Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-07-21

death as that inevitable decay of tissue
which ensues upon SO years of life. The
tested steel which had bent so often
before to human ills was bound to break
at last. Tonight, the emaciated and
lifeless frame which held so brave a
spirit lies on the bed in the Vatican
beside which almost all the world has
prayed.
| 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 it will be en-
balmed. The funeral ceremonies will
extend over nine days, the remains be-
ing removed to the cathedral of St.
Peters, 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 We're
marked by that same serenity and devo-
| ton, and, when he was conscious. that
calm intelligence which is associated
J with his % years pontificate. His was
no easy death. An hour before he died.
turning to DR.. Lapponi and his devoted
valet, Pho Contra, he murmured: THE
| pain | suffer is most terrible" Yet his
parting words We're not of the physical
anguish that he suffered, but We're
whispered benedictions upon the car
dinals and his nephews, who knelt at
the bedside.
! OF this supreme moment, DR.. Lap
| er;r xdaCnrintion
He said:
death occurred through exhaustion,
although in the last two hours Pope
| Leo made a supreme effort to gather
together all the energies. He succeeded
| in recognizing those about him by the
sound of their voices, as his sight was
! almost entirely lost. Still he made a
1 marvellous display of his energy and
even his death was really grand. 1t
was resigned, calm and serene. Very
| few examples can be given of a man
of such advanced age after so eXhaus-
tive an illness showing such supreme
| courage in dying. The Pontiff'S last
| breath was taken exactly at 4 minutes
| past 4. / approached a lighted candle
to his mouth three times, according to
| the traditional ceremonial and after
wards declared the Pope to be no more.
l then went to inform Cardinal Oregla,
the dean of the Sacred College, who
Immediately assumed full power and
gave orders that the Vatican be cleared
of all curious persons having no right
to be there. Contemporaneously the
cardinal instructed Mgr. Right, master
of ceremonies, to send the Swiss Guards
f~nro % l.11I oIoc Ill
entrances to the Vatican and dismiss
ell persons from the death chamber.
the body being intrusted to the Fran
clscan pententiarieS.
AS the senior member of the Sacred
College, Cardinal Oregia, to whom the
Pope, today, solemnly confided the in
terests of the church, has now become
the opponents of the cardinals until
Pope Leo's successor has been elected.
Ihis has brought forth Cardinal Oregiia
as the striking personality of the hour.
The cardinal is the exact antithesis
of Pope Leo, having none of the late
Pontlff S sympathetic and benevolent
characteristics. He comes from noble
Pledmontere stock and his nobility is
SHOWN in his naughty and austere bear
ing. He is not popular among his col
leagues or the Romans and his brusque
manner has earned him the title of THE
PIEDMONT Bear
lie is tall and robust and his "a years
are shown by the whiteness of his hair,
hls face has the tawny hue of old
parchment and is deeply lined. Despite
MS austerity, the cardinals learning
ana piety are universally recognized.
inns is the man who for the time being
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