The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-03

$ S-Aa
 the Burning Votes, the signal That
 No Choice Has Been Mads-Rumor a
 Ons Time That New PontiR Had Been
 seieeted-Attempts to Get In Com
 munioation with the Vatican Fail.
 Rome. Aug. 2.--No successor to Leo
 XIII has yet been chosen From the
 smoke which issued from the little
 chimney on the Sistine chapel tonight
 a vast multitude gathered around St
 Peters learned that tie second day of
 the conclaVe had been fruitless. The
 conclusion is drawn that the strength
 o8 the leading candidate remains un-
 broken and that no compromise candi-
 date has yet appeared. And there is no
 indication of how long this condition of
 affairs will continue. The prolongation
 of the contest has aroused tremendous
 public interest. if indeed it cannot be
 called excitement. Every trace of that
 apathy which followed the death of the
 late pope has vanished and instead
 there now exists a burning interest in
 everything pertaining 10 the election of
 his successor. Tonight this culminat-
 ed in the appearance of a great crowd
 which packed the great square of St.
 Peters. and presented a spectacle sell
 dom seen. The impenetrable seclusion
 which shrouds those engaged in determ-
 ming who shall be at the head of the
 Roman Catholic church heightens the
 aniesf {
 their decision. Princes, princesses,
 archbishops hishops. monsignors, priests,
 well to dc business men, in short people
 from every walk in life, talk of nothing
 but La Sfumata (the smoke from the
 burning ballots). But this morning and
 this evening this was the lodestone which drew tens of thousands to the
 square of St. Peters. There for hours, with strained eyes and craned necks, they waited in the hope Of seeing a tiny steam of smoke, so insignificant that it was almost impossible to realize that great issue was involved in it's leeting appearance.
 The scene of St. Peters tonight was by far the most impressive that has oc- cured in Rome since the late pope be- came ill After the fruitless morning ballot a belief spread that a new pontiff would surely be elected this evening.
 All roads during the afternoon led to the vatican. Carriages and vehicles of every description rattled into the piazza of St. Peter's. The regular Sunday lei- sure. was forgotten in the anxiety to see the new occupant of the Holy See. The streets converging into St. Peters became black with tsousands who en-f tered the square like the ceaseless flow of an incoming tide. From the bar racks came large reinforcements of troops who marched across the piazza and lined up at the foot of the steps of the basilica, leaving only small spaces between the companies in order to pre- vent a sudden rush to get inside St. Peters to witness the new pope giving his blessing to the Catholic world. A strong force of cavalry vas picketed nearby in case of riot and over 2,0O0 soldiers were posted in the square. But the troops made only an insignifi- cant, thin, blue line compared with the vast multitude around them. By 6 o'clock 1t was estimated that 50,000 peo- l pie occupied the vast amphitheater. | From the steps of the basilica, which were black with those standing or sit ting, across to the opposite side Of the square there stretched, far as the eye could see. an undulating sea of hunani- ty with every face riveted on the Sistine ] chapel waiting for the smoke of ballots. ] Almost encrclings this great audience I rose the stately pillars of the Colonnade, beneath which many rested and waited. Nearby hundreds of cabs were drawn up. their occupants eagerly gazing through glasses at the little smokestack of the chapel. Stretching away for over a quarter of a mile, a distance from which 1t would have been absolutely inn possibie to see the smoke were other thousands waiting to know the result The rays of the setting sun glancing srorn the dome of St. Peters lit up housetops st the opposite end of the scuare and these also were crowded with anxious watchers. Among the vast tlrong in the square itself were many German students whose scarlet cossacKs formed vivid patches of color When the hour of six struck a trenor os expectancy ran through the multi tude because according to yesterdays the burning of the ballots or the announcement of an election would come within few minutes. When the quarter hour sounded the nervousness increased and large number of off, cials of the vatican, not engaged in the conclave, emerged to watch the con course.
 As the hand of the clock of St. Peters approached the half hour runlor that a selection had been made developed, in the minds of many, into certainty and each one momentarily expected some favored cardinal to be announced as the new pontiff. The crowd might | almost have been one In some American city awaiting the result of a presidential ] election, but with this striking differ ence--rlo solitary sign had come as to how the vote had been going at the polls Another quarter of an hour pass ed and the anxiety grew more intense. Not a breath of air relieved the sultry heat of the evening and scarcely a sound came from the vast multitude. Hundreds gathered below the window from which the new pontiff is to be- stow his first blessing. Suddenly, exact- ly at $40 p. m. sharp cry arose. "Ec- co Ecco." Instantly the cry was taken | up by 50,00o throats and grew and grew until the immense piazza fairly roared | with ,,TTnco F,rro La Sf11mafa D. Then