Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, November 04, 1892, Image 6

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    OCC ET In
pl
Bellefonte, Pa., Nov. 4, 1892.
FOR A WEB BEGUN.
(This is the last poem Miss Pollard wrote,
and it appeared 1n the New York Ledger.)
“For a web begun, God send the thread.”
Qver and over these words I read,
And 1 said to myself, with an easy air :
“What need to burden myself with care,
If this be tiue ?
Or attempt to do
_ More than my duty ? For here is proof
That we are to hold ourselves aloo.
Until from the Master we receive
The thread for the web we are to weave.”
So, day afterday, I sat beside :
My loom, as if both my bands were tied,
With idle shuttle and slackened warp,
Useless as strings of an untuned harp.
or I took no part,
With handor heart,
In the work of the world. To the ery of need,
The voice of the children, I gave no heed.
“When the task isready for me,” I said,
“Ged will be sure to supply the thread.”
I had no strength of my own, I knew,
No wisdom to guidé, or skill to do,
And must wait at case for the word of command
For the message I surely should understand,
Else all in vain
Were the stress and strain
For the thread would break’ and the web be
spoiled,
A poor result for the hours I'd t oiled,
And my heart and my conscience would be at
strife
O’er the broken. threads of a wasted life]
” But all at once. like a gem exhumed,
The word “begun —by alightillumed—
From the rest of the text stood boldly ont,
(By the finger of God revealed, no donb),
And shocked and dazed,
a Ashamed amazed,
1 saw, as T had not seen before.
The truer meaning the sentence bore,
And read as Belshazzer might have read:
«For a web begun, God sends the thread.”
The man himself, with his mind and heart,
Toward the Holy City must make a star
Ere he finds in his hands the mystic
That shall lead him lif ’s mazes safel
And if loom and reel
; And spinning wheel
»=Idle and empty stand to-day,
We must reason give for the long delay,
Since the voice of the Master has plainly said:
“For a web begun,God sendsthe thread.”
—Tosephine Pollard.
THE STORY OF COLU MBUS.
N TWO PARTS—PART 1.
THE.COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA.
_ With varying fortune Columbus
“made the acquaintance through Perez,
wof Talavara, the confessor of Isabella,
rot De Quintanuilla, the comptroller of
“finances, and of Geraldiui, the tutor of
the royal children. Mendoza, Grand
_ Cardins] of Spain, was another friend,
*“but the doctrine of the sphericity was
to him an heritical theory, and while
"he was too liberal to throw the matter
aside he was too good a churchman to
‘commend it.
few. At last Columbus got a hearing be-
zrfore Ferdinand and the result was that
“Ris scheme to sail westward was sub-
“mitted at Ferdinand’s direction to a re-
_Kgious council which met at Salaman-
“ca in the Winter 011486. The learned
priests ard bishops quoted Scripture to
prove the fallacy of Columbus’ theory
“that the earth was round, and other
Scripture to show that the earth was
:- flat. But among the members of the
© gouncil was a Diminican Friar, Diego
“"Deza, who was not deceived by the fal-
lacious arguments of the others. He
‘Stood up for Columbus, arguing for his
cause so strongly and ably that while
the navigator’s hopes were blasted the
*“Qecision of the majority of the council
was opposed by a respectable minority.
“This ended the projects of Columbus
for awhile. But he had made friends
at court and Ferdinand and Isabella,
Z'gtruck by his sincerity and the evident
~ dignity of his character, gave him at
“various times sums of money with
which to maintain himself. For sev-
. eral years after this Columbus became
aa dere camp follower of the armies of
szFardinand and Isabella, but never los-
ing sight of the project which was ul-
timately to make him one of the great-
: ‘est figures in all history.
© And itis worthy of note that those
awvho were most influential in aiding Co-
"lumbus rose in that age to posicions of
< pre-eminence. This is notably the case
with the young Friar Diego Deza, who
+ ‘had espoused the despised cause of the
‘mariner. His learning and native
ability led him step by step to the
Aréhbishopric of Toledo, ultimately to
become primate of all Spain.
