Barcelona. Spanish rulers are elated at the success of Columbus in reaching the Indies. According to reliable reports, the Genoa-born Italian will be given the title "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" as a token of gratitude. It is also said that plans will be made immediately for founding colonies in the lands Columbus visited. Government officials predict a new age of expansion and prosperity for Spain.

Palos. Citizens of this port doubt the truth of the story that the Queen had to pawn her jewels in order to finance the voyage of Columbus. The cost was not great, and local merchants paid some part of it. Columbus received about a dollar per day for commanding the expedition, and members of the crew were paid about ten cents a day.

Rome. Scholars here herald the voyage of Columbus as the beginning of a new age. Some reports state that the Pope will issue a statement confirming the Spanish claim to the lands Columbus visited.

Lisbon. Although the Portuguese recog­nize the importance of the voyage of Co­lumbus, their enthusiasm is tempered by disappointment. They have spent half a century trying to reach the Indies by sail­ing around Africa; to have the Spaniards meet with success on their first attempt comes as a blow to Portugal's pride.

London. Trade, colonization, and an en­larged navy are the chief topics of con­versation in this capital. Some English leaders regret that Columbus did not sail under the flag of England, but others insist that the flag under which he sailed is a matter of little importance. Authorities generally agree that England will profit from the discovery and that Spanish claims of ownership in those lands will cause little concern here.

Oslo. News of the voyage of Columbus received scant attention here. The Italian sailor is looked upon as no more than a belated traveler who claims to have discov­ered a land which Norsemen visited five hundred years ago.

Caddo Indian Village. The wise men of the Caddoes have little interest in the fact that a few Europeans have made their way across the Eastern Ocean. They be­lieve that the ocean will prove to be too great a barrier for the Europeans, and that the Indians need do no more than continue their traditional policy of isolation.

Genoa. The successful voyage of Co­lumbus has brought great rejoicing to this city of his birth, but with it has come a very real fear that the discovery of a water route to the Indies will put an end to the monopoly on trade with the East which Italian cities have long enjoyed. Some predict that the discovery marks the end of the golden age of the Italian cities and foresee a long period of decline.

COLUMBUS  REACHES INDIES BY SAILING WEST

Barcelona, 1493. The safe return of Christopher Columbus from his ocean voy­age to the west has amazed all of Europe. His recent arrival at Palos aroused greater excitement than has ever been known in Spain, for virtually no one believed, when he sailed away last year, that he would ever return to these shores. There is great rejoicing that to Spain belongs the glory of finding a water route to India.

Columbus and his expedition of about ninety men sailed from Palos on August 3, 1492, and did not see land again until Oc­tober 12. A leader less determined than Columbus would probably have failed, for many times during the last weeks of the long voyage, his sailors threatened mutiny. They feared that the vessels might fall off the edge of a flat earth or that great ocean monsters would devour them.

Under the sponsorship of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Columbus set out to find a western water route to the spice-rich lands of Cathay and the Indies. Convinced that he had reached islands off the shores of Cathay, he returned to Spain with several Indians, as he calls the dark-skinned inhabitants of those islands, as well as exhibits of the plant and animal life there. He has reported that cotton grows well there and that gold can also be found.

The vessels which made the great voyage are the Nina of forty tons, the Pinta of fifty tons, and the great Santa Maria of one hundred tons. Only two of these returned to Spain, the Santa Maria having been wrecked on a sandbar in the Indies. The people Columbus found when he reached land were greatly impressed with the size and beauty of the vessels. They also mar­veled at the strange clothing and pale com­plexions of the visitors.

When he appeared before the King and Queen, Columbus had with him several Indians with gold ornaments and spears and armor. His sailors carried birds of rare and beautiful plumage and odd-looking animals. The sailors speak enthusiastically of the lush vegetation, even in the winter months, in the lands they visited and of the fragrant trees and flowers and singing nightingales. The Indies indeed seemed like an enchanted land.

When they landed on those distant shores, Columbus took formal possession of the land in the name of the rulers of Spain. Wherever he went afterwards, he erected a cross and again claimed the land for Spain.

Many Europeans will accept the success of Columbus in finding land on the west­ern side of the ocean as proof that the world is round.