Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-07-18
POPE Plus X HAS A WILL.
A SENSE OF HUMOR; HATES
POLITICAL COBWEBBERY

ago an American prelate forgot in the
pOpe's library some objects Of devotion
which the pnpe had blessed during his
private audience. The audience was
just over. so the prelate thought he
would return to the library and get,
what he had forgotten. The door was
a1ar through the opening he saw,
the pope on his knees wrapped in pray
er. The pope's prayers were inter-i
rupted by a chamberlain. who ushered'
in more people for the next audiences
and who subsequently told the prelatel
that 1t was the custom Of the holy fa-I
ther to spend the intervals betweenI
audiences in prayer
The pope Ia a very busy man. He,
rises at 8. After a summary toilet he!
goes to his private chapel where his
chamberlatns dress him for the mass,
which he celebrates slowly and with
great devotion. After a frugal break
fast he is ready for his days work. The
whole forenoon Is spent In audiences,
that OF the cardinal secretary Of statel
being generally the first.
Private and public audiences of,
princes. pilgrims and people OF note or
of means follow until l, sometimes z
O'clock e he pope has luncheon.
His cook Is IA Venetian. but the cooking
is limited to the plainest fare on ac-
count of the pope's old malady, govt.
The pope Is generally In good health.
and rs a rule the reports about his
ailments are exaggerated. but lest his
doctors task prove a sinecure he cheer
fully submits to being dieted. Quite re-
Gently after a slight attack Of govt,
when asked about his health the pope
replied: "Thank God l am we'll, butt
l am quite us=i TO the report that I,
am dying"
After luncheon the pope walks In
the garden until sunset. when he grants
more audiences, sometimes as late az
Z or s o'clock in the evening. After
dinner he chats with the members Of
his household. and of late some en-
tertainment has been provided during
these conversation familiari." as
they are called at the vatican.owing to
a talking machine presented to he
pope by an American Catholic at Bal
timore. The pop enjoyed listening to
the music. sacred and profane, but
some of the noble guaros who patron-'
lie music halls made the startling dis
which were quite unintelligible to the
nnt ct I BIZ. heard in thu
papal apartments and Mgr. Maggior-
domo fastened to expurgate the gramo.
phones repertoire.
Plus X. has a keen sense OF humor
n enjoys a joke hugely. Close to the
vatican there is Il small community
OF nuns, mostly very old. the youngest
member past 60. A socialist newspa.i
per in an anti-clerical article attacked
all religious female communities and by
way of a joke said hat the nuns OF
this particular convent were in tho
habit or riding bicycles. Some kind
hearted friend of the nuns showed
them the article. and they hurried in
great t%repidation to Cardinal Merry
del Val. begging him to assure the
holy father that they had been ca
Illuminated and that they had never in
| all their lives ridden a bicycle.
The cardinal was highly amused at
the incident. but he t%ranquillized tho
good sisters and promised hat the
holy father would not give credit to
the story. The same day the cardinal
recounted the story to the pope. A
month or two later the nuns were re-
ceived in audience by the pope. AZ
soon as they entered in his presence
the pope tried to look very angry and
said: "Ah! You are the bicycling
sisters. A fine recreation for uns in
deed. l am ashamed, my sisters. and
grieved beyond measure. How can ono
! reconcile a sanity life OF retirement
with riding a bicycle? And l heard
that you ride in the public streets. DO.
II ride you must. I would advise you
at least to exercise in the privacy Of
your garden"
Seeing the effect his words had pro-
duced on the sisters. who with bowed
heads. still on their knees. were ex-
pecting nothing short of excOmmuni-
cation, ne hastily added: Il am only
joking. my sisters. I knew 1t was all
q calumny. but 1 wanted to tease you
a little"