=~ “It was in 1487 that another romance
in the life of Christopher Columbus de-
zrveéloped. « In the city of Cordova he
Led
—
\
»
‘meta woman, said to be of good birth,
=: but exceedingly poor in this world’s
goods. A son was born to her as a re-
c»8ult of this attachment for the future
admiral and he was named Ferdinand.
It is this relation which, unsanctioned
by the church and hence condemned
; By.the laws of morality has during all
.=.4he centuries stood in the way ot Co-
“ Himbus being canonized by the Roman
Lhurch, Beyond the bare fact that
Dona Beatrix Euvriques lived, became
the mistress of Columbus and then died
_in obscurity, nothing is known of her.
: THE LAST APPEAL.
vw. - After several more years of waiting
Columbus determined to abandon his
project so far as Spain was concerned
.- and seek assistance elsewhere, He
:zgent’his brother Bartholomew to Eng-
: land “to solicit the aid of the English
x King and alter one more vain endeav-
= orto°obtain assistance at court he rode
back to the convent at Rabida and pre-
= pared to quit Spain.
“. But'Juan Perez came to his assist-
“ance. His own faith in the plans
of Columbus did pot permit him to
abandon them without one more at-
tempt to save to Spain the glory of dis-
+eoveries in the Western ocean. Mount-
"ing a mule Juan Perez started for Gra-
: pada, 140 miles distant from Palos,
‘ard through the intervention of Tala
“vara, the Prior of Rabida was admitted
~to'audience with Queen Isabella. With
“ all the ardor with which he was pos-
-gessed the learned Perez pleaded the
‘cause of the Genoese enthusiasm, He
.- tepresented the glory which awaited
the crowns of Castile and Leon should
Columbus succeed, and so ably and
veloqiietly and persuasively did he talk
that Izabella not only agreed to grant
Columbus another hearing, but gave
Perez a sum of money equal to $216 to
defray his expenses to Santa Fe.
It was to Santa Fe, therefore, that
whoa ow
EE
Columbus came. It was a sort of mil-
itary capital which Ferdinand and Is-
abella had established just outside
Granada. It was at this time, too, that
the conquest of the Moors was comple-
ted, and Columbus arrived in time to
see the last of the Moorish kings va-
cate the soil of Spain. Everybody in
consequence was in the wildest state
of excitement over the victory of the
covereigus of Leon and Castile, and it
was some weeks before Columbus was
admitted to the royal presence. "A co-
terie of nobles was appointed to hear
hima, but they almost immediately set
their faces against him. The demands
of Columbus were opposed by them as
being outrageous. He demanded that
he be invested with the title ¢f viceroy
over all the lands which he might dis-
cover, and further that one-tenth of all
the wealth realized, whether by trade
or commerce, should be his,
It was scarcely to be wondered that
Columbus’ claim was sneered at by the
haughty Spanish nobles. - He had ev-
erything to gain and nothing to lose.
But he had something to lose, never-
theless. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, one of
the men introduced to Columbus at Pa-
los by the Prior of Rabida, was a
wealthy retired shipmaster, and years
before he had offered to pay one-eighth
of the necessary expense of fitting out
a fleet for the daring discoverer if he
was given one-eighth of the profits.
Columbus called attention to this fact,
but it had little or no weight with the
grandees; and as a result the excuse
was given that the royal treasuries
were so depleted by the recent wars
that there was no money to invest in
this scheme of discovery.
' QUEEN ISABELLA DECIDES.
Disgusted, disheartened and deter
mined to leave Spain forever and seek
assistance 1n France, Columbus left
Granada. But again did oue of his
friends lift up his voice in his behalf
when all the world seemed against him.
This time it was not the faithful Prior
of de Rabida,” but a little greater
one, politically and socially—Louis
Santangel the receiver of royal reve
nues in Aragon. On the day that Co-
lumbus shook the dust of Santa Ie
from his feet Santangel obtained an au-
dience with Isabella, and so cleverly
did he argue the cause of Columbus
that the Queen exclaimed :— :
“I will undertake the enterprise tor
my own crown of Castile, ‘and will
pledge my jewels to raise the necessary
funds.”
