The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-01-19
THE WIN. II. BLOCK co.

half his age and many times his strength.
Just at this season Of the year he is unusu-
ally busy, not only receiving visitors, but
reading and answering kilograms and let
terS of cOngratulatiOn. Up to the close or
business hours Yesterday, the day before
Christmas, he had received and read more
than $500 cOngratulatory kilograms ana
letters, and il was necessary for his secre-
tary to explain many of them to him and
answer his inquiries concerning the posi-
tons and the relations of the persons from
whom they came, because he insisted upon
knowing all about them. Even this, as YOU
may judge, was quite an undertaking for
a mar of ninety-two years of age.
LEO'S KINDNESS.
That his mind is bright is illustrated by
the daily experience of those who have bus
mess with him, and his memory is said to
be as retentive as ever. He also retains his
sense of humor and INDUCED in a quiet lit
tie satire not long ago at the expense of a
most estimable and pious member of one of
the royal houses of Europe. This lady, who
fancies herself an artist. painted his por-
trait upon a piece of canvas, leaving a
blank place at the bottom in which she re-
quested him to write his autograph. When
the picture was received it was such an
atrOciouS caricature that the members of
the papal household determined to destroy
II, but the Pope would not permit them to
do so. Taking his pen. he wrote in Latin
this inscription: ut is 1; be not afraid.
Leo MIL"
\ good deal of time is wasted by the poll
ticians of the church in counting the days
of the years he has lived and specializing
as the the possibilities of the future, and
the reasons why his blessed and useful life
has been spared SO long. The doctors say
that his appetite and digestion are excel
lent, although he is very frugal in his diet
and limits himself TO a few ounces of
food and wine daily; his circulation is
normal and all his organs are perfect. l
am assured by a physician who sees him
frequently and is constantly consulted by
DR.. Lapponi. his regular medical attendant,
that the Pope is entirely without disease,
and that his vitality Is extraordinary for
a man of his age. He has so little flesh
that il would be difficult for disease TO take
hold or him. Nothing but his soul and his
will are left.
One of the archbishops who saw him yes
terday said that he is almost aetherial. and
that his hands were actually translucent as
he held them up to pronounce the benedic-
ton. The doctors predict, however, that his
light will be eXtinguiShed very suddenly
when the time comes, and without suffer-
ing. His physical machinery is SO delicate
and so worn that any of the parts are liza
BILE to snap at the slightest shock, exposure
or fatigue. He is nursed as carefully as a
newborn baby. DR.. LappOni sees him ev-
cry day, and sometimes twice a day, and
everything that medical science can sug-
gest is adopted to prOlOng his life.
a great deal has been printed about the
unhealthy climate of Rome. and particu-
larly OF that bank of the Tiber where the
Vatican stands. 1t is said also that the
palace is i'm an unsanitary condition.: that
the drainage is imperfect, and that the
waste pipes have not been Overhauled for
many years. The Pope lives in the most
modern portion of the building. and the
plumbing was renewed with modern de-
vices about twenty years ago. His apart
ments are very high. above the cornice of
st. Peters, and the building rests upon a
rock. The garden in which he takes his
exercise is on a rock hillside, as healthful
and as beautiful a place as can be found in
the midst of any city.
A HEALTHY PLACE.
The inmates of the Vatican, who average
more than 1900 persons. young and Did. ara
~singularly free from illness. Although the
population is as large as many towns, the
mortality is exceedingly small. There has
been no death among all this great force for
several months. and nearly ali of the deaths
that have occurred there during the current
year have been due to old age.
Plus TX lived until his eighty-ffth year
after eight years in the Vatican, while Leo
XIII has not left its walls for twenty-three
years. Yet he has surpassed the years of all
the other Popes. which superstitious Ro-
mans consider a miracle. The astrologers
set the end of his life in 1892. All his prede-
cessors in this century-Pius VII. Plus
VIII. Plus TX, Gregory XVI and Leo XII
obeyed the laws OF astrology. Leo alone
has escaped. New calculations give him
eight years more OF existence, and spare
him until he has lived a century.
why fatter myself?
Fate urges thee into the dreadful path of
death.
Why promise myself pleasure and hope for
long years.
While he was papal nuncio at Brussels ne
was dangerously i'll of typhoid fever, and
for days was not expected TO recover. Dur
ing his entire life he has been considered
a man of very delicate constitution. and
hence has been compelled TO take good care
OF himself. Indeed. he was not expected
TO live long when he was elected Pope, and
the opposing candidate. with whom he had
a tie vote, consented upon his election upon
an understanding that he hould have the
next election, which everybody considered