PAGE SIX
HERALD AND NEWS, KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1958
FINAL TRIMMING AND SORTING is done In the cache yard at the Ken-Dell Christmas
tree ranch at Tennant. Here a party of foresters, timber operators and educators are
shown on an inspection tour of the 5,000 acre operation. -
Historian Solves Riddle Of Columbus
Editor's Note: Where are the
last remains of Christopher Colum
bus? In the past century, h i s
bones have been claimed by three
different cathedrals in three dif
ferent countries. Now, Columbus'
foremost biographer, Pulitzer
Prize-winning historian Samuel El
iot Morison of Harvard University.
Iters a solution to this intriguing
mystery. The following dispatch
consists of excerpts from a chapter
Morison has contributed to a book
on the Dominican Republic which
the University of Santo Domingo
will publish next year.
By REAR ADM. SAMUEL ELIOT
MORISON ISNR (Ret.)
Vailed Press Interaaliaaal
Christopher Columbus died in
1306 and was buried at Valladolid,
Spain. In 1509 his remains were
removed to the monastery of Las
Cuevas in Seville; and beside him
his son Don Diego was buried in
1526.
At the insistence of Dona Maria,
the Discoverer's widow, the re
mains of father and son were re
moved to Santo Domingo, in what
is now the Dominican Republic.
For convenience in transit the
bones and ashes of each were
placed in a small lead casket
They were interred before the high
altar of the Cathedral of Santo
Domingo.
There the mortal remains of the
Discoverer and his son remained
unmarked and undisturbed until
1795, when Spanish Santo Domingo
was ceded to France. The then
Duke of Veragua. unwilling to
leave the ashes of his distinguished
ancestor under the French repub
lican flag, obtained permission to
have them disinterred and trans
lated to Havana, Cuba.
The excavators, starting in the
center of the Capula Mayor before
the high altar, working toward the
north wall, found a disintegrated
lead casket with human bones and
ashes. On the assumption that
these were the remains of Chris
topher Columbus, they were placed
a new casket and reinterred
in the Cathedral of Havana.
It is these remains that were
again transported overseas in 1898.
to Spain, where they now rest in
a monument in Seville Cathedral,
with an inscription stating that
they are those of Christopher Columbus.
In the meantime, in 1877, when
the presbytery of Santo Domingo
Cathedral was being enlarged, a
vault was found next to the north
wall, and in it a lead casket,
upon which was the inscription
"C C A" (Cristobal Colon, Almir
ante). Inside the lid was an in
scription which, translated into
English, said: "Illustrious and fa
mous Gentleman, Don Cristobal
Colon."
Inside the casket were found
bones and ashes and a silver plate,
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upon which was an almost oblite
rated inscription, in bngusn, mis
said: Final part of the remains
oi the First Admiral, Don Cristo
bal-Colon the Discoverer."
The casket w-is opened, and the
inscription examined, in presence
of the Archbishop, the diplomatic
and consular corps and other dis
tinguished gentlemen. There is no
doubt in this writer s mind that it
contains the veritable remains of
Christopher Columbus, and that
Havana (and subsequently Seville)
got those of Don Diego, his son,
by mistake.
The ashes of the Discoverer now
rest under a handsome monument
in the Cathedral of Santo Domin
go. After the completion of the
remains of Christopher Columbus,
Discoverer of America, first Vicer
oy of the Indies and Admiral of
the Ocean Sea.
No Newfangled Stuff
For Horseshoe Plant
By EVERETT R. IRWIN
JOLIET. 111. UPD Luke Bene
dick, 76 years young and tough as
the horseshoes he helps to manu
facture, spat disdainfully in the
general uirecuon oi ine new aicci
rolling mill.
Broke down again." he grin
ned. "Stopped more than it's run
ning. Damned machinery!"
He spat again and pointed
proudly to his own crew guiding
long bars of molten steel by hand
through successive molds that nar
rowed and lengthened the fiery
snakes.
"We keep rolling," he said
proudly.
Benedick, for all his years, is
head roller of the Phoenix Manu
facturing Company's horseshoe division.
He and some 60 colleagues are
dedicated to the sometimes ques
tionable proposition that the
horse is not vanishing from the
American scene.