But the Queen did not, as modern
school histories assert, pledge the jew-
els. Santangel offered to provide the
money, and itis quietly hinted in later
history that the clever revenue collec-
tor did not advance the money from
his'own fortune, but abstracted it from
the cofters of the King of Leon. Then
was the messenger sent to overtake
Columbus, and the tableau of the
Bridge of Pinos was enacted.
The star of Columbus, once above
the horizon, rose rapidly to the zenith.
The articles of agreement, or leiters
patent. were signed at Santa Fe on
April 17,1492, and although the names
of Ferdinand and Leon were placed to
the documents, it was Isabella alone
who defrayed the expenses. By these
articles Columbus was privileged to
add Don to his name. IIis son Diego
was appointed as page to the Queen.
As Latin was the official language, the
name Columbus was abbreviated to
Colon, and thus it appears on the mou-
uments and official correspondence to
this day in Spain.
It is not in the scope of this article
to discuss the question who did or who
did not discover America and its envi-
rons. Christopher Columbus certaioly
was not the first white man to set foot
on the western world. Six hundred
years before his time the Northmen
traversed its coast line, but with them
perished the knowledge of the lands
they had discovered. Christopher Co-
lumbug, however, opened these un-
known lands to commerce and explora-
tion, and led the vanguard of civiliza-
tion in the work of redeeming it from a
wilderness.
The works ot securing ships for the
| voyage was undertaken and pushed
with such vigor that by Aungust3 the
fleet was ready to sail. The fleet con-
sisted of the Santa Maria, which wae
not its original name, but the vessel
was rebaptized by Perez as the Santa
Maria ; the Pinta and the Nina. The
Santa Maria, the largest ship of the
three, was only 63 feet over all, and
the only one that had a deck, with fore-
casile and cabin. The other boats,
with fore and aft sails, were no larger
than ar ordinary pleasure yacht.
It was into these vessels that there
crowded 120 men, sailors, adventurers
and gentlemen, Pinzon, true to his
promise, furnished one-eighth of the
outfit, and volunteered, with his broth-
ers, Vincente, and Francisco, to ac-
company the expedition. Martin Pia-
zon commanded the Pinta, while his
brother Vincente commanded the Ni-
na, The greatest difficulty was expe-
rienced in obtaining sailors to man the
vessels, When the King tried to im-
press men they rebelled, and riots in
Palos ensued. The people regarded
the voyage with superstitious awe.
When. the Pinzons volunteered, how-
ever, the complement of men was soon
made up.
Portugal had been jealous of Colum-
bus, and had tried several times to in-
duce him to return, and, fearful that
the King might attempt to interfere
with his voyage, Columbus assembled
his party and sailed away before day-
break on the morning of August 3,
1492, thus ruining all the truth in the
gorgeous paintings which have been
constructed of the departure from Pa-
los of Columbus.
To those who are superstitious there
seems to be a fatality to Columbus
about the sixth day of the week. He
left Granada for Palos on May 12,
summoned the people together on May
23, started on Friday, August 3, and
returned to Palos on Friday, March 15,
1493. Friday was a lucky day for him.
The romance of history clusters
around the first voyage of Columbus,
He sailed for the Canary Islands, in
XY
- westward on the 6th of
whose vicinity he cruised for nearly
three weeks, laying in water and wood
and vainly trying to secure a caraval
in place of the Pinta, whose rudder had
been broken. Columbus sailed boldly
September,
1492,
Columbus kept a partial log of that
first voyage. but it is unsatisfactory.
There were from the beginning mar-
murings and discontent among the
crew who looked upon the expedition
as a temptation to divine power to vis-
it destrnction upon them all. In every
equall they detected the wrath of Om-
nipotence, in every cloud they saw a
great hand stretched forth to threaten
them with death. The variation of the
compass added to their alarm, but this
was explained by Columbus in a plaus-
ible way which set their fears at rest.
When they entered that mysterious ex-
panse of floating sea weed in mid At-
lantic, known to scientists as the Sar-
azossa Sea, the crew of the ships were
elated at the prospect of finding land
speedily, and still more delighted at
being able to catch sea crabs and other
ghell fish in nets from the side of the
vessel. ?
