Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1906 — BOMB IN ST. PETER’S. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BOMB IN ST. PETER’S.

ROME’S FAMOUS CHURCH SHAKEN BY EXPLOSION. Wild Panic Among Thounanda Who Throng; Basilica Follows—Not One I Hurt and Edifice Is Uninjured— Deed la Strange Myatery. -r— ■ -—r- - ______ . A bo,rab containing high-grade gunpowder was exploded Sunday in St. Peter’s Cathedral; at Rome. It is thought the bomb Was for Papal Secretary pt State Cardinal Raihpoli, who celebrated high mass, the occasion being the ami:ersaVy, p.f the consecration of the cathedral to St. Peter, whose body lies in a silver shrine not far from where the explosion occurred. His Holiness, Pope Pius, heard .the mullled report i n his apa rs men ts in: the Vatican;“and, fell" to, his in a prayer ful- iiiercy for. the offender when he was informed what had happened. Cardinal Rumpelt frequently has expressed his fearlessness of the anarchists and this gives rise to the rumor that the band which has been causing deaths in Home intended to end his life. The tomb c,f Clement Sill., over which the bomb exploded, was not injured in any way, not was the high altar, at the base of which the full force of the explosion was felt. Despite the fiiiorii.i''.us charge of gunpowder, not even the p.-i cement shows much evidence of what .happened. At the time of the explosion Cardinal Rainpoli had already taken his departure from the cathedral. He had scarcely reached the outside world before there was a re,ar and a cloud of dust and smoke sprang up at the end of the right aisle which is near the great altar Of St. PetromHaT There- was. ing roar which shook the great edifice and rang through its lofty arches ns never-a sound has before. Congregation Stunned. Fo.r a moment the great congregation remained as if stunned. Then pan'c seized upon them and with one impulse they surged toward the great doors, screaming and fighting their way out. regardless of the efforts of the canon of the cathedral to. calm their fears, He shouted to them again and again that there was nothing to fear, but his voice

was lost in the tumult. Only those near him could distinguish a word that he said. A few who were clo.se to the altar stopped, but the rest continued their headlong flight. Men, women and children In a struggling mass crowded the aisles, shrieking in terror, and a number were seriously bruised and injured. LnrKCNt Church in World. St. Peter's Cathedral is the largest in the world, though for magnificence it is far outstripped by St. Paul's in London, and from an architectural viewpoint, notwithstanding the great, array of distinguished men who have from time to time superintended its construction, it is declared to be a lamentable failure. Its building was begun in 1450, but it was not until 1626 that the completed structure was consecrated by Pope Urban VIII. The cathedral occupies the site of the old basilica of St. Peter's, which was founded by Constantine in the year 306 A. D.. tttfd according to church history merits the spot, of St. Pc tot's grave and is to the scene"of his martyrdom. The cathedral, in the fprm of a Latin cross, is Gl3 fret long and 150 feet across the transepts. It is surmounted by a dome which rises to the top of the great cross, which surmounts it, 434% feet above the pavement. The diameter of the dome is 195 U, feet. The facade of the cathedral is 668 feet long and 145 feet high. Five open arches lead to n magnificent vestibule 439 feet long, 47 fret wide nnd 65 feet high.