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COLUMBUS MONUMENT, PASEO COLON, BARCELONA, SPAIN.

Dedicated May 2, 1888.

(See page 81.)

ury. Issuing a whole set of Columbian notes would involve not only a great deal of preparation but cost as well, and hence, it is proposed to choose one of the smaller denominations, probably the $1 note, for the change. There is an engraving of Columbus in the bureau made by Burt, who was considered the finest vignette engraver in the country. It is a full-face portrait, representing Columbus with a smooth face and wearing a brigandish-looking hat.

THE BARCELONA STATUE.

The historic Muralla del Mar (sea wall) of Barcelona has been effaced during the progress of harbor improvements, and its place supplied by a wide and handsome quay, which forms a delightful promenade, is planted with palms, and has been officially named the Paseo de Colon (Columbus Promenade). Here, at the foot of the Rambla in the Plaza de la Paz, is a marble statue of Columbus.

This magnificent monument, erected in honor of the great Genoese mariner, was unveiled on May 2, 1888, in the presence of the Queen Regent, King Alfonzo XIII. of Spain, and the royal family; Señor Sagasta, President of the Council of Ministers, the chief Alcalde of Barcelona, many other Spanish notables, and the officers of the many European and American men-of-war then in the port of Barcelona.

It was dedicated amid the thunders of more than 5,000 guns and the salutes of battalions of brave seamen. The ceremony was such and so imposing as to be without a parallel in the history of any other part of the world.

The following ships of war, at anchor in the harbor of Barcelona, boomed out their homage to the First Admiral of the Shadowy Sea, and, landing detachments of officers, seamen, and marines, took part in the inauguration ceremonies.

American-United States steamship Winnebago.

Austrian-The imperial steamships Tegethoff, Custozz, Prinz Eugen, Kaiser Max, Kaiser John of Austria, Meteor, Panther, and Leopard.

British-H. M. S. Alexandra, Dreadnought, Colossus, Thunderer, and Phaeton, and torpedo boats 99, 100, 101, and 108.

Dutch-The Johann Wilhelm Friso.

French-The Colbert, Duperre, Courbet, Devastation, Redoubtable, Indomptable, Milan, Condor, Falcon, the dispatch boat Coulevrine, and six torpedo boats.

German-The imperial vessel Kaiser.

Italian-The royal vessels Etna, Salta, Goito, Vesuvius, Archimedes, Tripoli, Folgore, Castellfidardo, Lepanto, and Italia.

Portuguese-The Vasco da Gama.

Russian-The Vestruch and Zabiaca.

Spanish-The Numancia, Navarra, Gerona, Castilla, Blanca, Destructor, Pilar, and Pilés.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT.

The monument was cast in the workshops of A. Wohlgemuth, engineer and constructor of Barcelona, and was made in eight pieces, the base weighing 31 tons. The first section, 22 tons; the second, 24 tons; the third, 23 tons; the fourth, 23 tons; the capital, 29 tons; the templete, 13 tons; the globe, 15 tons; the bronze ornaments, 13 tons; the statue of Columbus, 41 tons; the pedestal of the column, 31 tons; the total weight of bronze employed in the column being 210 tons; its height, 198 feet.

The total cost of the monument amounted to 1,000,000 pesetas. Of these, 350,000 were collected by public subscription, and the remaining 650,000 pesetas were con tributed by the city of Barcelona.

The monument is 198 feet in height, and is ascended by means of an hydraulic elevator; five or six persons have room to stand on the platform. On the side facing the sea there opens a staircase of a single flight, which leads to a small resting room richly ornamented, and lit by a skylight, which contains the elevator. The grand and beautiful city of Barcelona, the busiest center of industry, commerce, and shipping, and mart of the arts and sciences, is not likely to leave in oblivion he who enriched the Old World with a new one, opening new arteries of trade which immensely augmented its renowned commercial existence; and less is it likely to forget that the citizens of Barcelona who were contemporaneous with Columbus were among the first to greet the unknown mariner when he returned from America, for the first time, with the enthusiasm which his colossal discovery evoked.

If for this alone, in one of her most charming squares, in full view of the ocean whose bounds the immortal sailor fixed and discovered, they have raised his statue upon a monument higher than the most celebrated ones of the earth. This statue, constructed under the supervision of the artist Don Cayetano Buigas, is composed of a base one meter in height and twenty meters wide, and of three sections. The first part is a circular section, eighteen meters in diameter, ten feet in height; it is composed of carved stone with interspersed bas-reliefs in bronze, representing episodes in the life of Columbus.

The second story takes the form of a cross, and is of the height of thirty-three feet, being of carved stone decorated with bronzes. On the arms of the cross are four female figures, representing Catalonia, Aragon, Castille, and Leon, and in the angles of the same are figures of Father Boyle, Santangel, Margarite and Ferrer de Blanes.

On the sides of the cross are grouped eight medallions of

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