THE FIRST SIGHT OF LAND.
It had been agreed that the first to
sight land on board either ship should
gecure a substantial reward and that
the discovery should be announced by
a gun fired from the vessel upon which
the discovery was made. The voyage
had continued until October 7, when,
according to the calenlations of Colum-
bus, they had sailed 750 leagues and at
which distance he had expected to
sight land. On this day, accepting the
advice of the Pinzon brothers, the
course of the fleet was changed to the
southwest.
Immediately on altering the ships’
course the mutinous spirit broke out
afresh among the crews. They de-
manded of the admiral that he turn
back and abandon the voyage. Bat
Columbus was as firm as adamant,
though striving by gentle words to allay
the rebellious spirits of those around
him. Sizasof land were growing more
frequent and when night fell on the 11th
of October, the great discoverer felt
that the goal was near.
There is a dispute about who first
sighted land, but Columbus claimed
the reward and received. it. It was
about 10 o'clock on the night of the
11th that Columbus saw a fire away
ofl toward the horizon. He was uncer-
tain about it, but calling one of his voy-
agers, Pedro Gutierrez, he pointed at
the fitful flashing light, when the lat-
ter, as well as another of the party,
Roderigo Sanchez, distinctly recog-
nized it as land. Four heurs later the
gun of the Pinta proclaimed the dis-
covery also, Roderigo De Fraino, a sail-
or, being the discoverer on this craft.
Sail was shortened, as the land was
now visible six miles distant, and all
the vessels were laid to awaiting the
coming of the day.
Oa the follwing morning, clad in all
the splendor of his admiral’s uniform,
with the standard ot the cross borne
aloft by chanting monks, Columbus
landed on the new world. His first act
on landing was to kneel and kiss the
earth three times, then in the name of
Ferdinand and Isabella he took poss-
ession of the lands of the New World.
The coming of the white men was
like a miracle to the inhabitants of
these islands. They had never before
seen such ships or such men, and in-
spired with almost childish eagerness
they surrounded the discoverers. And
what a repayment did they receive in
the succeeding mouths and years. Al.
though Columbus at the outstart dis-
tributed beads, and other trinkets, yet
in the end the wretched inhabitants
were driven like beasts to the moun-
tains, their homes and villages de-
stroyed, their wives and daughters sac-
rificed to the lust of the Spaniards and
their lands confiscated to the greed of
the conquerors.
There has been a very animated dis-
cussion in recent years regarding the
exact spot where Columbus landed on
his first voyage. By common consent
the Island of San Salvador was named
in the geographies of the world as the
place where the Spaniards first set foot
on the soil of the West Indies, but this
claim is now disputed by at least balt a
dozen other islands in this group, with
the leading claims held; perhaps by
Watling’s Island.
But more interesting than this is the
story of the first Christian settlemeat
on the shores of the new world. Not
the first but the oldest. When Colum-
bus sailed on his return to Spain he
left at a fort on the Island of Hayti a
company of forty well armed men. The
fort was largely built up of the remains
of the admiral’s ship, the Santa Maria,
which had been cast on a bar and
wrecked. Upon his return to Hayti
on his seoend voyage Columbus found
not a trace of his settlement. Enraged
at their excesses, brutality and faith-
lessness the Indians had murdered
every one of the company.
It was on this return voyage that
Columbus in the midst of a storm
which threatened to engulf his two re-
maining ships, wrote an account of his
discoveries and enclosed it in wax, com-
mitted it to a cask and tossed it over-
board. He, however, arrived safely,
although separated from the Nina in
the storm. The commander of the lat-
ter, Martin Pinzon, was driven into
the port of Bayonne, France, from
wheuacesupposing he was the sole sur-
vivor, he dispatched a letter to Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, acquainting them
with the discoveries and asking an au-
dience at court. But meantime Colum-
bus had reached Lisbon, where he was
handsomely received, invited to court
and treated by King John in a manner
which made up for all that he had pre-
viously suffered.
