The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-11-19
BOMB IN St. PETERS
Exploded Near High Altar Of
Rome's Famous Church
During Services.
CONGREGATION is uNHURT

Panic Caused by Noise and Smoke, but
Worshipers Leave Without Injury.
Fdifiee Little Damaged by Petard.
rope imPlores Mercy For Perpetra-
tor Of Deed, Who Escapes.
Rome, Nov ia. bomb was ex-
ploded near the high altar in ST. Pc
ter's during the services. The edifice
was crowded, and an indescribable
scene of confusion followed. No one
was hurt.
AS soon as the echoes of the tre-
mendous roar had ceased canon
sought by reassuring words to quiet
the people, but in vain They fed in
all directions, and number of women
tainted Women and children scream
ed, and men tried to protect their
families in the crush. The church is
so large, however, that there was am
pie room for the crowd to scatter No
trace of the perpetrator of the deed
has been found
Since st. Anacletus, who was ordain-
ed by Peter himself erected an oratory
in 80 A. D., on the site of the present
basilica to mark the spot where the
remains of ST. Peter are buried, no
such dastardly occurrence is noted in
the annals of the church. 1f
Church Well Filled.
The priests were celebrating the an
niversary of the dedication of the
basilica to st. Peter, and it was bounti-
fully decorated for the occasion. Holy
relics were exposed, and large num-
Der of the faithful attended the sery
ices. Cardinal Rampolla, formerly pa
pal secretary Of state, was among
those present The last mass had just
been concluded when the explosion oc-
Cured, and only one canon, who had
not quite finished, remained at the al
t1r of Gt Tetronila. This altSr is at
the ert ef the right aisle, and it was
near hire that the bomb had been
piaced
As tie canon turned to bless the
ccnGa-icants there was tremendous
roar which echoed through the lefty
arches of the immense dome like g
E,unoerclap. At the sane time d nse
cl~kc spreed throughout this portion
OF tie basilica, and a strong odor of
gInpcwder filed the air. Confusion
ard a-ic at once seized the people,
wLo Ied from the church
%7orchipere All Uninjuret.
As soon ae the smoke cleared avs6y
hasty examination showed that neb~dy
had been hurt in the crush, I'D fur
thermore no oKe had been wounded by
the explosion. Calm was gradually
restored, and people returned to view
the extent Of the damage. !
1t was discovered that the bomb had
been plAced under d scaffolding which
had been erected to facilitate repairs
to the roof exactly o71l the celebrated
tomb of Clement XIII, by Cancva.
The tomb was found to be uninjIred,
and even the pavement shows scarcely
any signs of the explosion.
Every piece of the bomb that could
be found was gathered up by the police
and carefully examined. The bomb
evidently consisted of a large tin box
bound tightly together with wire of
two sizes 1t must have contained
over two pounds of gunpowder ard
three pounds of nails. The nails were
of three sizes, some seven il.ches long
and SO heavy that the force Of the ex-
/ t1.% .lSo =;
tance. The nails were enveloped in
newspapers dated Nov. Is and II.
Officials Notify the Pope.
The pope was engaged in his regular
noons hour devetions when the bomb
went of. He heard a mufiied sound
which surprised but did not alarm him.
Mgr Misciatelli, subprefect Of the
apostolic palaces, and Mgr. Bisleti,
majordomo of the Vatican, at once hur-
riedly entered the pontfff's chamber.
They were so pale that the pope i'm
mediately asked, What has happen
! ed?"
| "Do not be alarmed, holy father"
| was the answer "A bomb has ex-
/ ploded in the basilica, but fortunate
ly there are no deaths to deplore and
40 one has been wounded.
The pontiff asked anxiously if the
church had been injured Upon being
reassured, he fell on his knees, saying
he must implore mercy for the mis-,
guided perpetrator of the deed.
A report had been spread abroad
that the pope intended to visit st. Pc
ter's to pray before the tomb where
the outrage was committed, which
drew an exceptionally large crowd to
the basilica. This rumor was un-
/ founded.
Work Of an Anarchist.
/ This bomb explosion makes the third
anarchist outrage in Italy In four days,
the other two being the murder of Pro
fessor Rossi in Naples on Saturday
and the explosion of bomb in front
Of the Cafe Aragno in this city on Nov.
II. The attempt at ST. Peters has
caused deep seated and universal hor-
| ror and indignation on account of the
locality selected by the miscreants, and
the resentment of the people is very
1 great.
ST. Peters is the greatest basilica in
1 Chrisfeudom. 1t took $50 wears in fhe.