The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-18
THE POPE IN HIS PRIVACY.
Especial correspondence of the Clevelan
Plain Dealer)

! Especial correspondence of the Cleveland
Plain Dealer)
| Rome, July 26.-Pio Contra is the fac
| totum of his holiness Leo XIII, and a
| very important parsonage in the vati-
can. He is a short, Wiry man, we'll up
! in the fifties, olive complexiOned, close
shaven, with piercing eyes and a be-
nevolent smile. He comes from CarDi-
neto, the native town of the pope,
where Contra lived and sold straw hats
next door to the Pecci palace until
Gioacchino Pecci became Leo XIII,
called him to the vatican and installed
him as confidential valet.
In time Contra became great favor
lite. The pope likes to gossip with his
faithful townsman in the Carpineto
vernacular, d link-perhapS the only
link-of the old home on the hills, and
Contra improved his opportunities and
is now more Of a "fidus Achates" than
of an upper servant He is growing
rich, too, and was lately knighted, so
that he is now the Cavaliere Pho Cen
ira of the papal order of San Gregorie.
He is the first man the pope sees in the
morning and the last to bid the holy
father good night as he helps him to
bed.
An influential man is the Cavaliere
Pho Contra. probably well posted in
vatican state secrets, which would be
worth money were he inclined to blab,
which he is not. This minor star of the
pOntifical court has much to say about
the grand old man, his master.
The pope, he says, IS spending these
hot summer days in the Casino Della
Tore, One-storied cottage, oversha-
dowed by trees, in the further end of
the vatican gardens. In the morning,
when nothing extraordinary detains
him in the apostolic palace, and after
seeing the cardinal secretary of state
and one or two other prelates, Leo
drives to this quiet chalet to spend the
day in the country, as he says when in
a jocular mood. Contra follows, after
seeing that the papal bedchamber in
the vatican has been made tidy, and
after comforting with the cook about
his holiness dinner. The repast is sent
at noon from the palace in a hamper
provided with a heating apparatus and
Contra lays the table, the pope looking
on and inspecting the dishes extracted
from the basket.
Generally the first course consists of
boiled paoste, a dish to which Leo, like
most of the Italians, is very partial
The paste is prepared by the nuns of
Santa Martha and consists of flour
kneaded with new laid eggs and rolled
been slightly boiled, are seasoned with
butter and a soupcOn of grated parme-
san cheese.
Fried chicken is generally the next
dish, and then fruit, preferably a pear,
sometimes two, and glass of wine. A
cup of strong coffee without sugar and
a chat with Contra winds up the frugal
repast, after which siesta on an easy
chair is INDUCED in. Contra takes care
that no noise disturbs the postprandial
nap of the old pope. He and De Castro.
another attendant-the only two who
wait on his holiness in this sylvan re-
treat-speak in whispers and the ST.
lence is supreme, only qualified by the
gurgling of a distant fountain and by
the crickets on the surrounding trees.
At Contra wakes the pOntiff. who
spends the afternoon in reading and
writing, and as the shades of evening
gather he strolls under the trees until
the carriage. escorted by mounted
guardsmen. comes to take him to his
vatican home. where Cardinal Rampol-
la is in attendance with a report on the
events of the day.