| Show manfo anto DOM dominco ingo t jh AA ii A mf t A 4 i W v remains of a celba ceiba tree in santo domingo to which columbus moored his ships ship prepared by national ar lo 10 society washington t D C service ser v dark unmarked santo domingo till thus harbor into which columbus three diminutive vessels balled in 1402 1492 soon will be lighted by a new ne lighthouse a memorial to the great discoverer have already been chosen from those submitted by architects re representing presen ting tile the united states and several countries of europe although now modernized santo domingo still retains much of its early spanish aspect oldest in the new world and first to be established by white men in america Ameri call are phrases of inevitable recurrence in any descriptive list bitet of the historic buildings and ruins of this ancient city the early colonists built for or the centuries and many edifices dating from the sixteenth century are still in use the ministry of foreign affairs and other departments of 0 the dominican government occupy the old colonial palace of government a spacious structure that was venerable long before the first buildings rose at jamestown va surmounting a bluff which commands the entrance to the inner harbor rises the ancient tower of homage unshaken through the centuries this pioneer outpost of new world conquest seems to dream of the golden age when it guarded the key city of the far flung dung empire of spain in america in the tower Is a small barred aperture that sometimes Is pointed out as the window of the cell in which columbus was imprisoned before being sent hack back to spain in chains a statement that cannot be true since columbus imprisonment tools took place in 1500 when the city was situated on the opposite bank of the ozama river the same hurricane that destroyed the homebound home bound fleet in 1002 1502 so damaged the city that it was decided to rebuild it on the higher western side of the ozame the site it now occupies house of the admiral of the buildings now in ruins one of tile the most interesting Is the castle of diego colon or house of the admiral the ancestral home of the columbus family in america its construction st was begun in 1509 when diego columbus second admiral and son of the discoverer came to santo domingo doming go as governor of the afie colony the house was occupied by members of the columbus family until the death of another diego great grandson of the discoverer and last of th the direct line of ills his male descendants Alt although liou h the house of tile the admiral almiral has bas been allowed to fall into ruins with its destruction further hastened by the vandalism of treasure seekers it historic walls will bear mute festl testimony to its former magnificence it was to this and other pretentious mansions or of the city that tile the chronicler oviedo referred when in a letter to the king of spain he said that his royal roial highness often lodged in palaces far interior inferior to those of santo domingo and added that he considered consider e d the city superior to any in spain in its location beauty and arrangement fifty years sears after its founding santo domingo had passed the apex of its first glory interest in the new n pw colony was eclipsed by desire for further conquest and its meteoric rise was almost equaled by the rap rapidity of its decline F from rom a goal oaf santo domingo became a base for expeditions farther w westward es cortez pizar ro and ponce de loon leon were ollya few of the gentlemen adventurers who sailed out of the mouth of the ozama with their eyes strained for the glitter or of gold on the western horizon by the power of santo domingo had so waned that the capital fell an easy prey to sir francis drake and a ransom was extorted by methods smacking of the torture chamber each tiny proscribed buildings were demolished until about a third of the city lay in ruins then the citizens managed to scrape together a going away present amounting to about 00 with which drake took ills his leave after hanging a few prominent citizens by way of valediction of less stern caliber were the warriors of tile the admiral renn penn expedition which in 1055 1655 wa was sent to the island by cromwell with the object of gaining permanent possession of tile the colony 0 landing on the coast west of santo domingo city the english forces were met by determined resistance in their advance on the capital and were soon glad to leave Hi and some prestige by seizing tile more defenseless colony ot of jamaica battle of the crabs according to legend the defenders of santo domingo were here aided by strange allies and along the beach near jainti the site ot of the traditional battle of crabs Is still pointed out the story runs that the invading forces encamped here one night with their nerves on edge from constant am ambuscades ambus bus cades and surprise attacks they mistook the clattering of the large num number her of land crabs hereabout for the hoof beats ot of charging cavalry and they were soon retreating pell mell between 1730 and 1740 the population of the capital fell to about five hundred but fifty years later it was again riding on one of its high tides of 7 greatness as a spanish colonial city only to be overtaken within a decade by another period of adversity now after more than four centuries of varying fortunes and despite siege earthquake and tropical hurricane the brave old city stands defiantly at the mouth of the ozama a little bewildered perhaps as if undecided whether definitely to capitulate to the march of modern progress or wait patiently a little longer for galleons gal leons long overdue in the last thirty years the capital city has spread far beyond the limits of the old town one with a romantic turn of mind could wish that the streets in the old part of the city had been allowed to retain their original names but these have nearly all been re christened in honor of men and dates prominent in the history of the republic of tile the old names only the street of isabel the catholic remains and much of its romance Is dispelled by the policemen who briskly shoo automobiles along the narrow thoroughfares visitors may hunt a long time for a horse drawn coche in which to drive about and ana view the city but when one of the few left in commission finally Is tracked down they lack the moral courage to charter it for fear of being thought eccentric or worse it just done any more ashes of columbus there the chief pride of the dominicans Is their faith that the ashes of christopher columbus rest within their cathedral at santo domingo in 1795 1705 spain having ceded santo domingo to the french removed what its boffl officials c believed to be the ashes of the great discoverer to havana upon the evacuation of cuba by spain in osos the spanish government moved the havana remains to seville spain but in 1877 while the santo domingo cathedral was being remodeled another vault containing a leaden cas casket ket was v as found As soon as the casket surface appeared everything ever thing was sealed and in the afternoon the 1 president and its his cabinet the members of the diplomatic corps the bishops and apostolic delegate and many others 0 assembled to witness the completion of the excavation and tho the opening of the casket outside out Is ide and inside were found inscriptions script ions which boar bear alike the name find and the titles pf af christopher columbus all present including even the spanish consul joined in a notarial affidavit of the circumstances of the opening of the vault and casket and the description of their contents the late american minister thomas 0 dawson davson pronounced the evidence complete and the late american secretary of state philander lander C knox knot on ills his visit to santo domingo in 1912 declared that any impartial court would sustain the contention that all that Is mortal of the Fouz ilder of the new world W orld rests within the cathedral at santo domingo charles 0 dawes united states ambassador to great britain while in santo domingo in 1029 1020 as the head of a commission to work out a budget system for the dominican government made a study of the evidence and reached the same conclusion as minister dawson daw son and secretary knox knot one of the trost most tragic experiences in the history of santo domingo occurred in the afternoon of september 3 1930 when a hurricane swept over the cap capital ilal outside the walls of the stricken city the devastation was practically complete inside the walls 70 per cent of the buildings were damaged and practically all of the smaller homes were destroyed upwards of two thousand people were killed and sli six thousand were injured |
