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?.m\ n<h i \mo, wjim i.r iImp Life of the < .root Italian Siorj Teller. The question which most people Will ask as they close "The Decameron" Is: What manner of man was he who wrote It? of outward events there Is enough, thought not too much, to tell. Boccaccio was born in 1313. probably In Parts, of a French mother. He was taken In h!s infanc y to Florence, but his father, a well-to do banker, had married, and his childhood was unhappy. At ten. or not long arur. he went h> Naples to work In a merchant's office. As he nearcd the city the tired boy, stopping to rest, fell asleep and dreamed that he was passing through a street he hau never seen before and that a lady in green came and kissed him. It was not till eight years later, when, sick of the office, he was learning ca? non law. that on a Holy Saturday coming out of church, he first saw the real lady In her green robe, "all ahlning with gold"?hi* Flammetta. his love for whom remained with him all his life. From passion It cooled to a sentiment, almost?-one may say?In to a literary sentiment. Had It been otherwise. It would surely have color? ed his conception of love and of wo? men, whleh was remarkably low. Flammetta's real name was Marin Aquino, and she was the illegitimate daughter of King Robert of Naples, a prim-ess married f> a noble. r,.>. clo got to know her st once and be? came her devoted slave, serving her from 1331 till 1338. .vhen he found out her Infidelity. Not long after, nil father's ruin called him back to Flor? ence Rut mearwhile he had been In worthier service than her's. In the cultured town of Naples he had found men of learning and of letters; he had been plunged in the study of the clas alcs; he had read Virgil "In the shad? ow of the poet's tomb." And he had begun to write himself. The "Filoco lo." the "Fllostrato." the "Flammet? ta." and other works belong to his last years in Naples and his first In Flor I ence. From that time onward he devoted himself to literature and to scholarship; the more so, perhaps that Flammetta died of the plague in 1141. It was not until 1350 that the great? est ev?nt In his life?his meeting with Petrarch?occurred; greatest, because most enduring, for it Incited him t> study Homer and to superintend the first translation In Italy of that poet ffctn y.*?<H *?*V? h?? womM V <mi erlont w rk "f his life He f went ;.|, M'vra) embassies from t-'lor <ence--' , ? t6 take a i r*. . ? Da it daujht'.r Restrict 'ben i\ ? at Mtvenna; another to Pope Urban at Avignon, he held office In his natl re city, he lectured on Dante there; he wrote .ante's life. In 135 1 he gave "The Decan eron" to the public. Rut honor* civic and literary Donated lit? tle with Petrarch beside honor, and Boccaccio, at In most things, follow ?ed his Judgment. Petrarch's death came in 137 4. and that of Roccaccio one year later. He died poor, neglect? ed and alone In his house at Cartahh T.ie best part of Boccaccio was not hi', love, but his frtndship. His In? timacy with Petrarch was one ?>f the great friendships in thV? annals of art ?friendships such as have produced new movements; like that between Ronsard and Du Rellay, which gave Ut the poetry of the Pleiade. or the feeling between Coleridge and Words? worth. <>r the bond that knit together the Pre-Raphaelite*. The meeting be? tween Petrarch and I h W eta Bttanl the dawn of the classical K< n il. sm for though scholarship had revived before them It was they who gave the impetus to the Unit of Ore, k. which had such far-reaehing rc.sults. And it was a naaat tsanaanlnnshtp. The passionate. Nltal. generous Bacc aeelo needed the harmonious suavity, the scholarly refinement, even the cool? ness of Petrarch He had loved him ?sfrom afar before he knew htm. They Fdld not see one another for eight years aft??r their first coming together, but nh. n they did It VOt with the same ardor. "In days gone by." writes Pwtfnfefc ?a Boer*ee|o. "i ami hurrying across ?Central Italy In in du inter; you hatH itened t. greet me. not only with af fee t b?n. the rnesMi^e of soot to soul, but In person. impelled by a wonder? ful desire to see one you had never yet beheld, but whom, i.itholet you Were minded to |o\e." "Ihnrlag man-. -i ire," M T' ? f . ? I toe, ? i, ? cb?. nenrlv twenty-fUo yanfl later, <i ter Prtnr-h's death. I wept . Without <? csing. ? ? ? j,M,i t>? .f i ? Wonderful, for f*0 SSM |g list S irbl loved him more th.in I ???hi not Prtrar? h for whom I weep, r? r when 1 recall hi* Integrity, his way of life, |h:?? youth, his obi age, hb In ? p|< |y, hit b?ve r.f ood and of Kit neighbor 11 fce| ssjsg that, dcllvfed fron the anguHh tj| rhl-c life .ho b | ROWS tc the hec nit t'.iMi. r * ? " H H .