El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-11
Dust of Columbus Scattered
If SantO Domingo Cabinet Is An
thentie, Eight Different Places
Have Some of the Ex-
pIOrer's Remains
By L rederfc J. HasEIn
~ y = - II u
By rederic J. HaskIn =

Wv That any question arose as to
| the identity of the casket sup
| posed to contain the ramins of Column
/ bus, or that the verify of the one now
| reposing in Seville was ever doubted,
! is due to the fact that in 1877 the
! cathedral at Santo Domingo had to be
! repaired. The repairs were IN charge
/ of the Rt Rev. FIR. de Rogue COcchia,
| Apostolic delegate to SantO Domingo,
and the Rev tr- xavier Bllllnl, wear
| OF the cathedral W lille these repairs
were being made. father BIlini found
vault containing a box of lead on
the epistle, or left SIDE of the altar.
| After waiting for the return of the
bishop, who was absent from the city,
! he opened the vault in the presence OF
\ a large number OF people. He found
upon the cover of the lead box an in
sCriptiOn that showed the remains were
| those Of Louis Columbus the grandson
/ of the discOYerer.
On Saturday, September s, 1877. an
other coffin was found, which con-
tanned the remains of Gen. RamereZ. On
J the Monday following father Billini
found in a vault next to the empty one
out of which the Havana remains were
taken another coffin of lead. Before
making the opening in the wall large
enough to withdraw the coffin he sum-
mOned the bishop, and also the Span
ish and Italian cOnsUls in SantO DOmin-
go. The bishop had the opening In the
! wall made larger and found that the
coffin was encrusted with lime Break
ing off a piece of this lime. he found
the inscription, p er A te, which
was translated Premier Almirante,"
meaning first admiral" The doors
We're closed and locked, and the bishop
Immediately invited the president the
minister of the interior, and all of the
/ other dignitarieS of the city and state
and all the representatives of foreign
governments to be present when the
leaden casket should be opened and the
examination Of its contents made Sew
eral nOtaries were present TO report
the proceedings On the exterior OF
the lid was found the following in
scriptiOn: "B. de Ia Perate.' Inside OF
IL was found the inscription, nitro
esd varOn don Cristoval Colon"
Think Bones Those OF DiscOverer.
The physicians present reported that
the remains consisted Of a femur,
fibula. radius, clayicle, an ulna and
Sacra, five complete and three neon
plet ribs. several vertebrae, fragments
of the lower jaw, and a leaden ball
weighing a little less than an ounce
There were also Two screws and a lot
Of dust in the casket. Upon the deci-
sion that the inscriptions on the inside
afforded satisfactory proof that the re-
mains were. in truth, those of the dis
coverer. a salvo of p guns were fired,
played martial airs and the general
pealing of the bells of the city told
the story to the inhabitants.
Dust is Given Away.
the carpet some dust of the remains.
This was gathered up and put In
glass vial and sent to Genoa by the
Italian consul where il now rests The
architect in charge Of the work of re-
pairing the cathedral was Jesus Maria
CaStrillO. He gathered up some Of the
dust and put a bit of it in a crystal
lccket, which he presented to Mrs
Epes Sargent He also presented a
bit of the dust TO G. ". Stokes, OF New
York, who placed 1T in three lOckets5
81 p Hran~ h "a #-nNn
other of which he presented to the
LenOX library, in New York. keeping
the last one for himself. Later the
archbishop got some of the dust, a
part of which he presented to Pope Leo.
and divided the remainder between
himself and the university of PaYa,
where Columbus attended school.
In Eight Different Places.
It will thus be seen that, If the
ashes at SantO Domingo are those of
the discOverer, bits of his remains are
TO be found in no less than eight diff
ferent places
When the examination of the remains
was made. the statement of the facts
as drawn up by the nOtaries was
signed by all the dignitaries present
There was an incident, however, which
was not mentioned in this statement
The Spanish consul, after a moments
consultation with the German consul
made an extempOraneOus statement in
which he said in part: Sir, the con-
tents Of the TOMB Just discovered be-
ing the veritable remains of the first
admiral of the ocean, of which fact
no doubt whatever is admissible, you
should agree with me that their pres
ence here is due either to the perpetra-
ton of a horrible crime of substitution,
or else to an error occurring in the
aXhumatiOn of 1875"
Consul Loses His Position.
He added that under these circum-
stances it was the duty of the SantO
Domingo authorities TO return them
to Spain, and that if those remains
could by some miracle speak, they
would say, Consul, let US away to our
own Spain" The Spanish government
removed him for thus recognizing the
authenticity Of the SantO Domingo cas-
After the first examination of the
casket. 1t was sealed and locked and
carried through the streets in process
sion to the church of La Riena de los
Angeles, where it was placed pending
the completion Of the cathedral On
the first anniversary of the discovery
OF the remains, a second examination
OF the contents of the casket was made.
Inc seals were examined with magni-
IylnS glasses to make sure that il had
been in no way tempered with since its
removal from the cathedral AT this
examination there was found in the
easket under the dust small thin,
SHNer plate with two holes in it, which
SeNactly ut those in the lid of the cas-
ket and the screws which were found
In the first examination.
the inscription "Cristoval Colon" made
IN very crude manner. The writer had
started to write CristOval with an n"
after the initial C" but not wishing /
10 use another plate or to beat this one
aSaln, seems to have turned on the !
other side and there written the in
Scrlpuon which translated means, The !
IaSt part OF the remains of the first
aomnral, CristOval Colon the discover
err II is to be added that on the |
leaden case itself were the letters, &C 1
= A." which are said to stand for 1
CIlstoVal Colon, Almirante."
w hen the news reached Spain that /
country decided to make an investiga- /
tlon 10 determine the authenticity of !
the ashes IN the SantO Domingo cathed- |
raj 1t referred the whole question I
70 the Spanish academy Of history. de- |
clarinS that it would be left to science !
70 determine the issue. Without seeing /
Jne remains in SantO Domingo, the /
spanish historians declared that they /
were not authentic, and that those /
resting IN Havana were the real NOR /
TAI dust of the great discoverer- It !
Is 10 be said. however, that there was {
no inscription on the box taken to (
havana. or inside of it, and that the I
notary who certified to the contents OF !
ne boN did not in so many words GER
uIy that they were the remains OF (