The Wonders of the Vatican

New Zealand Tablet, 28 July 1910, Page 1169

The Wonders of the Vatican

Not only is the Vatican the largest and oldest palace in existence (writes the Rome correspondent of the Philadelphia Catholic Standard and Times), but is also the most modern by reason of its internal fittings. Its elevators are of the latest type its carpets are cleaned by American machines recently patented; the pictures of its galleries are -protected by means of a special type of blind so as to enable visitors to view the paintings as advantageously as possible. And now its new system of fitting up the various offices which are being made from the rooms vacated by married employees, who are changed out to the great building constructed for them by Pius X. on the Belvedere, will be on the very latest lines. Probably not one of the thousands of foreigners who pass every week the Vatican thresholds know that it contains a printing house which, by reason of the perfection of its machines and the quality of the work expected from the men, is considered second to none in Europe. Pius X., under whom many changes have been made in the tipografia Vaticana,’ insisted that only the most perfect system of machinery should replace the old kind. With regard to the superior kind of work turned out by the employees, one need not wonder at its beauty, for it is the custom of the Pope to employ sons in succession to their fathers, and so on from generation to generation, provided, of course, the candidate be worthy. And thus one may almost say each Vatican artisan has learned the rudiments of his craft at his father’s knee.