- r myself I weep, and r?r hi friends i*ft in thi* tsatr* ttuoi i a >rld, ltk< ship* wph oit rudders, driven by tin , %% iniN m l w;r < s into the ml N? . t rocks ? ? ? I set now hy hi< de< i> that hi* death. ami. anlest In a better life after thN p age that WS ? 111 death one tones one's friends, I think he \. Ill l-e. ,? rn ? still " i Petrarch's bequest to Boccaccio wai an SpltOSBS of his delicate friendship: Fifty florins "t-? buy a warm cloak to OOVef himself in the nights of study" ?a symbol, as it were, of his love of the man and his love of learning. Boe? le was Ineons.ihible. Ills s<>rrow ful letter, indeed, strikes a de? p<-r aoti than any of his writing*, Bontf years before the end he had umbr gone I kind of Conversion, and was possessed by a conviction Ol sin and th.- Certainty that he was about to Ma. A lofty and consuming letter from Petrarch renewed his courage, but Inexperience deepened bis nature. and so still more did the loss of his favorite little dauhgter. Yiolante. who bad died, as her father said, "at an age when one goes straight to heav? en." One of his most touching letters g| Petrarch recalls her. He is visit? ing Petrarch's dauhgbr-ln-law: ? Suddenly little footsteps?and there came toward us tiny Eletta. my delight, who. without knowing who 1 M ti, looked at me smiling. I was not only delighted. I greedily took h~r in my arms, imagining that I held my little one that is lost to me. * * * Your little one has the same aspect that ?he bad who was my Eletta. the same saprsseton, the same light in the eyes, the same laughter there, the same gestures, the same way of walking, the same way of carrying all her little person; ? ? ? .*h me! how many times when I have *ld thine in my arms listening to her prattle the memory of my baby stolen away front me has brought tears t~> my eyes?which I lei no one see." Tears which move US as well as him. F->r this is the letter Of ? man of human sympathies and no mere luxurious literary emotion. There Is more heart in it. and so more poetry, than in the whole of "The Decamer Ofl " London Times. FAIL TO GET CH MR CAR. \tlantic < USSM LftM Refuges to <.i\~ Weeded ? rromnsotlaslfsna J. W. Craig, passenger traffic man? ager of the a. C, I* has announced that it will be impracticable to put on the chair ear on Nosw'tl and 53 be? tween Greenville and Charleston be eause the connections west of Colum? bia cannot handle such a car. The mat? ter Is now being taken up with the Columbia, New berry and Laurens and the Charleston and Western Carolina roads, to see if some arrangements cannot be made with them to handle tv?#? oar. There is a great need for service, and it would pay the to put It on. but they do not see . t way. The men who have the r of securing the service are not easily discouraged and they will push the matter further. BEUJCVn IX DUELLING. Major Lucas Openly Champion* the Code Duello. Columbia. June 17.?It is rather unusual in these days to find a man of substance and consequence uphold? ing the code duello: but Major James Jonathan Lucas, capitalist, grape growing expert and patron of art and education, who is here on a visit to his son, Dr. T. C. Lucas, openly cham? pions the duelling system, believing that It tended to elevate the general tone of society, Major Lucas says he accounts him ielf fortunate in h iving escaped the necessity of fighting a duel himself. Hi was, however, once a second In an "affair of honor." Major Lucas is one of the oldest living alumni of the Citadel, from which he graduated in Itil, Ills com? mand, the Lucas battery of heavy ar tlllery, helped reduce Port Sumter and had the distinction of saving Charles? ton fr >m Capture at the hands of Ad? miral Dahtgren, Major Lucas is a director of the Atlantic Coast Line. Since the end of the War Between the Sections he has made his home at Society Mill, w here he lives in a hand? some I.rick* mansion full of rare and beautiful things. What Everybody Ought To Know. ?That Foley Kidney Pills contain just the Ingredients necessary to tone, strengthen and regulate the action of the kidneys and bladder, Btbert's Drug Store. if Senators an- to spend all their 11rm Investigating one another, what < banes will they have to legislate?? Charleston News and Courier. ?IT you ore not satisfied alter using ? ordlng t ? directions two-thirds of s bottle of Chamberlain's Stomach and Liver Tablets, you can have your money back. Tie- tablets cleanse end Invigorate the stomach, Improve the digestion, regulate the bowels. (Jive th< rn n trial and gel w. !|, Bold by W. \v. Blbert Th ?mai i> Dlnktns, >red, was be? fore the M ? or i "rid i. mornlim for cruellj driving and non-sustenance of a horse, end fined |9 or 10 days. \\ bat \ Hummer t 'old Ma) i?o. ?a summer cold If neglected Is ju.