To such temporal facilities as postal and coinage systems, an air-raid shelter, newspapers, a radio station, the Vatican City (area: 108.7 acres) last week planned to add a merchant fleet. The fleet, five ships to be purchased from Italy, would bring the Vatican its own food and supplies through the blockade, keep its population of 1,025 uncommonly well stocked with scarce coffee and tobacco. Likely fleet headquarters: Civitavecchia, chief seaport of Mussolini's Rome, and the Holy Seeport before 1870 when the Pope still presided over a considerable earthly principality.
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