Whaleboning in St. Peter's

Kneeling with devout mien near the poor box adjacent to the Altar of Confession in St. Peter's last week, one Giuseppe de Palois stealthily extracted from his breast pocket a slender, quivering piece of whalebone.

While priestly lips formed the Latin syllables of a majestic chant, a small wad of chewing gum issued from the lips of Signor de Palois became imperceptibly affixed to the tip of his whalebone.

With infinite caution he now rested his left arm against the poor box, and, bending down as though in profound prayer introduced the gum-tipped bone through the slot. A coin stuck to the gum. Soon it was dextrously transferred to a greasy vest pocket. Then another coin, another another--while vast St. Peter's rang with the glorious music of the Church Militant.

The militancy of the church was manifest when watchful Papal gendarmes caught Giuseppe de Palois with the goods and the whalebone, announced him to the world as the first thief arrested in the new Papal State (TIME, Feb. 18).

The first two babes born in the new State are already dead, but the third was gurgling and cooing last week.

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