Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 134, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 June 1915 — CRADLE of the NEW WORLD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CRADLE of the NEW WORLD

TO students of early American history, Santo Domingo city Offers perhaps the most interesting field that can be found in the two Americas. No other city was so closely associated with the fortunes of Christopher Columbus; no other city can offer such a commentary on the fallen fortunes of the great admiral or the colonial policy of the Spanish crown, says Theodor de Bovy in the bulletin of the PanAmerican Union. On entering the excellent harbor formed by the mouth of the Ozama river it does not require a great effort of imagination to harken back to thq olden days of the conqulstadores. A large fortress frowns from the western bank of the river, and even today challenges the bold invader. The gayly painted houses with their massive walls and their queer roofs made of bricks present to the modern traveler a startling contrast to his usual landscape. By looking closely one can see on the western bank of the river the remains of the first Spanish settlement on the south side of the Island of Haiti. This first settlement on the eastern bank of the Ozama river was short lived, as the Spaniards soon found it too unhealthy there for their comfort. Accordingly, they moved over to the opposite higher bank and founded there the present city. Of the original settlement nothing remains but the ruins of a small chapel and of some other buildings. Overlooking the river, and within a short distance of the mouth, can be

seen what is locally called “Lfc Casa de Colon,” the house of Columbus. This, however, was not built by Christopher Columbus, but by Diego Colon, son of the great admiral, some short time after a marriage had been contracted between Diego and Maria de Toledo, a niece of the duke of Alva. In consequence of this marriage Ferdinand of Spain returned to Diego the full powers and titles at one time possessed by his illustrious father. Diego Colon went to Hispaniola in 1509 with all the powers and prerogatives of a viceroy and built for his court a large fortified palace, the ruins of which even today give one an idea of the pomp and circumstance affected by the conquerors. Famous Cottonwood Tree. No visitor to Santo Domingo city is allowed to depart without having been shown the cottonwood tree to which Columbus is said to have tied his caravels when he entered the mouth of the Ozama. Whether or not this tree really served this purpose in the admiral’s time would be a hard matter to prove or to disprove. Local legend has it so, and a storm of indignation would break over the head of the doubter or the scoffer. At any rate, the tree looks old enough to make one inclined to believe the story and has been preserved from further decay with cement and a tin roof covering the affected parts. Santo Domingo is a walled city, and the greater portion of these walls still stand, almost as strong as when they were originally built. Massive gates at different points allow access to the city, and one is struck by the small- sentry boxes surmounting the battlements. To the seeker after memories of the great Genoese one might advise, first, a visit to the cathedral. Fronting the cathedral, on the plaza where biweekly the excellent little band of the Ozama battalion of the Dominican army gives a concert, can be seen a statue of Columbus In the symbolic attitude of pointing to the west, as if perpetually reminding one of his discoveries. He is standing by a capstan' upon which lies a chart, and he holds a pair of compasses in his right hand. Unlike the usual ran of states, the observer is Impressed by the noble attitude of the subject

Preceding a visit to the cathedral one should first call on the “mayordomo,” Senor Don Jesus Maria Tomasso, under whose charge the treasures of this edifice are guarded. It would I be hard to meet a more charming or cultured gentleman, or one whose knowledge of local history is greater. Senor Tomasso has at his fingers’ ends the history of the cathedral from the time of the building of the edifice to the present day, and a visit to this church, and more especially to the mausoleum of Columbus, which is in it, is not worth while unless one is accompanied by this worthy man. Senor Tomasso can tell of the completion of the cathedral in 1540; he can show the interested visitor the original wooden cross which in 1514 was erected upon the site where the cathedral now stands; he can tell one of the damage done to the cathedral by Sir Francis Drake when this noted British freebooter and his followers besieged the capital city of Hispaniola. The cathedral is rich in many treasures and possesses some noted paintings, amongst others a Madonna by Murillo, but undoubtedly its chief treasure is the remains of Columbus. Remains of Columbus. At the present time these remains are inclosed in a crystal case, which in turn is contained in a bronze casket, resting upon four massive marble columns, the whole surmounted by a magnificent white marble mausoleum, with bronze tablets depicting the various scenes in the life of Columbus. The mausoleum is surmounted by a

life-sized marble figure, representing the guardian spirit of the Dominican republic watching over the mortal remains of the great admiral. Perhaps the most interesting ruin existing today in Santo Domingo city is the San Nicolas church and hospital, built in 1509 by Nicolas Ovando in honor of his patron saint. While the first small settlement in the new world, Isabella, on the north coast of Hispaniola, boasted of a wooden chapel, and the second settlement, on the east bank of the Ozama river, had a stone chapel, the church of San Nicolas in reality is the first consecrated edifice that was built in either the northern or the southern part of the newly-discovered hemisphere. Nicolas Obando, when viceroy of Hispaniola, built this church and dedicated it to San Nicolas, but a short while after this he completely lost the favor of his royal patron ip Spain and was recalled, which recall was probably due to the regal pretense with which he held court in Santo Domingo city. After this there is little record that the church was used, which can be accounted for by the fact that Ovando was in disgrace and his church in consequence was not in favor with the sycophantic element in Santo Domingo city; and also because the larger and more Important cathedral was then practically completed. The San Nicolas church was allowed to fall into rains, but enough remains today to show the handsome outlines of this once splendid building and its imposing proportions. Outside the City of Santo Domingo, on the modern “carreterra,” or carriage road, one can still see today one of the oldest Spanish forts built in America, in an excellent state of preservation. It would be easy today to imagine this fort peopled with Spanish conquistadores, armed with halberts and arquebusses and protected by ponderous steel caskets and breastplates. a Even the moat surrounding this castle is still existent, and in the evening it would nqt require a wide stretch of imagination to hear the ghostly boom of an old six-pounder answering from its battlements the detonation of a far-away gun fiipd from the ramparts of the fort on the Ozama river.