On the 15th of March he sailed from
Lisbon and reached the port of Palos
in a little less than seven months from
thetime he had left it. His reception
at Palos was one of the wildest and
most. enthusiastic kind, All Southern
Spain was excited over the return, and
the nine Indians who accompanied him
only added to the furore. It was
about six hours after the arrival of Co-
EE EE TT A a A Pi a TE VY yr Te TN eT rey Toe:
Inmbus when the Nina put into Palos.
Columbus meantime bad dispatched King and Queen.
couriers to Queen Izabella acquainting |
her with his discoveries. The return
letters ordered him to appear at court, |
while by the same messengers came
orders forbidding Martin Pinzon to vis-
it the royal family. The disappoint
ment, possibly the shame of it all,
broke the heart of Pinzon, and he died
in a short time from remorse, as the
old chronicles put it. Thus ended mis-
erably the life of one man who gave
financial aid and support to the Geno-
ese discoverer.
THE SECOND VOYAGE.
After a most brilliant reception—
some say it was the most gorgeous
that the Court of Castile and Leon ev-
ersaw—and a round of festivities in
which the once despised map peddler
basked in the sunshine of royalty, Col-
umbus prepared to return to the Indies
as the newly discovered lands were
called. No other thought than that
he had reached the Eastern shores of
Cathay ever entered his mind. But
on his second voyage the reverse of his
first great difficulty presented itself.
Where he had been able to obiain
sailors for his ships, now he could not
find room for all who desired to ac- |
company him. When he set out on
his second voyage it was with seven-
teen ships and over 1200 men, embrac-
ing allclasses from gentleman colonists
to members of thearistocrcy who hop-
ed to reap fortunes in a land flowing
with milk and honey.
And it was the sancuine and exag-
gerated descriptions which Columbus
gave of his first discoveries to his roy-
patrons which led to his ultimate
downfall. He was anxiovs to make
the most of his discoveries and he ov-
erdid it. When the riches he had
described failed to roll in an unending
stream into the coffers of the King and
Queen they began to doubt the tales of
wealth, enemies of Columbus obtained
the royal ear, and a fall from royal
favor and death in poverty marked the
cloze of Columbus’ life.
THE FIRST CITY.
On the way out on his second voyage
a stop was made at the Canaries for
cattle, sheep and calves, to stock the
new colonies. Then he sailed west
ward until the New Indies were again
in sight. Fading that his fort had been
destroyed Columbus proceeded on to
San Domingo and anchoring in the lit.
tle harbor of Monto Cristo) about
thirty miles from La Plata, he decided
to build here the central ‘eity of his
ocean provinces. On a lite pleatean
on the edge of the bay the first per
manent Christian settlement in the
new world was begun in December
1493. In honor of his royal patroness,
Columbus named the city Isabella.
The spot where = Columbus thus es-
tablished Christianity and enlightmént
is to-day a mass of almost obliterated
ruins, The oldest European setile-
ment on these Western shores has been
permitted to go to wreck century ‘after
century until now there is nothing left
but crumbling stones to mark the site.
Out of the debris of the city all that
could be obtained by a United States
Government expedition, for exhibition
at Chicago next year, whs & block! of
cut limestone about twenty-five inches
each way and eight inches thick.
One of the curiosities of the place
noticed by the Government expedition
last year was innumerabls number of
holes that had been dug at various
times during the last two or three
years by (reasure huuters, who fancied
evidently that the comrades of Colum-
bus had secreted gold and other pre-
cious things under the foundations of
‘the city.: Nothing so far as known has
ever been found to repay searchers for
their trouble. But while the site of
the ancient town, Isabella, has been
permitted to go to ruin in the past,
from this time forth there will be pre-
sented to the tourist a memoral
worthy of the place.
The men brought over by Columbus
on his second voysge were not of a
class to make successful colonists.
They were gold hunting adventurers
for the moat part, who expected to find
a land wherethe beds of every river
ran yellow with the precious metal.
When they discovered that manual
labor was expected of them they!revolt
ed, and it was with difficulty that
Columbus could keep many of them
from returning at once to Spain.