-t a-< apt to develop Into bronchitis or pneumonia a< at any other season. Do not Sogloci it. Take Foley's Honey and Tar promptly, it loosens the cough, soothes and heals the Inflamed ?iIr passages and expels the cold from th. system*'1 Blbegt's Drug Store, COTTON PLATFORM SITCATION. Action on Matter Deferred Till Tues? day ISth lust. The Board of County Commission' srs met In extra session on Friday for the purpose of considering the cot? ton platform situation, the warehouse company having served notice that the present contract would no longer he acceptable to them. Besides the County Commissioners, representatives of the warehouse, and the two weighers were present. Mr. Pitts stated the object of the meeting, and expressed the hope that nothing would be said or done that would in? jure in anyway the Sumter cotton market. Mr, Manning spoke for warehouse Company and stated that the company had no intention of going back on the ten year agreement they have with the county, but desired a contract with the weighers that would be fair to all parties, and the matter should be gone into in a business-like way. He stated that complaints have come to the warehouse company from time to time that made matters very disagreeable ind annoying, so last September no? tice was served upon the hoard that the present arrangement would have to be changed. One matter that had boon brought to his attention was the excessive sampling of the cotton on the platform, after the cotton is weighed. This he stated came out of the producer, for the limits made for this place wen- based upon the short? age in weights at the other end. The arrangement with the weighers about clerk hire is also unsatisfactory. When the contract was made there were three weighers, whereas there are only two now. The two weighers now get 50 per cent more than they did before the number was reduced. There has been complaint on the pert of farmers at not being able to ?ind the weighers when they were wanted. The contract with the weighers was what they wanted overhauled, and they wanted that done without fric? tion. As It Is there is no one respon? sible for lossage, and about $1,000 to $1,500 a year is lost in misplaced cot? ton. Be stated that the sale of samples every year amounted to a great deal; that the party w ho usually bought them told him it was a very large amount. Messrs. O'Donnell and Levi both stated that the weighers sampled the cotton for the purpose of checking up the grades; that very often they could not personally see the bales and In such cases it was not unusual for the seller of the bale to use a sample from another bale. The ground was taken that the weigher had no authority to do such a thing, as his yphere was to decide a difference between the buyer and seller, and not to act as a detec? tive. The warehouse company submitted a contract that they wanted adopted requiring the weigher to check up and deliver to the warehouse company every night all cotton on the plat? form; it also left out the $200 for clerk hire. Mr. Reid stated that he was willing to give up part of the $200 if the other weigher would, but that it was not satisfactory to the oth? er weigher. Some confusion arose when the ex? isting contracts with the warehouse company and with the weighers were r* ad, and after a conference on the part of the warehouse men it was de clded to defer action on the whole matter until the 2Sth inst., when com? mittees from all the interested parties will meet and adjust the whole mat? ter. K. <)F I?. BASKET PICNIC. Qame Cock Lodge, Knights of Pythias, is planning to give an old time basket picnic at Pocalla Springs on July the 1th. Every member is expected to attend and a iso to bring his family, but If h be so that he cannot bring his fam? ily he must bring his best girl or some one else's. The committee re? quests all that attend to bring a well tilled picnic basket and also to throw off that tired look and try and make every one happy. There will be lots of fun in store for all, BUCh as the greasy pig race. bag race by ten men, little girls race, young ladies nice, married ladles race, fat men's race, I an men's race, log? rolling race, and tug of war. The pig will be the prise given for the wlnn< r of the greasy pig race, ami suitable and excelb nt prises will be ? n t" the winm rs in t he ottn r races, \ sp? rial train a id be operated on the Northwestern Railroad to aecom mo i ite the picnl Kefs but the hour for de), irture a ill bas e t,, b< an? nounced later. Those Intending to go v. ?i pi ?asc not Ify the commit I ? . \v. l:. i loylc, \V. M. ''"itk, .1 \. M( Knight, or \V. C T.-wb-.-, as the railroad company ? 1 n be notlfh d ns to how many to hat e e colics for. 'Chamberlain's Stomach ami Liver T ihleti win br ice up the m rves, bnn? Ish ?!