New-York tribune., 1902-02-03
THE HEALTH OF POPE LEO
ITS REMARKABLE PRESERVATION -
STATEMENT OF HIS MODE OF LIV-
ING BY HIS PHYSICIAN.

ING BY HIS PHYSICIAN
! TFRoM SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rR1srNEI
Paris. January u.
Alarming reports in regard to the health Of
/ Leo XIII which each season have been circu-
| lated with unfailing regularity at the opening
! or the new year have Just been explained and
! satisfactorily disposed of by Commander Lap
! poni, the Pope's physician and intimate friend
| who Of late years has become one of the most
| influential personages at the Vatican. Com
mander Lapponi in the course Of a conversation
! with the Rome correspondent of the ''Caulois''
gives insight into the daily life OF Leo XIII
Il rang the little iron grated door of the
villino where Dr. Lapponi resides" writes the
"Gaulois" correspondent. "and the reception was
extremely cordial. The eminent professor is A
tall robust man, with a large, imposing head.
He has a long. bushy, blond mustache and
his expression is frank and honest I told him
that had called to inquire about the real state
of the Pope's health. DR. Lapponi replied: I
will answer you fully. because / am glad of an
/ opportunity TO show that there is no foundation
whatever for the false mysterious rumors about
the Holy Father-rumors that crop up every
year with strange regularity and at times
when my august patients condition. by a
strange coincidence. is most satisfactory.
Leo Kill both physically and mentally is
in the enjoyment Of a most envable old age.
He is free from the ailments and infrmities
which usually torment persons of his advanced
years His organism is perfectly healthy and
has maintained all the normal and regular
functions. His case is, indeed almost ex-
ceptional in the history OF human longevity.
Scarcely day passes but what he astonishes
me by the lucidity of his mind, the prodigous
accuracy of his memory. and the penetration
of his judgment
g" He recollects the dates, the names and the
faces of the numerous persons whom he receives
at the Vatican. I can even relate numerous in
stances of foreign prelates to whom the Pope
has recalled occurrences that they themselves
had forgotten, and who were astounded by the
old mans extraordinary mnemotechnical pre-
/ cison. Moreover, contrary to the usual phe-
nomenon shown by very aged persons, the Pope
not only recollects things that happened in his
youth, but also remembers with accuracy and
exactness of detail the most recent events and
incidents. Nothing seems to elude his vgant
perception in regard to and events In
short. the brain performs all its functions adj
miraby.
q" The Popes eyesight remains unimpaired. He
wears spectacles. but most of the time espe,
cially when reading, he raises them so that they
rest on his forehead, for he complains that they
fatigue him. Many time have surprised him
/ reading letters and newspapers unaided by his
spectacles. 1t is true that his activity has some
what SlaCkened in the last few years, but he
! nevertheless works regularly six or seven hours
. a day. 1t is precisely this concentrated per-
sistency for hard. absorbing work that at times
causes me some uneasness. on several oc
casions l have ventured to object 10 his working
steadfastly but each time the Pope refused
TO heed my remonstrances, and said that my
anxiety was greatly exaggerated. l am thus
always compelled 10 keep silence and go away
disconterted.
Another matter that worries me great
deal are those audiences, which, in my opinion,
the Holy Father accords with far too great
| lberality Almost every day the Pope receives
several persons in special audience. Talking
greatly fatigues Leo XIII, particularly so during
these grand ceremonials. 1t thus happens that
during the Holy Week the Pope is always
fearfulIy overworked. Last Holy Week I was
in perpetual fear and trembling. Pilgrimages
succeeded pilgrimages in alarming frequency.
Ceremonials were multiplied in profusion. The
admirable old man never for an instant finched.
but undertook the work with extraordinary
moral courage. mental energy and physical ac-
| tivity. He went down 10 st. Peters no less than
seventy times! All ended satisfactorily, how
ever, but l look forward with uneasiness to the
! coming pontifical Jubilee, which begins in
March Nevertheless I have reason to believe
! that on this occasion the Pope will listen to
! the respectful remonstrances of his physician
! and will take greater pains to preserve his pre-
! cious existence.
You ask me for information about the
! Pope's daily life? Very WE'LL will tell You all
| about it, Fourteen years ago I was called to the
/ Vatican and since then l have been in daily,
| almost hourly. attendance upon Leo XIII. Dur
! ing that period the only change in the usual
habits of the Pope's life has been in regard to
| the hour of rising. Until recently the venerable
| Pontin used to get out Of bed at six or half
! past six each morning. But nowadays he is
subject to occasional insomnia, so that not being
! able to sleep more than four five houls in
! the night he does not usually rise until nearly
nine o'clock.
LAS soon as the Pope is dressed ne celebrates
mass which is performed by Centra, his conf
! Dental chamberlain He then takes a cup of
! coffee and milk. sometimes, but rarely
cup of chocolate At half-past nine the audi
ences begin and last until one O'Clock. 1t is
not until two o'clock in the afternoon that the
| Pope takes his first meal which invariably
| consists OF a plate of soup, little white meat
| chicken veal or turkey-some fruit. and small
| glass OF claret and water. On Fridays and