The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-03-01

thorities of the Holy See, for the Pope
is still sovereign and judge within the
precincts of the Vatican.
The thieves. were tried in proper or
der and condemned to various terms
of imprisonment. the Pope granting Il
full pardon in every case. The only
punishment they actually suffered was
immediate discharge. but every dis
charged man or woman received two
weeks wages in advance. These sums
were paid out of the Pope's private
purse. and many of the repentinC sin
uers even went away with his bless
ings after making confession at st.
Peters and craving the Pope's pardon.
Thus their fault became a source of
material and moral advantage to these
miscreants.
TEN TONS OF DIRT A DAY.
Those visitors of the Vatican who
may have remarked on its spOtless ap-
pearauce will be astOnished to learn
that during the first twelve or thirteen
weeks of cleaning 10000 pounds of dirt
were removed daily from the halls,
chambers, staircases and corridors.
This amount of dirt included cObwebs,
broken glass and stuCcO. nails. bits OF
paper, cardboard. rags and other rub
bish was collected in bags and carted
to one of the rear portals, where d
contractor took charge of it. receiving
a stated price for every WagOnful. This
contractor. a smart fellow had the
rubbish sorted, and made a little for
tune out of the sales 10 paper mills and
other establishments. He also found
considerable jewelry. particularly gold
buttons. that may have belonged to
uniforms for dress of state. and that
had become bIackened by age and dirt
so that the sweepers failed to recognize
their value.
But" said the Major Domos re-
port. that dirt swept out of the win-
dows was certainly equal to the
amount carried out Of doors. Some
times the air was black with dust from
the tops of old wardrobes, shelves and
cornices.
Many faithful Irish. always generous
friends of the Holy See, had combined
to contribute something towards the
Vatican house cleaning. and sent a gift
of eighty bales of hannelS. which the
Pope received with much pleasure, not
on account of the value, but because
of the thoughtfulness of the Irish
friends. Eighty bales of house flanneIs
seems lot. but even that immense
quantity didn't suffice though not q
rag was wasted says the Major DomO.
/! Twenty more bales had to be ordered
in Dublin. and arrived, together with
a telegram from the Archbishop. say
ing that his faithful were collecting
money to augment their previous gift.
Leo was pleased that this offer Of SER
vice came too late. The Irish are good
to the little old man. he said, but
| they are poor. and We mustn't allow
their generosity to run away with
their judgment God bless them"
TWO THOUSAND SCRUBWOMEN.
The numerous women that made up
twO-fifths of the Pope's army of clean
ers were on their hands and knees six
months out of the eight-when they
| weren't carrying water. They never
| had such a continual siege of scrub
| bling i'm their life. How industriOusly
they worked is shown by the fact that
they used up from 1000 to 200 scrub
| bling brushes weekly, likewise 5000
pounds of soap and 1000 pounds of
soda
The brooms were principally handled
by men-after the first week there
were only 5000 sticks left. As the work
| proceeded fewer brOoms were used up,
but never less than 1000 a week
The Major DOmOs report says that
the dust lay in some apartments fully
an inch high the workmen being
obliged to put cotton in their ears and
nostris and cloth before their mouths
ere they commenced to sweep. Such
dirt accommodations were found princi-
pally on top of and behind tall pieces
of furniture difficult to move and
which the ordinary servants, content
/ with the mere appearance of things,
/ had neglected shamefully."
| The official doesn't say so, but one
can read between his lines that he
charges the prevailing insanitary con-
| ditions to the absence of the female
element in the palace. Men servants
are good to polish up" he says. but
| they seem never to go to the bottom
( of the evil
/ The work of the cleaners cost over
1,250,000 francs-probably the largest
/ sum ever spent to set a house in order
/ without rebuilding and refurnishing it.
! But even if the report noted should
| prove exaggerated or altogether false.
| the money spent on this housekeeping
of eight months duration. conducted
/ by 10000 busy hands and superintendent
| by 700 overseers, is we'll invested, for
all jewellers in the great beehive viii
| reap it's benefits by enjoying better
| health and greater comforts.