Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1917 — PREFECT IS HOOTED FOR BOY’S ERROR [ARTICLE]

PREFECT IS HOOTED FOR BOY’S ERROR

Lad Hoisted Italian Flag at Half Staff When Francis Joseph Died. MISTAKE CAUSED A RIOT All Sovereigns Looked Alike to the Governor’s Little Servant; Got “In Bad.” Rome. —Strangely enough, there was a city in Italy where a flag was hoisted half staff on the prefect’s residence as a sign of mourning for the death of Emperor. Francis Joseph. This city was Ascoli Piceno in the" Marches, where the prefect, or governor, is one of the most intelligent and patriotic officials in Italy, one who advocated Italy’s war against Austria from the very beginning and sent his two sons to the front, where one of them was killed. Obviously the prefect had no reason tb regret the death of Italy’s hereditary enemy, Francis Joseph, and yet his palace was the only building in Italy where a flag was hoisted half staff. The prefect risked losing his post, too, and it took him some time to justify himself and explain the mistake. Because, of course, it was all a mistake, and this is how it happened :

Early one morning a telegram reached the prefect from Some with the news of the emperor of Austria’s death. The telegram was given to the prefect’s servant, or office boy, to file, andasoffice boys all the world over are generally very smart this particular office boy when he read the telegram came to the conclusion that it was his duty to put out the flag In sign of mourning. Sovereigns Are Sovereigns. It is true that we are at war with Austria, he explained to a fellow servant, hut sovereigns are always sovereigns—in fact, they are each other’s cousins—and when they die official mourning is indispensable. The fellow servant was not convinced and warned the smarter one to be careful. He suggested that before putting out the flag he had better ask the prefect. So the office boy knocked at the prefect's door and asked: “•* “Must we put the flag out at half staff for the emperor’s death, sir?” The prefect «was' busy at his desk, but when he heard the question he turned around and sternly looked at his office boy, ironically saying: “Do you think that it is necessary to ask such a question?” “All right. Sir.’ Please excuse me for troubling you, sir,” said the office boy.

and he rushed out and told his, friendt “You see I was right. The prefect said that it was not necessary to ask such a question.” And within a few minutes the flag was out half staff and a crowd collected outside hooting and jeering at the prefect, whom they called “a dirty Austrian.” Naturally the flag was taken away, the prefect was furious, the smart office boy was kicked out dnd the government had to issue official statements explaining how the mistake occurred. Cardinal as Censor. Another incident in connection with Francis Joseph’s death occurred in Rome, and in a way it is equally amusing. The editor <Jf the Osservatore Romano, the official organ of the Holy See, was instructed by the cardinal secretary of state, Cardinal GasparrL to write an article regretting in mild terms the death of the Catholic emperor. He was warned to be careful about the censor, and accordingly wrote the article emphasizing the deceased’s religion® faith and his attachment to the Holy See. Then he submitted the article to the censor, who passed It for publication. Owing to the Vatican’s neutrality of} course it was only natural that the offi J cial organ of the Holy See should express regret at the death of a Catlw olic sovereign. The censor explained this to the editor, who was encouraged to ask whether there would be any objection if the paper came out with a black border, as was the custom on the death of a Catholic sovereign. The censor said there would be no objection, as he had nothing to do with the makeup- of the paper, but only with what was printed in it, and he added: “You can have as wide a border as you please.”

The editor rushed to the cardinal secretary of state with the proof sheets and Informed him that the censor had not only passed the article but the black border as well. To his surprise Cardinal Gasparri insisted that the black border should be removed. “We have to regret the emperor’s death,” he said, “but we are not bound to go to mourning for him as he was so bitterly hated in Italy that if the paper came out with a black border the people are bound to .wreck your office.” i The editor naturally obeyed and the OsServatdre Romano was not in mourning for Francis Joseph. Everybody, of .course, assumed that the black border had been censored by the censor, but the editor made the mistake to explain that it was Cardinal Gasparri, who censored it, with the result that the cardinal’s popularity increased considerably, while in all probability Austria will protest that the Holy See's neutrality is not complete.