The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-15

W IL
Rome Letter in New York Sun.
Yesterday was a great day. To begin
With. It was Easter, which is something
o,srvwhere. but a good deal more in
por,e. Also, there wasn't cloud in the
sky After it has rained-in sunny Italy
for forty days and forty nights, as it has
this spring, .cloudless sky gives one a
new lease of life. Finally and best of all,
We saw the Pope.
To see the Pope is the open or secret
W sh of every visitor to Rome. Creeds cut
no figure in the matter. Protestants seem
n be as eager as the most devout Cath
olIcs Many a good orthodox contributor
to missionary work in Roman Catholic
countries has planked down $40 or even
go to take himself and his wife into the
vatican just for good square look at
leo XIII Some good Catholics have
cheerfully paid their own money for the
same purpose, but as a rule the Catholics
can secure this privilege in less oues-
tionable, as well as less expensive, man
ner
There are two ways open to an Ameri-
can who wants TO see the Pope. He can
try to secure from the rector of the Amer
lean College in Rome a letter of recon-
mendation to the maestro di camera of his
holiness and take his chances of getting
from the latter a ticket of admission to
a general audience. Or he can buy from
his hotel porter, If the latter has one a
ticket which has been obtained in some
mysterious way and which ranges in
price from SO to $40, according to Nhe de-
mand This sale of tickets has become so
general this year that there is good deal
OF sCan0al about it. Nobody seems to
know exactly where the supply comes
from. Some of them are undoubtedly
counterfeit. Others are confiscated by the
porers For instance, tickets are delivered
at the hotels by one of the papal messen-
gers. An INSCRIPTIONS porter does not
hesitate, after agreeing to deliver them
to the persons for whom they were in
tended, to appropriate them to his own
use and perhaps sells to people, at a good
round figure, the very tickets which had
been sent to them. There are no names
on most Of the tickets and this simplities
the trade
Others say that a good many tickets
are issued to the converts, which then
sell some and get quite little revenue
from the sale At any rate, the men
Of authority in the Church profess to
be highly scandalized by the business and
would like to put ii down, but they do
not seem to be meeting with success.
The other avenue of access co the Pope
is pretty effectually barred against the
ordinary applicant, above all, if he Is 4
Protestant. Mgr. O'Connell, the rector
Of he college, is a most agreeable man,
who would doubtless be glad to crafty
all his countrymen with a sight of the
Pope. But when they come by the thou
sand his power of saying mo- gets all
the exercise IL needs. Every Monday
and every Wednesday morning the Mon
signor receives visitors, and for three
hours there is a constant kicking of heels
10, fIr.J g,rr aud yfa Ixr
procession through his drawing room.
Downstairs, when the impatient feet beat
a nervous tattoo on the tiles, people ex
change condolences as to the pull they
mean to exert to secure tickets. Some
have letters from the consul one or two
have q note from the ambassador and
are inclined to be snlppy to the rest, three
4 women, whose gowns and grammar are
equally incorrect for the occasion, have
letters from archbishops. Later they
have their revenge on the naughty ones
who fancy that an ambassador counts for
more than an archbishop. Just now they
are meditative and one OF them says from
the depths of her brown study:
IF he is nice to U.S." meaning Mgr.
oConnell, I'm invite him to dinner"
When the people, get upstairs and face
to face with the rector in his scarlet
edged gown and his silver-buckled slip
pers, they make their little pleas with
pathetic eagerness. One woman says.
Il With takes all through her remarks
II came to see If by any possibility
4 you could help me to get ticket TO see
s tho Pope"
I'm very sorry, madam, but 1t is very
nearly impossible. Have you any letters
to me?"
No. but come from the strong city of
Philadelphia"
Are you Catholic?'
NO but my grandfather-the priests
We're very fond OF him.
But the poor lady's popular grandfather,
4 even combined with the strength of Phila-
& delph!a failed to pull her through. An
Il Other one had better luck. She came with
cut letters because as she said, the trip
4 Wse unprecedented. Monsignor made the
same protest that he had made to the rest
Then he said:
Are YOU a Cathoic?''-
Yes, a convert"
"Oh; then perhaps I can do something
a for you" And he gave her the letter to
the maestro di camera.
q After the procession had ended. he sigh
q ed YEARLY and said that he had received
q so far this season at least 10000 applica-
tions in writing for tickets, in addition to
Il the semi-weekly personal invasion of Wis
81 it0rs.
apparently every American who comes
to Rome wants 10 see the Pope" he said,
but I wish you could impress it on peo-
81 ple that 1t is useless, as rule, TOT tnenl
to come to me unprovided with letters.
a As the number of tickets is limited, more
81 over It is but right that Catholics should
n be considered first That is only fair,
II though would gladly give tickets to all
who come provided they come in re-
spectful spirit"
After one has received the coveted let
ter Of recommendation from Mgr. O'Con-
nell It must be taken to the Vatican and
left with the maestro di camera If he
sends the tickets for an audience they will
come the day before the event Is to take
place. Yesterdays audience was an
noanced for II a. m. in the great hall over
me portico of st. Peters Before we
could really reach the audience chamber
we mad to run the gauntlet of guards and
Inspectors galore. First, at the great
bronze doors which form the public en-
france to the Vatican. were the Swiss
Guards in full dress uniforms of red and
setow and black, as If a sewing school
nau cut these colors into strips, sewed
mem together and then had the blind pu-
ps make bags of the crazy quilts that
resulted, one bag for a blouse and one for