The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-07-21
DEATH 0F POPE LEO.. The Last Flicker of Life Expired at Exactly 4;O4 O'Clock Yesterday
 Afternoon.
CARDINALS MEET TO-DAY

CARDINALS MEET TO-DAY WILL OFFICIALLY PRONOUNCE
 THE PoNTIFF DEAD.
 Body VIII Then be Removed to tho
 Throne Room Where It VIII be Em-
 baimsd-After This she Remains wili
 Lte in state in St. Peser's, she Fnneral
 Ceremonies Extending Over Nino
 Days-The Final Resting PIaoe-Last
 Moments of the Ponuff.
 Rome, July 20.-Pope Leo XIII is Is dead. The last flicker of life expired at four minutes past o'clock this af- ternoon and the pontin now lies at rest. s The period of over two weeks that Pope Leo passed in the shadow of death was no less wonderful than his AA%Cs LIS SQiSllQtu& Ddslt6 dS,dluSl QlS- ease was watched the world over with sympathetic admiration and ended only after a series Of tremendous efforts to conquer the weakness of his aged frame by the marvellous will power of his mind. The pleura- pneumonia with which his holiness had been suffering was scarcely so responsible for his death as that inevitable decay of tissue which ensues upon ninety three years of life. The tested steel which had bent so often before. human ills was bound to break at last. Tonight, the emaciated and Iifeless frame which held so brave a spirit, lies on the bed in the vatican beside which almost all the world has prayed. The red danask coverlet rests lightly over the body, the cardinals scarlet cape is about the shoulders, while on his head has been placed the papal hood of velvet, bordered with err mine. A white silk handkerchief is bound about his chin and in the hands which have blessed so many thousands has been placed a crucifix. So, Pope Leo will remain until to@norrow watched by uniformed officers of the noble guard and rough clad Franciscan penitentiaries. who will keep ceaseless vigil until the burial takes place.
 Tomorrow the sacred college of car- dinals will assemble for the impressive ceremony of officially pronouncing Pope Leo dead. After this sad function has been performed the body will be taken to the small throne room adjoining the death chamber. where 1t will be eff1- balnied. The funeral ceremonies will extend over nine days, the remains be- ing removed to the cathedral of St. Peter's, where they will lie in state. The ultimate resting place of the dead pom tiff will be in the magnificent Basilica of St. John the Lateran.
 Pope Leo's final moments were mark ed by that same serenity and devotion and, when he was conscious, that calm intelligence which is associated with his twenty-five years pontifieate. His was no easy death. An hour before he died, turning to Dr, Lapponi and his devoted valet, Pic Centra. he murmured: ''The pain suffer is most terrible. " Yet, his parting words were not of the physical anguish that he suffered, but were whispered benedictions upon the cardi- nals and his nephews, who knelt at the bedside, and the last look of his al- most sightless eyes was towards the great ivory crucifix hanging in the death chamber. Practically all the car dinals now in Rome, kneeling at the bedside, watched the passing of his soul. Earlier in the day Cardinl Seraf1no Van nutelli had impressixely pronounced the dissolution in articulo mortis. The condition of his holiness varied from agony to coma. Wishing to relieve him pr. Mazzoni suggested that morphine should be administered, but Dr. Lap poni did not agree, fearing that the end might be quickened.
 Of this supreme moment pr. Lapponi gives an impressive description. He said: Death occurred through exhaus- tion, although in the last two hours Pope Leo made a supreme effort to gather together all his energies. He succeeded in recognizing those about him by the sound of their voices, as his sight was almost entirely lost. Still he made marvellous display of his en- Ey grand. It was resigned, calm and se- rene. Very few examples can be given of man of such advanced age after SC exhaustive an illness showing such su- preme courage in dying The pontiffs $ last breath was taken exactly at four minutes past 4. approached a lighted candle to his mouth three times, accor- ding to the traditional ceremonial and afterwards declared the pope to be nc more. then went to inform Cardinal Oreglia, the dean of the sacred college who immediately assumed full power and gave orders that the vatican be cleared of all curious persons having nc right to be there. Contemporaneously the cardinal instructed Monsignol Righi, master of ceremonies, to sent the Swiss guards from the Clenentint hall to close all the entrances to the vatican and dismissed all persons from the death chamber, the body being en, trusted to the Franciscan penitentia. ries.''
 Meanwhile events of nomentous i'm pDrtance to Catholic christendom were occurring. The death of Pope Leo mean the passing of the supreme power into the hands of the sacred college of cardi nals, as it's temporary custodian during the interregnum. The, perfect adminis trative machinery of the church provid ed against the slightest interruption O the governing authority. As the seniol