VATICAN COURT
FIRST TRIAL OF OFFENDER Vatican, January 29. Guiseppo Paolis, who was caught extracting coins from the alms box at St. Peter’s with a piece of whalebone smeared with birdlime, the first offender to be tried in the Vatican Court, obviously enjoyed the sensation until a sentence of three months’ imprisonment caused his smiles to fade. The courthouse ha_s yet to be erected, and the trial was held in a small room in the Papal gendarmerie barracks. A crucifix surmounted the Pope's portrait hung behind the President’s chair. The President, Judges, and counsel .were arrayed in rick black velvet togas lined with crimson. The prisoner, a small, thin man, was escorted by two magnificent gendarmes. The Judges paid no heed to the defending counse's plea that the Italian law, which prescribed three months’ imprisonment for the offence, should be mitigated by canonical mercy, and ordered the whalebone to be confiscated.
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Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 108, 31 January 1930, Page 10
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151VATICAN COURT Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 108, 31 January 1930, Page 10
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