Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-09-11
HUMAN RIDDLES THAT
HAVE VEXED THE WORLD
BY JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS.
The Mystery of Christopher
Columbus.

The wealth of fact given to the
world by Christopher Columbus is ex-
ceeded only by the plethora of doubt
which he left to posterity.
We can view him only through a
: thick fog of mystery. Historians can
not agree as to when he was born. just
when he died or where rest his bones
whether he was hero or impostor
genius or lunatic.
| Some say that his father was an
honest, Industrious sheepcomber: others
that this paternal parent was an itin-
Grant peddler, vagrant, cheat and a
| juggler. We Were taught in school
| that christopher was genius lar
ahead of his time, whose superhuman
! pcrspicuity penetrated the secrets OF
physics and geography. But his fell
| low-Italian, Cecare LombrOso, the
i most famous anthropologist of modern
| times, branded him as lunatic VINO
suffered from congenital paranola'
! fxed ideas and religious illusions. VINO
showed pronounced stigmata OF deseh-
Grafton; liar and boaster, VINO was
| given to cruelty; profound lsno-
ramus," whose ''overw helming concert
caused him ito draw comparisons be
| tween himself and the savior, 10 an
| nounce himself as the Lore iepi.
sentative under divine commission ~
discover DavidS treasure. anu win
those siuews of war recover the holy
sepuIchre. then rebuild the temple at
Jerusalem. l.,
we used to learn that Columbus IN
mis- wisdom knew the earth TO pc
snhere but sayants who have car luiiy
studied him now say that he peiievea
our old spinning top to be pear ,siia ny
Gas good spinning tops snoui to,y n RI
the stem or apex pointing .o"a"
heaven. n;+;ed
over and over again we have Pitle &c.
| him in his martyrdom, endured oiis ~
virtue of his consciousness % service'
B,,t authorities who have SCI u.i!iiLsu
MIN profoundly now hold that ne IN he
enjeyed even the knowledge ihae ,,i nc
had discovered America, ana ina. ne s
madness was so far advanced 'hat nc
believed his prison to be great paia;se.
HE deepest of the many mysteries
that veil this remarkable man l IeIass
once when their proclamation We" so
threatened they were hidden away So
very carefully, that no one mas si'I ~
yeen able TO locate them eAaI 49, lover
of the seas, Sir Francis Drake anse
tfey got mislaid.. When ne iate
sweeping down upon Santo Ioin,nSho'
in whose cathedral tnss aas, that all of
nlshop -, .n he covered with earth
rnose were the days OF ease hiueaif
defence and no one troupieu Hii,s ,;i
about uncovering Cola a INV the secret
81 its 1ocation had sought his own niiai
resting place. a;scoyerer re-
NAMED forgotten unit. eaos spa Tben the
Duke Of veragua, descendant fo OIL
Columbus, sent to the catheorai 1ol
his INDUSTRIOUS. ancestors asnes- 49,
considerable searching ABOUT aions
ynusty tombs, a small vault was opeheo
and sone pieces Of bone and dust 1ound
inside were placed in case OF soiu
and lead. A high mass was saio o.ea
them and they were transferred 70 the
Cathedral Of Has sana;s 1ha soil 1ne No one
doubted that these transplanted re,
mains were those of Columbus until
1877. when, In the course OF repairs
back at their former resting place, .n
old Santo Domingo Cathedral, a vault
was opened in the space ADJOINING
that from which they had been taken
BY the Spaniards. eighty-one years
before.
into the dark, moldy hole and finding
there well preserved leaden case,
summoned the president and cabinet
of Santo Domingo, as well as all OF the
other local dignitaries and foreign con
suls. In their presence he had the
iaaden casket removed and inside were
discovered dust. human bones and
bullet Of lead. While upon the casket
were found certain letters. interpreted
as authorizations. arranged TO denote
that Christopher Columbus and no
other lay within. So 1t was immediate
~ announced that the remains taken
to Havana in 1895 had not been those
of christopher. but of Diego Columbus,
and that the great admirars bones had,
after all, remained in Santo Domingo,
In conformity with his deathbed re-
quest
There Immediately arose an interna-
tional hubbub. the Spaniards accusing
the archbishop and other dignitaries of
the Santo Domingo Cathedral of being
the "authors and accomplices of pious
fraud" and the archbishop replying
with great heat that he could prove his
claims. Next came food of pamph-