San Juan de las Sieta Corrientes- St. John of the Seven Currents 1.-the ori- gin of the singular title being that the river breaks on certain points of rock q title being that the river breaks on certain points of rock a little way above the city, producing seven back-water and consequent eddies, each having an opposite direction of current to its That accounts for the queer coat-of-arms of the province seven tongues of land, with cross in the middle surrounded by flames This strange device, of which the citizens are extremely proud, appears upon eve- rything in Corrientes, and is painted with great effect upon shield over the main entrance of the government house which structure, by the way, was