The Washington herald., 1913-07-25
L
COLUMBUS STORY
INQUIRY FAVORED
Senator Ransden Suggests In
vestigaion to Decide
Place Of Burial
sANTo D0MNc0's CLAIM
Louisiana Statesman Believes Body Of
Discovers Lies il Cathedral in
Capital Of Dominican Republic.
SANTO D0MNGO'S CLAIM

An investigation by . committee OF
Knights of Columbus to determine
whether the bones Of Christopher Column
bus are buried in the Cathedral at Santo
Domingo, capital Of the Dominican re-
public. or at Seville. Spain. was sug-
gested last night by Senator Joseph E.
Ransdell Of Louisiana. Senator Rams
dell said he was firmly Of the belief that
the remains OF Columbus rest at the Do
minican capital
such strong proofs have been shown
that Columbus is buried at Santo Do
mingo," said Senator Ransdell, that
think the Knights Of Columbus would be
justified in sending investigators to
Santo Domingo. to Havana, where the
bones of Columbus were supposed to
rest after they were taken, according to
Spanish belief. from Santo Domingo dur
ing the insurrection Of 1905, and to Sc
vile, Spain, to which city. during the
Spanish-American war, the Castilian
government had removed the small lead
en- casket in which the bones were
thought to be.
II visited the Dominican capital in 1906
with a delegation Of Congressman and
army officers, in the interest of the
Rivers and Harbors Congress. During
our tour Of the capital We were very
much surprised to hear a statement. as
We were looking at a magnificent monu-
ment in the cathedral, that the bones
of Columbus lay in a bronze sarcophagus
inside the monument
sarcophasus Has Three Locks.
1T was said that there are three sep
arate locks on the sarcophagus, each of
The President nf the p
public, the Archbishop Of the diocese and
the alcalde of Santo Domingo each hold
the key to one lock. The President and
the Archbishop may use their keys at
will, but the Mayor may not open the
lock of which he has charge without per-
mission OF the Board Of Aldermen. We
asked to see the casket. and were told
that when the Board of Aldermen held
their evening session they would be glad
to authorize the Mayor to use his key.
We were unable to wait. because We had
arranged to take an afternoon boat to
Havana.
THE proofs are these: First the faith
OF the Dominican people, who. in spite
of their poverty, built a $4,000 monument
to mark the burial place of Columbus.
who, with his son. Diego. was one Of the
OF the cathedral.
1T is not disputed that Columbus In ac-
cordance with a request made before his
death was buried in Santo Domingo in
$40. during which year his body was re-
moved from Spain. where he died. Dur
ing the instruction Of s03 the Spanish
sent a war vessel to demand
the bones Of Columbus. which were buried
at the right Of the cathedral altar. So
far as was known, no one else was buried
there. The Spaniards were told to take
the bones, and they dug up the floor on
the right side OF the altar until they
found a small leaden casket. marked
Colon" of the period of 1906. the date
Of Columbus death. They took the casket
to Havana.
"Santo Domingo agrees IN part with
this story. They say. though, that in 1875
a carpenter working in the cathedral,
displaced a fiagstone at the right OF the
altar. He peered into the cavity be-
meath and found a casket. Investigation
showed that the casket was inscribed
with the name of Columbus, and a de-
scription Of his discoveries The casket
was found to be of the period Of 1906.
Found Thigh Bone broken.
were those of Columbus. the Dominicans
to seek proof from the bones
1t was known that Column
bus had been wounded in the thigh with
a musket ball, which broke the thigh
bone. The Dominicans believed that II
the bones were those Of Columbus the
thigh bone would STOW a scar. They
opened the casket and found that the
thigh bone had been broken.
ITO sum up, the casket was found IN
exactlyk the right place. II was Of the
period of 1906, the inscription said that the
bones were those of Columbus, and the
thigh bone was broken in just the place
that Columbus had been wounded. Then,
100, TIE fact that the Dominicans. notably
a poverty-stricken people. had such faith
as to build $4,000 monument-one OF the
finest 1 have ever seen-leads me to be-
ieve that the story is true.
THE bones are. in my opinion. those OF
This is the theory by which
the mistake is explained-that the body
IF the brother of Columbus also was
burie, at the right of the altar and for
gotten. and that the Spaniards happened
to find IL and not the casket containing
the body Of the discoverer Of America"