OCR Text |
Show AND NOW COLUMBUS IS DETHRONED. Mr Henry Vlgncud, First Secretary of the United States Kmbasi) at Paris, la quoted na nuthorlty for the facts In a slarhlng article In Everybody's Magazine for June which strips Columbus of his prestige. It shows that Columbus, when In Madeira, ran across four sick nnd worn-out mariners, ma-riners, whose ship drifted Into port, afforded them succor and got from the captain tho history ot their trip, they left Spain with go Is for Tlanders. but a storm heat them steadily west for twenty-nine da)9 and nt last they found refuge among somo strange Islands, people b) naked savages, these Island being wholly unknown to tho navigators of that da) With thla narrative nar-rative the rnptnln handed Columbus n chnrt, of which he subsequent!) made much use lhen the voage of dls-covery dls-covery (a rediscover), It perhaps ought to be called) was undertaken, Columbus Colum-bus gave way to disappointment and went lo pieces vvhen half way across and sailed around almlessl) for several das till Plnzon, his second In command, com-mand, took charge and compelled the obrervance of un orderly course to the west. The discovery of San Domingo was made, which tho dlscoveicra supposed sup-posed to be India. Mr Vlgnaud vigorously vigor-ously maintains that the pretended knowledge of the earth claimed by Columbus Co-lumbus came afterwards, and that It vv as full of errors, ' his cosmogony such as any sailor of a llttlo education might construct." The story of the dead captain and his chart, which Columbus had copied, the assertions of the Cuban natives that they had seen white men before, were nil laid to Jealous) Jeal-ous) His claims were laughed at long nnd loud by tho people In hpaln, they deceived no one His claims to having Corresponded with Toscunelll nre scouted, scout-ed, and the alleged letter of that scion-list scion-list to Columbus Is pronounced a forgery, for-gery, nnd the chart an anachronism These charrea were found by tiartholo-new, tiartholo-new, brother to Columbus, to be In circulation cir-culation before Columbus returned from the secon 1 voyage, nnd he 'pro. tested Indignantly that Columbus was not nn Imrostor nnl Ingrnte" Pity It Is that he had to make such a protest, which Is not much better than nn admission ad-mission The forgeries on which Co. lumbuan claims are based were given b) Don I.uls, grandson nf Columbus, to I.as Casas ns genuine documents, nnd he accepted them as such In spite of the fact that the Uo)aI Attorne)-Gen. crol of Spain had rejected Don Lulss claims to revenues haied on his fath. era discoveries, on the ground that Columbus had nnt re flly discovered anything All the historians have followed fol-lowed I-as Casas and so the world for four centuries has been heaping undeserved unde-served honors on an Ingrate and friud Ah well' Its the way of the world, and Columbus couldnt complnln even If he knew, for he has had a long lease of fame whether deserved or not. |