Evening star., 1925-08-23


not fiction. but plain fact. only
adds TO it's quality. Conan Doyle
would have loved to write 1t. Per-
haps he has never realized how huge
is the treasure housed within the pre-
cincts of the Pope's tiny territory.
Imagine cupboards and cupboa rds,
over a dozen of them. filled with gold
and silver vessels for the decoration
of the affairs at st. Peters. Rome.
Imagine other cupboards and cup
boards filled with smaller jewels. gold
crosses inset with diamonds, rubies,
amethysts. emeralds sapphires, pearls.
turauoises: imagine gold statues three
feet high; priests vestments OF richest
gold and silver cloth and of ancient
hand woven brocade sewn with
precious stones or magnificently en-
broidered by the pious hands of nuns,
some dead hundreds OF years ago.
Imagine this treasure. including the
hieratic sapphire ring. jeweled rosa
ries, pectoral crosses: historical relics
such as the cross of the first Christian
Roman Emperor, Constantine the
Great: the solid gold and bejeweled
altar service once belonging to the
last OF the direct line of royal Stuarts.
Cardinal Stuart of York: the count
less smaller treasures. too many to
mention. Then you have an idea OF
St Peters treasure. It's money value
has been estimated at something be-
| tween $1,000 600 and S10,000,000.
During the night of July last
burglars let themselves down into one
of the treasure rooms through a hole
in the ceiling and helped themselves.
Since the death OF the late Pope Bene-
dict XIV no such CONSERVATION has
reigned in the papal palaces an when
| early on the morning of the 9Th the
theft was discovered by one of the
caretakers.
When Cardinal Merry del Val, arch
priest of st. Peters. supreme custo-
dian of the treasure, had partly recov-
cred from the shock he carefully went
| through the whole accumulation. He
found that the burglars had carried
off the priceless sapphire ring worn
by the bronze statue OF st. Peter on
high feasts: that a solid gold altar
service which he himself had dedi
Gated to the apostle was gone, but
that the famous gold altar service,
once the property OF Cardinal stuart
of York, last direct survivor OF the
royal Stuarts, was left. Left, too,
were the Emperor Constantine's cross,
Justins cross, the Dalmatic and the
bulk OF the other most precious OBJ
jects. Later on he stated that the
value OF the. stolen things might be
about a million lire-roughly, $50, 600.
Signor Cadolini. commissioner Of the
Roman police, now enters. He Is the
stery's Sherlock Holmes. Young,
quiet, alert DIR. Marotta, a newcomer
in Rome, Is his DR.. Watson.
= = =
CADoLINI thoroughly inspected the
~ Canonica, that wing of st.
Peters where the treasure was kept.
He found that the ceiling had been
opened by piercing the floor of room
| where certain painters-Augusto Mat
toll and his two sons, with Amerigo
Leardi and Dordo Lumario-had been
working for some weeks past. Luna
rio had actually been sleeping in the
room where the hole was made. For
nearly two years past workmen have
| been adding new stories to the
Canonica, to house prelates attached
to st. Peters. One of the clergy to
whom the treasury Is intrusted told
Cadoiini he had a few days back, on
two separate occasions, noticed plaster
had fallen from the ceiling of the
| room where the theft was perpetrated.
He sent a servant to the room over
head and the man returned to say
the aforementioned painters were
working there.
There is nothing in the room but
a big packing case covered with paint
pots and brushes he added. q
The case hid the hole, then very
near completion: but neither prelate
nor servant suspected this. The plas-
ter was swept up and nothing more
was said-at least not just then.
Cadolini put the painters under ar
rest, questioned many preletes. serv-
ants, sacristans and returned to the
central police depot or Questura. Here
he sent for Marotta
Seen that man Stella lately?" he
asked
Late last evening. He repeated his
tale Of waiting for stolen diamonds
from Paris, and wants me to buy
them. But he wants to make sure /
have the cash."
Cadolini's dark eyes slittered. Not
being British Sherlock Holmes, he
does not wear a mask of Indifference
| to his Watson Marotta.
odd you should have scraped his
acquaintance just outside the Canon
| lea three weeks back" he remarked.
Marotta smiled.
THE same idea struck me-
! CAdolini brought his flst down on
IL table with 4 bAnA