The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-01-19
Pontifl, Cardinals and Other Func-
tionaries Supreme Within
Palace Premises.
THE sTATEMANsHIp OF RAMPollA
Pspal Secretary Of State lmpresses Visitors
With His Force Of Character ard
Graceful Dignity. Policy
in Philippines.
(By William E. Curtis.)

Especial Correspondence OF the Cnlcago-
Record Herald.l
Rome Dec 20.-Cardinal Rampolla, the
papal secretary of state, and. next to
lie church today, lives at the top of the
Vatican, and his visitors are required to
climb 1863 marble stairs. There are no
elevators in that venerable building, al
though it has recently been fitted with
electric lights at a cost of $4,000. 1t
looks queer to have cluster of electric
bulbs hanging over an altar, but you can
see this anomaly at the headquarters of
the Catholic church The Pope, whose
apartments are Immediately below those
of Cardinal Rampolla is carried up and
down stairs in a sedan chair by four or
the guards, who handle him as tenderly
as if he were an infant. Everybody else
has to walk, and it is long, hard jour-
ney. When | suggested to an eminent
prelate that the climb to the top of the
vatican ought to be counted as penance,
he smiled and said that he knew of
good many people who would be glad to
get rid of their sins, that way.
lie vatican is not q SlH5lS
but an accumulation of buildings, stretch
ing over an area of thirteen and one
half acres They were begun about the
year $780, and have grown gradually. the
outside length of the walls is 1,151 feet
in one direction and 767 feet in the other,
but they are joined by lower walls, which
inclose large garden and park that
contains two or three villas in which his
summer. The pontiff drives in the park
daily when,the weather will permit, and
with its winding walks and roads 1t is
large enough to give him a variety OF
scenery, as Well as plenty of fresh afr
and exercise.
Since 1870 the Pope has been a theo-
retical prisoner within the walls of~his
palace. surrounded by cardinals and the
other functionaries of the church invio-
liable and inviolate for the Italian Par
lament, when it deprived him of tenn
poral authority, was generous enough to
extendtohims WIN tbs known in diplomatic
circles as the doctrine of extra terrific
riality'. over the building and the park.
Insother words. whatever occurs within
its limits is under the jurisdiction of the
Pope alone Civil authority does not ex-
tend beyond the portals of the Vatican,
and that limited area, perhaps thirty
acres in all. is still under the temporal
as well as the ecclesiastical authority of
the pontiff. No civil officer can enter
the Vatican to make an arrest or serve
legal paper. or to exercise any other
form of civil authority Its precincts are
inyiolate. and no one, whatever his
creed can look upon that monstrous
building. inhabited for SO many centu-
ries bv the venerable men who have ex-
ercised so great an influence and borne
so important a part in the history OF
the world. without the deepest of inter-
est
Eight grand staircases and 200 smaller
ones lead to the upper apartments OF the
building, the highest of the great con-
glomeration being seven stories from the
ground. There are twenty courts and
seventeen chapels for various dignita-
ries the chief of which is the Sistine
Chapel. where the Pope performs mass
on special occasions, and which is also
famous for the frescoes of Michael An
gelo and his greatest painting, repro
sentng 1.-The Last Judgment This pic
ture is in very bad condition owing to
the dampness and the cracking of the
walls, so that some parts of it can no
longer be distinguished. Everybody eX-
presses regret at it's condition.
The Sistinc Chapel is associated in the
minds of newspaper readers, and es-
pecially Catholics, with splendid ceremo-
mics of the church, but they seldom oc-
cur nowadays on account of the great age
and fecbleness of the Pope. 1t is a
standing joke in Rome that foreigners,
and especially Professionals, are always
able to obtain tickets of admission to
these functions. while Catholics are net.
In play that was performed at one of
the theatres not long ago one of the
characters meeting another, asked where
he was going.
Il am going to the SiStine Chapel to
hear the Misercre," was the reply.
@You will go in vain. The Swiss guard
will turn you out
'There is no danger, brother; | am
certain to get in. / turned hereto yes
tcrday.
There are 900 halls and corridors in
the Vatican and II 900 rooms, counting
everything the quarters for the Swiss
guards the stables for the horses the
storchouses for gardeners tools, the mo-
sale factories and other workshops, ant
it is said that an average of 1900 people
are employed under the roof, most o.
them being lodged there. This includes
the Swiss guard.
| can testify from personal experience
that the authorities of the Vatican are
exceedingly courteous and thoughtful II
their attentions to Protestants who have
business with them or visit the papa
palace as tourists. Cardinal Rampolli
is especially kind in his attentions t
your correspondent. In 1892 ! came t.
Rome as special envoy from the gov
ernment of the United States to deliver
to the Pope letter from President Har
rison and resolution from the Con
gress OF the United States asking hi:
txy--