On this voyage, too Columbus made
the discovery that he must make some
repayment for the outlay of his royal
patrons, and there began at once a
wild hunt for gold and precious stones.
The simple natives were treated as
slaves and forced to work night and
day, but still the caravals remained
empty. It was then that Columbus
stained his name by becoming a slave
dealer. Scores of the natives were en-
trapped, loaded into the twelve cara-
vals, together with such specimens of
gold and other articles of commerce as
could be gathered together, and sent
off to Spain. To the glory of Isabella
be it said that she promptly stopped
any further developments of this
trade.
Columbus remained at Isabella
while the greater portion of the fleet
returned to Spain. He immediately
began a hunt for gold. He traveled
inland and, establishing a fort, placed
it in charge of ‘one of his lieutenants
named Margarite. The natives were
oppressed. They were compelled to
pay a heavy assessment and their idle-
ness was changed into the most weary-
ing toil. They were beaten, scourged,
and killed until they began dying off
as by a pestience. Margarite started a
mutiny, and with one, Friar - Boyle,
seized a caraval and, returning to
Spain, began spreading reports about
Columbus, The King and Queen at
last decided to send an auditor to Isa-
bella, where Diego Columbus, a broth-
er of the discover. together with Bar-
tholomew, another brother, was sta-
tioned as Chief Viceroy under the Ad-
miral,
The result of the investigations of
this special auditor, by name Juan
Agnado, was that Columbus returned
to Spain to meet thecoldness of the
i
1
i stored to the affections
the indifference of the
But this Jlatrer did
for Columbus, was re
of his pa
trons ; he was clad in purple and fine
finen, and arrangements were once
more made to send him abroad with
another fleet.
It was daring this second voyage
that Columbus discovered Cuba and
supposing that it was the main land
made his crew, even down tothe ca-
bin boy, swear that they had been
members of the exsedition which had
populace and
not last long,
i discovered fhe main land.
Belore Columbus sailed on his third
voyage Ferdinand and Isabella issued
an edict giving a general right to dis-
covery in the new world. Columbus
protested, as it robea him ofa great
share of his spoils bat his protests were
in vain, Bat troubles were accumnla-
ting for Colambus and his brothers.
They were excellent navigators, but
poor governors. There were petty
jealousies, mutinies and outbreaks in
the colony and as a result another aud-
itor or commissioner was sent out by
the sovereigns, I'he name of this man |
was J. Don Fransisco de Bobadilla, an |
officer of the household.
Arriving at Isabella he treated Col
ambns and his brothers with contempt
overthrew their rule and in the end
committed Columbus to prison the
enemies of Columbus inthe
ony rejoiced, but they defeated
their own ends, for when reached Spain
a prisoner and in irons the indignation |
of the public knew no bonads. He
was speedily released. Bobadilla was
reprimanded for his cruelty and the
great discoverer, as a fitting return for |
his shameful treatment was ordered to
appear in the grand hall of the Al-
hambrain the rich robes of hisjexalted
position.
Bat much that Columbus had con-
tended for had been nulifiel by King
Ferdinand who is spoken of as a cralty
shrewd and uascrupulous monarch,
the direct opposite of his amiable and
beautiful wite. Ferdinand not only did
not keep his agreement regarding the
financial share of Columbus in these
discoveries, but he encouraged other
explorers to enter the field. He also
took the government ot Isabella and
San Domingo out of the hands of Col-
umbns and his three brothers and ap-
pointed Don Ovando fo succeed Bo-
badilla and Diego Columbus, When
Don Ovando sailed it was with thirty
ships and 2500 people.
THE LAST VOYAGE.
The dream of Colambus has been to
make enough moaey of his ventures
into the Western seas to equip an
army with which to wrest the tomb of
Christ from the hands of the infidel.
