The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-06-17


by the Jesuits il 17O4, the material
used being anative lime stone which is
yellowish-White when quarried, but
which soon grows dingy and disin-
tegrates on the surface, giving an APP
pearance of great antiquity. The in
terror walls Of the cathedral are
finished il dark marbles, the columns
are of highly polished mahogany
with gilt-bronzed capitals, and the
choir stalls are OF mahogany, beauti-
fully carved. The high altar is Of
Carrara marble, and the floor in front
of the altar is handsome mosaic Of
colored marble. There are numerous
fine paintings on the walls and in the
dome, many OF them having been ex-
ecuted by artists of note. The cathe-
dral has long been popularity known as
the Columbus Cathedral, because for
more than century it enshrined
certain bones which were reputed to
be the remains Of the great dis
coverer. These bones were brought
to Havana from Santo Domingo in
the year 1795 and were deposited in
the cathedral in a niche in the wall of
the ehancel. AfterWard they were
placed in magnificent tomb erected
in the center OF the church under the
dome, and here they remained until
theyear 1898, when upon the evacuation
of Havana by the Spanish, they were
taken back to Spain, where they now
rest in the Cathedral Of Seville. In
the meantime the authorities of the
cathedral at Santo Domingo dis
covered other bones, which they
claimed to identify as the real,
original and only genuine remains of
Columbus, and have built for them in
the cathedral a costly tomb of sculp-
tured marble. And SO it is not def
nitely known whether the last resting
place of the immortal discoverer is in
the land from whence he sailed or in
the land which he was the first to find.
oBIsPo AND o'REILLY STREETS.
The shopping district best known to
the visitor in Havana is in Gales
Obispo and O'Reilly, two of the old
narrow streets through which wheeled
vehicles are permitted to pass in one
direction only. The impression of
narrowness is intensified by the heavy
cornices and oyerhanging balconies,
and by the signs suspended above
spanning the street. In the sunny
hours awnings are stretched across
from roof to roof, completely covering
the street2 and creating a snbdued yell
low-toned light or dusk, which gives
the street, with its succession Of open
shops and their varied stocks of goods
exposed to view, the air Of an oriental
bazaar. There is also, as one looks
down Obispo from Albear Park, some
thing reminiscent Of the Midway at the
Columbian Exposition and the far
famed Pike of the St. Louis world s
fair. Gale Obispo is Bishop street
and O'Reilly is named after the Condo
de O'Reilly, who came 10 Cuba in 1763
and named the streets Of Havana.
which before that time had been UNI
named. A popularity of shops in
Havana is shat as rule they. do not
bear the names of the proprietors, but
are called by some faneiful title, as
Las Ninfas THE Nymphsl, La Esper-
ANA [Hopel, Truth, The Fair, Mod
esty, Patience, Galatea, La Diana, or
some other nom de guerre. In Gales
Obispo and O'Reilly the tourist will
find many articles suitable to take
home for souvenirs, but it is well for
him to remember that in shops where
the goods are not plainly marked the
prices asked at first are from a half to
a third higher than those which the
seller expects the purchaser to pay.
MERGED CHURCH.
La MERGED, at the corner of Cuba
and MERGED streets, is the Wealthiest
and most aristocratic church in the
city, and an ultr a-fashionable congre-
cation may be seen at its Sunday
morning mass. There is a full orches-
ira, and the appointments and fur
ESsrH,T Pes