The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-04-15
BITS OF GOSSIP ABOUT THE ETERNAL CITY
The Church, the People,
the Legends and
the Town.

ROME-There are so many singular
Rome that the ordinary conversation
of those who know it's history makes
good reading. If the newly arrived
scribe is at loss for suggestions, he
has but to keep his ears open during
meal time at the pension. The first
time I sat at his table, the loquacious
Signor LEONARDO kept up running
fire of gossip which I am sure will
prove as interesting to my readers as
it did to me. For instance:
Roman maids and matrons insist
upon having a carriage drive each
pleasant afternoon, even if the family
has to economfze on food to afford the
outing. This extravaganza dates from
the time when it was customary to
insert in the marriage contract
clause making it compulsory for the
husband to take his wife out driving
for two hours each day that the
weather permitted. Sometimes a COM
promise is made with poverty, and the
ing every other day. Two families
with more ingenuity than funds. alter
nately use one carriage, each having
q pair of doors to the vehicle bearing
their ancestral coat of arms. A fash
ionable hotel in Rome is dubbed 1.-THE
Matrimonial Bureau" because the
management arranges introductions
and promotes marriages between rich
American girls and the broken-down
nobility of Italy.
WHEN FASHIONS WE'RE MADE.
Scipio was the first man to shave in
Rome, thus being the founder of the
BARRIERS craft. Although he invented
the trade which now affords a liveli-
hood for so many men. have never seen
his bust in a tonsorial parlor. Ability
TO start fashions seems to have run
in Scipio's family, because it was his
daughter who boosted of her sons
when other women Haunted their
jewels. While the pride of motherhood
is undoubtedly deep-rooted in the
hearts of most women, few have ever
found such an apt way to express the
same. One may well conclude that the
love of display is not a modern fad,
for did not Augustus have 5000 slaves?
His wife, Livia, had 600 attendants to
wait upon her alone. Included in her
staff of dornestics was a governess for
her pet lap dog. The next time you
see a female making over a poodle,
remember how the fashion started
that the first woman to mother dog
was a slave and did not fulfill the
Office from choice, but was made to
shower upon it the affectionate atten-
4icn that is very beautiful when be-
1,r1t f.
ing when diverted to an animal.
BY a strange coincidence the people
of the United states are linked with the
memory Of the last Pope and identified
with the reign OF the present one.
When Leo XIII was dying he was told
that prayers for his recovery were be-
ing said in the protestant churches of
America The old man smiled feebly
and whispered that is my greatest
consolation" A party of American phi
grims arrived in Rome just before the
new Pope was elected, and were d.
rectly in front of him when he made
his first appearance in st. Peter 5.
They held up the Stars and Stripes 10
him and it was the first flag he blessed.
The physical strain upon the Pope Is
great Even his devotions are weary
ing because in a mass which lasts half !
an hour he repeats PSI times the Latin |
words meaning: ''The Holy Ghost, |
Jesus Christ, keep thy soul in eternal |
life
POPE DIMES WITH SISTERS.
According to q long established GUS
tom no one is allowed to eat with the
Pope. Leo XIII. had a brother VINO
was Cardinal, and although he fire.
quently happened in at meal time, was
never allowed to eat at the table. nor
IN even have a glass of wine. The
present Pontiff broke this rule the day
after his election by inviting his sisters
10 dine with him. and they continue
to accept his hospitality at intervals.
The fisherman's ring has been referred
to nv hundreds of writer's and has been
seen by thousands of callers at the
Vatican. 1t is claimed that this relic
was actually worn by st. Peter ana
each of his successors up to Leo Mil
1t was the custom to reset 1t Tor each