The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-04-29

own request, feeling unworthy 10 die
as the Master had diod whom he had
since deserted.
WHERE ST. PETER DIED.
Speaking OF tho scene Of that crnci-
ilxlon, won. there II bright Sunday
afternoon in company with our. excel
lent consul-genoral here, ex-governor
Dourn, OF Rhode Island, to whom | nm
indebted for many courtcsies during my
stay here, and there we slw tho exact
spot, according to tradition, on which
the cross of st. Peter stood. II is in n
litsle circnlariannex to n church erect.
cd In 1900 for Ferdinand and Isabella OF
Spain, called the cmpietto, in which u
lamp Is always burning over the spot
a vestal fire that goes not out By night
or day-bnt continues on forever like
the lamps that burn in tho great basi.
lica in the presence OF his dust, The
old sncristan wanted TO know II wo
would not like 10 have q little earth.
from down below, from tho spot where
tho cross was onco imbedded. and VIC
told him, OF course, that We would. So
he promptly put down his divining rod,
II ! may 50 call 1t, and scooped up n
little sacred sand which he care.
fully wrapped up in 4 paper and pre-
sented rs II souvenir OF our visit in ex.
change Tor tho half franc that you arc
always expected 10 leave as u souvenir
for him. How many Ions Of sand that
dear old man has thus'disposed OF it
wonld be hard 10 calculate. 1 hope he
didn't 90 and Laugh in his sleeve at our
supposed crcdulity when our backs were
turned.
The evening sun was casting its last
rays over the city az VIC descended tho
laniculum, and we had a beautiful view OF
the Tiber and NIL its bridges and
OF Nll the salient points Of Rome.
Look" said the Governor, and sec il
YOU can detect the sign of smoke
over the whole OF Rome, for certainly
it is cool enough for fire indoors" But
there was no sign OF smoke any
where except at Il single point where
they seemed TO have had n contlagration
OF some sort. No smoke, because there
were no fires Oh any OF the heartl.stones
OF Rome. OF this PECULIARLY | have spok-
en- before. ! sometimes wonder now
a.days what ia the correct thing in re-
gard to this matter Of fire; whether it is
best TO have your house warm rs in
Wheeling or cold as i'm Rome. The
Italian theory is that il you don't have
fire you will never unduly excite tho
normal temperature of tho body and
hence will not take cold when you 20
out OF doors. In other words, that
warmth, save in the matter clothing
should be evolved and not conferred.
They point to the fact hat they live
longer than most other nations, or
in other words, that all tho people alive
in Italy to-day average twenty.oight
years OF ago, while in the United States
the average isOnly twenty-five, and Eng
land only twenty-siN. But l tell them,
in my deIerential way, that there is a
iallacy in this. because their death rate
in Rome is only n point below their
birth rate, and in Naples it is actually
severn! points higher In other words,
it is hero in Italy as among our Indians
in America, q case OF the survival of the
httest. Those who survive childhood
are %toughened, but the toughenine pro-
cess is fatal TO vast number. II the
death rate was lower their twenty-eight
years OF average aSe would be materially
reduced, because there would be more
young lives to count, whereas now they
eliminate those lives and this raises the
average at the othe. end. But us to NIL
this, and in answer to it, they simply
tell you that it is really bette- that tho
weak should be eliminated. which is,
as you may recall, the Malthusian doc
trine once preached in England.
After We had discussed the smoke
and tho health question, and as We
passed near St. Peters on our return,
where: we could SEQ the great Egyptian
obelisk that stands in the court, I felt
almost like stopping and addressing a
few questions TO it, some such questions
for instance as were once addressed to
the Egyptian mummy in the British
museum. (they used TO be in the
fourtl, series OF the McGutTcy readers
when | went to school, Speak num-
my. for thou hast long been silent. Tell
us OF the mysteries within thy keep
ing" So here n might well say, see
ing how Christcndom is divided in
opinion rs to whether st. Peter ever
was in Rome. Speak, obelisk, and
tell us, for at thy very base he was
buried. Speak, and solve all tho N.Y.
stery that attachcsto his fate"