Chris I. Lennon. sales manager
of the division, reckoned that
Phoenix fashions 90 per cent of
the nation's supply of horseshoes.
If they re a dying breed, the
horseshoe makers are in no hurry
to write their own obituaries.
Benedick, dean of the crew with
almost 63 years of horseshoe roll
ing behind him. is 200 pounds of
muscle. His helpers look equally
hearty, though a dozen have been
with the company more than 45
ears and most of the others have
been turning out horseshoes at
least 30 years.
Joseph Gregorash, at 50 one of
the "youngsters," beamingly told
a reporter he had been feeding
"blanks" short lengths of rolled
steel ready for final bending into
the same furnace for 35 years.
Gregorash pointed to a tilted
mirror at the far end of his fur
nace. It was improvised 15 years
ago so the feeder could adjust his
pace to that of the workman who
takes white-hot blanks from the
furnace and puts them into a ma
chine that bends them into horse
shoe shape.
The mirror is one of the lew
changes that have been made
the essentially hand - operated
process since Phoenix was found
ed 76 years ago. The only othA
bows to progress are the use ot
electric power in place of steam
and the addition of an electric
welding machine to attach toe
calks.
Faced with a steady decline m
horseshoe sales. Phoenix gradual
ly added other products and built,
under the same roof with the
horseshoe mill, the modern, auto
matic rolling mill.
The big mill isn t used to maK
2 horseshoes, Lennon explained.
because it isn't economically feas
ible to change molds in it as often
as they must be changed to make
the shoes.
The company turns out more
than 300 sizes and styles of horse
shoes, compared with about 725
during the heyday of the horse.
But horses and mules still come in
assorted shapes and sizes, and the
plant produces horseshoes ranging
from six to 45'i ounces in weight.
California buys more horseshoes
than any other state. Texas ranks
second. The Army, which bought
4,400 kegs as recently as 1945,
no longer is a customer.
Benedick admitted sadly that
times have changed.
"We rolled as high as 125 tons
A NEW TREE from an old -stump is the principle on which
commercial Christmas free operators work. This picture
shows the idea. One branch has- turned up from the old
stump and formed a "new" tree. This one has been given
a "poodle dog" trim and will produce a grade one tree
in a matter of another two years.
SMALL CHRISTMAS TREES are formed into bundles in the
"yard" operation at Ken-Dell prior to bundling for shipment.
This shows one of the forms used in packing the small trees.
Worst Drought Since 1849
Viewed As Mixed Blessing
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) Cal
ifornia farmers looked with ap
prehension today at an autumn
drought, the worst since the gold
rush days of 1849.
The drought has proved to be
a mixed blessing. On one hand, it
has enabled farmers to harvest
such crops as cotton, citrus, avo
cados, dates and olive, and to
plow and sow for next spring's
crops.
On the other hand, cattlemen
have been buying feed to make
up for a lack of range grasses and
citrus and vegetable growers have
had to irrigate. Rain is needed
soon for wheat, oats and barley
a day for shoes back in 1913-14,"
he said. "Maybe 15 tons in a good
day today."
He recalled that he played
hookey from school to start work
as a billet boy at 13. "Made 50
cents a day, he said. "The guy
that does my old job now gets
$16 a day, has a helper yet and
think's he's working too hard."
seeded in dust in anticipation of
uioibiure.
Agricultural experts said the
situation is not yet serious, but
they said rain had better come
before much longer. And the
Weather Bureau had no consola
tion. It predicted dry .and fair
weather through the weekend,
with temperatures in the- low 70s
for jnuch of Northern California.
In the Sierra Nevada, only one
moderate snowfall has been re
ported. A brind new skilift at Mt.
Shasta, which opened Nov. 15 with
no snow on the ground, was said
to be losing heavily.
Runoff from the spring snow
pack is the principal source of
California's water supply. How
ever, it rained so much last year
that reservoirs have enough wa
ter to take care of this year's
needs. It may be a different story
for areas that depend on natural
water.
Only .30 of an inch of rain has
fallen in San Francisco since
July 1. Normal to date is 4.71.
Last year, 6.55 inches had fallen.