He was a religions enthusiast. and so
was Ferdinand. His appeal for a fleet
to visit the West Indies for the fourth
time was backed up by a vigorous ex-
pression of this desire and he was
again sent forth with four ships and
about 150 men. :
It was stipulated, however, that he
should not touch’ at San Domingo on
his way out, but making an excuse
that his vessels leaked he approached
the settlements of Isabella. He was
ordered out to cea at once. He was
fearful of an impending storm and so
hugging the shore he managed io save
his ships although the caravals in
which Bobadilla and others of Colum-
bus’ enemies set sail with $350,000 in
gold for Spain that day were lost in the
tempest, a fit retribution.
Columbus on his voyage skirted the
coast of Honduras and visited Costa
Rica. - He attempted to land his
brother Bartholomew and a company
of men on the coast of Veragua, but
the Indians drove them off. His ves-
sels were worm eaten and at last he
was compelled to lash two of them to-
gether and draw them up on the beach
near Port San Gloria. Then Diego
‘Mendez started 125 miles’ ina canoe
for help to San Domingo. It was
twelve months before the help came,
and Columbus and his companions
were depended on the Indians for food
all this time. After suffering mutiny
and sickness Columbus at last reached
Spain a helpless invalid. Here he
found that his financial affairs had
been neglected and that the King had
failed to keep his promises. Asa re
sult poverty stared him in the face.
He wrote several letters appealing {to
to Isabella and Ferdimand for justice,
and he was just starting to make a
personal appeal at the court of Isabel-
la when the latter died and his last
hope was gone.
He nevertheless sent representatives
to Ferdinand, among them Amerigo
Vespucel, after whom two continents
were named, but all attempts to obtain
justice and a settlement failed. Brok-
en in spirit, childish, friendless, and in
poverty, Christopher Columbus breath-
ed his last 1n thecity of Valladolid on
the 20 of May, Ascension Day, 1506.
His last words were, “Into Thy hands,
O Lord, I commend my spirit.”
His body was interred in the Church
of Santa Maria de la Anbique, amid
great pomp, It was afterward remov-
‘ed to the monastery of Los Cuevas, at
Seville. In 1536 the bodies of Colum-
bus and his son Diego, were removed
to San Domingo and deposited in the
cathedral.
In 1795, after Spain had ceded that
Island to France, the supposed remains
of Colnmbus were removed to Iavana
with great military and naval display.
But the authenticity of these bones
and ashes as being the dust of the great
discoverer has since been seriously
doubted, owing to the discovery in 1877,
in a vault in the church at San Dom-
ingo, of a leaden coffin bearing all the
marks of being the genuine receptacle
of the remains of Columbus. The con-
troversy over both sets of remains has
gone on with bitterness ever since, the
Academy of History of Madrid going
go far as to pronounce the newly found
casket a fraud and the remains at Ha-
vana genuine.
Ra Tr
——Surer foundation cannot be laid
that the real merit which isthe solid
base for the mopumental success of
Hood’s Sarsaparilla.
col |
The World of Women,
“What is the formula, pro‘essor,
For maidens ‘ap to date 2°
The wise man smiled and quickly wrote,
“3S F9s!
“Pray, what may mean this mystic scroll 1”
Said she the Vassar pert;
“W.y, one part saint and one part sage,
And ninety.eight a flirt.”
— Chicago Journal,
Overgaiters again disfigure dainty
ankles.
There isa rumor in the air to the
effect that cashmere shawls will once
again come into fashion.
Woman is a special dizpensation of
Providence to prevent a man’s conceit
from running away with him.
At Rutgers Woman’s College in New
York City there is a newly created chair
to prepare woman for journalistic work.
i Mrs Croly (“Jennie June’) is to be one
of the instuctors.
A Watteau plaited jacket which is
! very stylish is made of a light drab
fine-faced cloth, just the color of a
i coahman’s coat, and has manly-locking
| pockets in the side.
Miss Elizabeth Ney, of Hempstead,
| Tex., a descendent of Marshal Ney, of
France, will execute in marble the
' statues of a number of Texas heroes for
exhibition at the World’s fair.
, Four women were among the honor-
ary pall-bearers at Whittier’s funeral,
| Mrs. Mary B. Claflin, Mrs. Elizabeth
| Stuart Phelps Ward, Miss Lucy Lar-
| comand Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer.
| Oval faces are rendered especially cap-
{ tivating by a coiffure in which the bair
{ is first waved, then parted in the mid-
die and carried to the back of the neck,
where itis arranged in a low, fiutly
knot, which 1s held by a quaintly-shap-
ed comb.
