Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1922-01-26
BELLS HERALDED
POPE'S DEATH
Tidings Sounded From Forty
Churches in Rome.
LAST NIGHT ONE OF AGONY
only Half Hour Before He Died l1oIy
Father Warted to Arise and Dress
Italian Government Pays Tribute.

/
! Father Warted to Arise and Dress.
| Italian Government Pays Tribute.
| 2oIne.-Pope Benedict breathed his
.ast at $50 o'clock Sunday morning.
The news was hurriedly commune
Gated from the papal bedchamber to
The principal ante-chamber, and was
announced by Monsignor Pizzardo,
as the ponderous bells Of st. Peters,
overlooking the Vatican courtyard, be-
gan tolling the hour of six. Then one
oy one the bells, in Rome's 400 church
/ IS joined in the horologic symphony
hat marked the passing of the head of
the Roman Catholic church.
The end came after a long night of
intense agony and suffering, the pom
tiff now and again lapsing into deliri-
am throughout the long, anxious night.
Shortly before midnight he took a lit
lie nourishment which seemed momen-
.arily to revive his spirits, but within
an hour afterwards he began to sink
rapidly. At LIS o'clock DR.. BATHS
TIM, emerging from the pontifical
chamber into the anteroom. told the
correspondents the end was approach
Ing, that already his hands and nose
felt cold.
HE will live only three or four
hours at the maximum" said the ply
sician.
From that period on the pope near
ed the end of his life. Breathing be-
came a tragic, agonizing task, as the
supreme pontiff, who had resisted the
severe lung and throat congestion, was
now finally too weak to overcome the
overwhelming attack any longer.
His eyes were half closed as he
apsed into Inconsistencies, while the
terrible mastery which pneumonia had
won yer the Holy Fathers logged
resistance-a resistance which stag
gered the members of the pontifical
household and made them marvel at
the pope's nerve stamina-noW began
its rapid, memorable extinction of his
slender hold ON life.
His heart rapidly weakened, and at
o'clock in the morning it was GER
tain that the end was a matter of mo-
ments. Ace rdingly, Cardinals Gas
parri, Sampler and Pizzardo, and all
the pontifical he usehold, were notified
that the end was rapidly approaching
Cardinal Gasparri entered the bed
chamber at $50 o'clock, passing
through the ante-chamber, wearing
deep burrows on the brow of his bow
ed head and walking with short rapid
steps to the bedside of the dying pom
tiff. He had been there but nine min
utes before the pope breathed his last
Cardinal Giorgi, grand penitentiary,
attended thu pope throughout the
whole night, saying first mass for his
holiness shortly after midnight. He
was assisted by Monsignor Respighe,
project of ceremonies. and by Mon
signori Testoni, Piermot-, and Mag
namenti
Only half an ,.our before he died,
his holiness tried to lift himself up
and wanted to dress himself, but he
was so weak he sank back on his pill
low His hands and feet already were
numb, and it was plainly seen that
deaths cold grip had begun it's I'M
releasing grasp upon the Holy Father.
1t was at this moment that it was de-
cided to call the pontifical family to
his bedside The royal guards were
sent out in due solemnity to notify the
papal secretary of state of the pope's
hopeless condition.
The formal announcement of the
pOpe's passing was the occasion for a
scene of deep emotion. All those pres
ent in the ante-chamber wept and the
prelates knelt in fervent prayer. Short
ly afterward Cardinal Gaspari pro-
ceeded with the formal taking over
of temporary charge of the affairs of
the church. He will be the nominal
head of the church until new pope
Is elected
Throughout the night Lall groups,
including newspaper correspondents
from several countries, clustered in
st. Peters Square. Eve,vone leaving
the vatican was anxiously questioned
by those who kept constant vigil. To-
wards $50 O'clock it vas known that
the end was near and a few minutes
after 6 the Swiss guards inside the
vatican could be seen Through the
palace door. They were kneeling. A
few minutes later the door was shut
and thus the popes death was an
| nOunced to those who saw.
The royal guards then cleared a
| space before the gate of the vatican
allowing only those connected with the
papal household to pass. Although II
, was still dark, the crowds be gan tc
! grow in size, and autt mobiles and car
riages began arriving in ever-lncreas
! ing numbers. Towards 7 o'clock the
bells of st. Peters tolled slowly the
signal that the pontiff had passed
away. Masses were celebrated at yari
GUS affairs in the vatican, for nov
] numerous devOut eyes the throngs
IN the public square turned towards
the pope's chamber, where the blinds
were half-drawn.
The first person, outside of the i'm
mediate pontiflcal circle, to be inform