Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-25
POPE Plus REMAINS
IN VATICAN PRISON
Count Pecci Insists, However,
Uncle Has Several Times
Left the Precincts.
Special Cablegram to The Star.

Special Cablegram to The Star.
ROME, August 24.-The usual ea-ser-
pent tale of the SILLY season" this year
has taken the form of report accord
ing to which Plus x has broken the ira
ditional Imprisonment of the Vatican and
gone out in the dead of night to visit his
sister Rosa, who was seriously i'll from a
stroke Of paralysis.
With this statement is the inevitable
denial, but the Italian press is divided
into two camps, very busy finding and
presenting to the public evidence support
ing the contradictory assertions.
The fact in itself has special impor-
lance for Italy and Italians. because it
must be remembered that after the fall
Of the temporalpowe in 1870 the one
form of protest chosen by the Pope against
the new order of things. which deprived
him of his kingdom. his capital and the
apostolic palaces with the exception of
the Vatican and of the Lateran, where
he used to live, has been that of shutting
himself up in the Vatican and considering
himself the prisoner of Lsurpers.
Agreed to Observation.
XIII and Plus X, in accepting the tiara,
u.
The late Pope, however, did not be-
heve that the rule should be interpreted
in the narrow sense that he should con-
slider himself bound not to set foot out
side the Vatican under any circum-
stances whatever. He looked upon the
prohibition in the sense of avoiding go
ing out with sOlemnity and officially, as
that would have meant the recognition
Of what had occurred in 1STO-that Is, a
,,,,i., Too, ,s<xk%e oh,
On the contrary, he believed that if a
Pope went out privately and secretly
without causing scandal-to use phrase
which was current-that this did not
contravene either in letter or in spirit the
rule established by his predecessor.
Count Camille Pecci, a nephew of Pope
Leo XIII. who is well known in America
through his marriage to wealthy Cuban.
has given assurances that his uncle, aft
err having been elected Pope. went three
where he wished to take from the family
archives papers which only he knew
where to find. In addition, for reasons
Of the same kind. soon after his election
he went at night to the Palazzo Falconieri
in Rome, where he lived when he was a
cardinal.
Farther Than Sisters Home.
The Palazzo Falconieri is in the historic
Via Giulia, the most important thorough
fare in Papal Rome. 1t was designed
by Bramante, and is not far from the
Vatican, but farther than the habitation
of the sisters Of the present Pope. which
Plus x could reach by simply crossing the
square of st. Peters.
All the same the present pOntif has
not gone to visit SignOra Rosa Sarto.
This is perhaps only for the reason that
she has never been so dangerously ill as
some persons have reported, but has
suffered one of those slight strokes of
paralysis which are common among
elderly persons. She, with two other
sisters and their niece. lives on the top
floor of a house looking down the col
onnade of st. Peter. They occupy very
modest apartment, which is connected by
a special telephone with with the apart
ment of their beloved brother.
Loves Them Tenderly.
He loves them so tenderly that for
their sakes he has broken the traditional
ceremonial of the Vatican, according to
which the pontiff should have all his
meals alone. Often he invites them to
share his frugal repasts. and when, with
the addition Of Mgr. Bressan, his private
secretary, he finds himself in a totally
Venetian atmosphere. it is a great fes-
tival for him, and he relapses entirely
into the harsh Venetian dialect of his
childhood, recalling the times long past
and old family remembrances. often say
ing: "Romacaput munli ma Venezia
secundi" ("Rome is head Of the world.