Mrs, Lewis, of San Francisco, not
only owns tne big schooner Theresa but
she controls it entirely. She is her own
shipping clerk, contract maker, super-
cargo, ‘boss stevedore, purser, supply
steward and repairs inspector, and there
1sn’t a thing done on or about the vessel
which she does not oversee.
The velvet caps, long and short, must
be mentioned, for though not exactly
appropriate for such an everyday matter
as an ordinary promenade, siill they are
80 elegant, so becoming and so in touch
with the other picturesque items of
this season's styles that only commenda-
tion can be given these very new, very
lovely and very expensive winter habili-
ments.
Such a number of blue serge gowns
as one sees, each one so different, too
yet all extreraly attractive and suitable
for street wear. One that was so new
that the basting had been left in places
had a vest and under petticoat ot tan
cloth. The bodice was a roundione
with a little simulated jacket over the
vest and with a belt of blue velvet tied
in a little flaring bow at the back,
These velvet girdles are features of all
the winter gowns, and they are much
more chic than ribbon or metal, though
they donot give the very decidedly
slender appearance to waist that the
others do.
Such delightful littie hats wend their
ways up and down the broad thorough-
fares. Many of them are fur-trimmed,
and almost without exception the broad
Alsatian bow and buckle figure in the
front. The Colonial or Knickerbocker,
with its three points, appears in gray,
blue and brown felt, and looks very
chic and jaunty on a youthful face, but
let anyone past 25 tremble and hesitate
long and doubtfully before they don the
trying bit of headgear. Streamers seem
to have vanished, for which let us give
thanks, and in every particular compact
though picturesque, effects are sought
for rather than such flyaway trimmings
as characterized last spring’s millinery.
Any woman with a black silk house
gown she proposes altering or making,
will find happy suggestions in a model
that appears to combine every advan-
tage. It has the usual simple bell skirt,
with two tiny frills of black and scarlet
ribbon about the edge—the bright 'col-
or underneath. The bodice has a soft,
full front of the silk, dragged skillfully
around so as to make all the folds run
diagonally from right to left. A frill
to match the skirt - ruffles finishes it
about the edge, while a small zouave
of scarlet silk, braided in black, fits over
the bust, and is bordered by a sort of
jabot-like frill of coarse black crochet
lace.
A pretty school suit for sweet 16 is
made of golden brown cloths with a bell
skirt and a blouse waist of red, cream
and pale-brown plaided surah, with a
cape of the cloth lined throughout with
the tartan; a brown velvet girdle, a
frill of the plaided silk on the bottom
of the skirt, and a sailor hat of brown
felt trimmed with a twisted band and a
few loops of the gay silk. This style
may be changed for other colors, as
moss green, navy blue or dabila cloth,
with plaids to harmonize. The gay
lining to the round full cape is exceed-
ingly pretty in effect, and some of the
new autumn capes are finished with a
monk’s hood, which is lined to match
the cape.
Itis at last a fact that the trailing
gown is doomed, one evolution of fash-
ino that should be the occasion for de-
vout thanks in the feminine world.
Hardly one of the new models have
more than two inches of material lying
on the ground in the back, and many
are the same length all around.
. However, what the skirts have lost in
length they amply make up for now in
width. The new cornet shape is full
five or six yards wide an
takes twelve yards of material
silk width to cut it. It is a great com-
fort to walk once more without being
compelled to make frantic grabs at the
back of one’s gown lesiit drag in the
in the dirt or be gracefully unconscious
of the amount of debris that trailing
skirt is collecting.
All the upper garments are made to
tally with these wide, baggy skirts, and
with loose capes and great full sleéves
we will be even more picturesque than
during the reign of the popular bell.
Whether one is as thin as a rail will not
matter this winter in the having of
large hips. Though but on bone, pad-
ding of hair cloth will give the nec-
, essary fulness, and no one but your
tailor or your modiste be the wiser.