< k headache, prevent despond? ency and Invigorate the whole sys? tern. Sold by W. \V B11 - it. BAD DREAMS. Nightmare, Restlessness And Night sweats All Canted By Indlges Half of the nervousness In the world, all of the disturbing dreams, and nightmares can be ended in a few weeks ' y a simple, inexpensive treatment. Upset stomach is the cause of nerv? ousness and bad dreams. Your food is lying in your stomach undigested ar.d fermenting; it is forming poison? ous gases which irritates the pheumo gastric nerve that leads direct from the brain, and ends in a network of tiny branches running through the stomach. It is also the irritation of this great pheumogastric nerve that causes headaches. Many times peo? ple have severe headaches and know they are caused by the stomach, but do not know in what manner. If you are nervous, have dreams or nightmare, and do not sleep sound at night, get a 50 cent box of Mi-o-na stomach tablets and take one or two after or with meals. They relieve dis? tressed stomach in 5 minutes. Sold by druggists everywhere and by De Lorme's Pharmacy, who guarantees them to cure indigestion or mone> back. I 4-26?5 7-G-17?W. Kept The King At Home. *"For the past year we have kept the King of all laxatives?Dr. King's New Life Pills?in our home and they have proved a blessing to all our family," writes Paul Mathulka, of Buffalo, N. Y. Easy, but sure remedy for all Stomach, Liver and Kidney troubles. Only 25c. at Sibert's Drug Store. Yale has President Taft to take part in all its exercises now; Harvard had Mr. Roosevelt before; what college will have the next turn??New York Press. * A Dreadful Wound from a knife, gun, tin can, rusty nail, fireworks, or of any other nature, emands prompt treatment with Buck len's Arnica Salve to prevent blood poison or gangrene. It's the quick? est, surest ?healer for all such wounds as also for Burns, Boils, Sores, Skin Irruptions. Eczema, Chapped Hands, Corns or Piles. 25c. at Sibert's Drug Store. oall and have our optician examine your eyes if they are troubling you; by having this done you may not have to wear them long. But to continue straining them may necessitate you wearing them your lifetime. Our optical parlor is fitted with every device for thoroughly examin? ing the eye. We have installed a lense grinding plant and do our own lense grinding and driling; carry a stock of compound lense frame mountings and optical goods. We can fill your prescriptions at once properly, all work guaranteed. Graduate optician in charge. lion. W. A. Thompson, Jeweler and Optician. Phone 333. - - No. 6 S. Main St. DEPOSIT With First National Bank THAT'S ALL. The Farmers' Bank and Trust Co. Is the people's bank, it gives careful attention and absolute protectionjto all businr:ss^entrust ed to its care. If you are not a patron we want you to become one. Sumter, South Garolina. Bank of Sumter Sumter, S. C. 15he Capital Stock, - Surplus and Undivided Profits, Over Fifteen Hundred Depositors. Birnie's Drug Store, 5 W. Liberty St. Sumter, S. C. Dealer In Pure Drugs and Medicines, CHOICE PERFUMES AND FINE TOILET ARTICLES, COMBS AND BRUSHES, PATENT MEDICINES AND DRUGGISTS' SUNDRIES, A FULL LINE OF CIGARS AND TOBACCO. :: :: :: :: :: OUR MOTTO: PURE AND RELIABLE GOODS. Our stock is complete and we cheerfully solicit your patronage. :: :: :: ?as? mi In Just Five Months WYETH 'S sAGE^SULPHu* HA I R REME D Y Grew a Full Growth oi Hair on a Bald Head Here's the Proof Far two or ihrer* v^nri nv hftlf DA 1 ' rr,n falling out .'?n,i getting nulte thin, u:wi! the tcj of my head era* entirely bald. At* t four nionlhi in . l coiuraonccil u Inn Gage und Sulphur, The first bottle ecetned to do some good and I k.?ft using it regularly, ur.tii n w I have ntcd four bot? tle*, The whole top <>f n.y heal 1? now (airly i vorid with hair and it k<vi*? com Ing In thicker, l ihall k<. i> on nalng it a v'.'.]-? longer, ?u> I notice a constant Un* pi o> caiefit, KTUTIIKM BACON, Rochester, N, T. us. f'TATr ( * N:" 11 OUK ? Countj Monrog J Btei> ii fing duly sworn, says th t pi ii> i the HtaUsinent above an? nvxod ' ; the contents ??r h.hj otatc meut aro t: no, BT&FUEN BACON. Sworn to totore luo Uda Slit day of .lulr. 1002. i'.ENlvY W. UALU 9 Notary lMUlc The birthright of every man, woman and child?a full, healthy head oi hair. If your hair is falling, if it is full of dandruff, or if it is faded oi turning gray. It Is diseased and should bo looked after w ithout delay. WYETH'S SAGE AND SULPHUR H AIR REMEDY, a true Hair Tonic and Restorer, letni vea dandruff in a fen' days, stops hair falling In one week, and starts a new growth in a month. Wyeth's Sa^e and Sulphur does n d soli tne skin nor injure the hair; but it Is an ideal hair dressing that will re> Store laded and flray balr fo natural color and keep the liair soft and flossy. 50c. and $1,00 a Bottle?At all Druggists Or Sent Diroct. Express Propaid, Upon Receipt of Price Wyeth Chemical Company. n? 8*&fKv. ron sale ami ri:co.m.mi;m)1 :> i.y w. w. siuehts drug stork