Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-03-10


dinal Rampolla. is carried up anu
down stairs in sedan chair by iour
of the guards. who handle MN as
tenderly as if he were an iniaht.
Everybody else has to walk, and 1t is
long. hard journey. When sus
gested to an eminent prelate that the
climb to the top of the vatican ought
to be counted as penance, ne smlled
| and said that he knew of good many
people who would be glad to get rid
of their sins that way
The vatican is not d single building
but an accumulation oil buildings
stretching over an area of thirteen ana
one-half acres They eyre begun about
the year 300. and have grown gradu-
aIly. The outside length OF the walls
is l,151 feet in one direction ana in'
feet in the other, but they are joined
bv lower walls. which inciose large
garden and park that contains two or
three villas in which his holiness
takes refuge during the heat OF sum
mer. The pontiff drives in the parh
daily when the weather Will permit
and with its winding walks and roads
it is large enough to give him var
iety of scenery, as well as plenty OF
fresh air and exercise.
Since 1870 the pope has been the
oretical prisoner within the walls OF
his palace. surrounded by cardinals
land other functionaries of the church
inviolable and inviolate, for the ltai-
ian parliament. when 1t deprived nm
of temporal authority, was generous
enough to extend to him what Is
known in diplomatic circles as the
doctrine of extra territoriality" over
the building and the park. In other
words. what ever occurs within MS
limits is under the jurisdiction Of the
pope alone. Civil authority does not
extend beyond the portals OF the vat-
can, 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. OF
to exercise any other form of civil
authority. It's precincts are invio'
late. and no man. whatever his creed
can lbOh upon tiidt liloiio'io'' D''''
ing. inhabited for so many centuries
by the venerable men who have ex'
ercised so great an influence and
borne so important part in the his
tory of the world, without the deepest
of interest
Eight grand staircases and POO
smaller ones lead to the upper apart
ments of the building. the highest OF
the greatest conglomeration being
seven stories from the ground. There
, are twenty courts and seventeen chap
els for various dignitaries, 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 Angelo
and his greatest painting, represent
ing The Last Judgment" This pic
! ture is in very bad condition owing
: to the dampness and the cracking ol
the walls SO that some parts of il
can no longer be distinguished
Everybody expresses regret at its con
dition
The Sistine Chapel is associated in
the minds OF newspaper readers and
especially Catholics. with splendid
ceremonies of the church. but they
seldom occur nowadays on account oI
= the great age and feebleness of tht
pope. 1t is standing joke in Rome
, that foreigners, and especially Prost
estants, are always able to obtain tick
cts OF admission to these functions
. while Catholics are not. In a play
, that was performed at one of the the
aters not long ago one of the char
) acters, meeting another. asked where
, he was going.
81 am going to the Sistine Chape
to hear the Miserere,' 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 here
, tic yesterday"
There are 1000 halls and corridors
/ in the vatican and IL 900 rooms, count
: ing everything, the quarters for the
Swiss guards, the stables for the
horses. the storehouses for gardeners
tools. and the mosaic factory and 9th
er workshops, and it is said that ar
| average of 1900 people are employed
under the roof, most of them being
} lodged there. This includes the Swiss
guard
, can testify from personal expert
, ence that the authorities of the vati
: can are exceedingly courteous ant
! throughout in their attentions to Prot
estants who have business with then
or visit the papal palace as tourists
Cardinal Rampolla is especially kind
: in his attentions to your correspond
) ent In 1892 | came to Rome as q
d special envoy from the government
of the United States to deliver to the
pope a letter from President Harri
son and resolution from congress Of
the United States asking his holiness
to participate in the Worlds Colum
J bian Exposition at Chicago. and espec
: tally, in the interest of history, te
cause the archives of the vatican tc
! be searched for records and other doc
uments bearing upon the discovery ot