Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-10-02

Cardinal Parocchi is at the head Of
Pope Leo's chancery, from which
emanate all public acts of the holy
father, and is directly concerned with
the Vatican's relations to foreign
states, it being his duty to authenti-
cate the pope's every public act and
all documents issued under the
authority of the church.
| You know" said his eminence,
that the pope is an ardent chess
player. The royal game is the holy
fathers chief amusement nowadays,
and his regular partner, Pater Giulio.
| a Dominican monk of great wisdom
and sunny temperament, who holds
the position of master of chess in the
palace, told me only me other day
that old age doesn't interfere in the
least with his holiness cleverness as
player; on the contrary, though
pope and monk have now been play
ing against each other for twenty
three years, it is still undecided
which of the two is the other >
superior at chess.
| LUZ, oo was SO1uS W say, COLI
! tinued the cardinal, Pope Leo has
real sporting blood in him. Up to his
fortieth year he was a great hunter.
and to this day there is not a game
mentioned in the magazines or news
papers that he doesn't take an in
terest in.
"Of course, his dignity would not
allow him to engage in amusements
outside his own apartments now, but
IN the days of his cardinalship
etiquette was less burdensome, anu
the then Count Pecci made good use
OF his liberty. I once saw him play
poker-and he beat us right royalty
assure you.
"The pontiff and my self have been
friends for the last forty or fifty
years or longer. When l was arch
bishop OF Bologna and the holy father
held the same dignity in Perugia,
both of use being cardinals at the
same time, we often met in friendly
intercourse. All, those were the hap
piest days of my life, and perhaps also
those of Pope Leo.
| We'll, one day, in September, 1874,
we met at the sanctuary in Vernia,
high up in the Romagna mountains.
At the time the sanctuary was cele-
bratlng the Tooth anniversary of it's
foundation, and we both longed to see
the spot where st. Francis of Assist
| bent his knee and acknowledged
| Gods greatness and goodness. Both
Cardinal Pecci and myself had never
been in that part of Romagna, which
then had only half as many inhabj
tants as now. We went to the
sanctuary by invitation of the abbot,
who, with his monks, were well
known for the hospitality they ex-
tended to rich and poor alike.
After breakfast Cardinal Pecci
proposed to view the art treasures of
the sanctuary, and we remained for
some time in the church, where his
/ eminence delivered an impromptu
lecture on the reliefs decorating the
walls, which he ascribed to the great
Della Robbia, arguing Interestingly
and convincingly that no one but
Robbia could have done them in such
perfection. The natural leader of any
| congregation Of men, he next pro-
posed an expedition into the noun
tains, telling us how he enjoyed
mountain climbing as boy, and
while still belonging to the lower
clergy. All, those days of Carpinetti
he sighed, when I was young and
vigorous, and deemed a three or four
hours climbing a mere bagatelle.'
Cardinal Pecci finally induced
some OF the younger preIates to ac-
company him up the mountains, and
they actually reached the highest
point thereabout, the Penna peak
Returning, the cardinal alone, though
the others senior by many years
was ready to report on the trip The
rest were so fatigued that had to
withdraw for a time
Next morning we found that the
temperature had undergone a sudden
change. 1t had grown cold for the
| season and the rain came down in
| torrents. There was no use trying
| TO get away, neither was there any
thing that We could do save hearing
Mass and looking out of the window,
for the monks possessed no library
and, the majority of them being I'M
educated men, they didn't know how
10 make conversation. Cardinal
Pecci didn't like it at all; to waste
whole day in iuleness without amuse-
ment or mental recreation of any sort
| seemed sinful to him.
AT last Somebody have tor
| gotten Who-proposed game q
cards.
L looked at my friend, famed and
| even little feared for his severity
and strictness, but the supreme non
tiff that was to be had only th,
klndl1est of smiles for the man who
attempted to Danish dreaded ennui.
Why not?' he said, before anybody
could protest. ANY amusement is
preferable to idleness.' At the same
time he looked inquiringly at the
abbott, but the reverend gentIema
shook his head. 1t was against the
regulations to keep playing cards or
other games in the monastry But
will ask the lay brothers, he said
anxious to please his eminence: 'one
of them may know where such an
article might be obtained
"a few minutes later he returned
with a novice, who said that grocer
named Perdutto, living lower down
the mountain, and reputed to be
passionate gambler, could probably