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WATCH THE WHITE STAR BUGGY' W •ny WHITE L _ , LOOK FOR OUR PRIVATE “ A-GRADE ” MARK ATLANTA BUGGY COMPANY, » ■ Atlanta, Georgia Land of Promise (TO AND FROM) fty Rev. C. O’N. Maktindale. ARTICLE LIX. I T A L Y. (7). Florence (Firenze), “the Genteel City.’’ In the springtime of the year we Eppreciated— “The vines, the flowers, the air, the skies that fling Such wild enchantment o’er Boocaecio’s tales Of Florence and the Arno." And naturally enough our sur vey of Florence began with the Duomo or Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Baptistery of I Saint John, and the Campanile (Giotto’s Bell Tower) close to but separate from the Cathedral. The Cathedral is both massive, extensive and magnificent,as might be judged from the fact that when begun by Arnolfo del Cambio in 1298 (on the site of long-conse crated ground * 1 * * * * * ) he was instructed by the Florentines to rear a tem ple to exceed in magnificence any thing the world had yet seen, the work after his death being carried on to completion by the famous 1,Giotto and other artists, followed in turn by Brunelleschi and others of great repute. Its measure- , ments are—in length, 55° feet; ex treme height, 352 feet; transept 340 feet long, nave and aisles 129 feet wide, height ot nave 154 feet, and side aisles 97 feet. “The Dome, stated to be the widest in the world, and with lantern, 352 feet high, the work of Brunelleschi, is I38 feet in diameter, and is the first double-dome ever built, and the first ever raised upon a dium. This wonderful cupola was a mod el for Michel Angelo when en- 1 g<*gcd on the design of St. Peter s at Rome; the legend goes that when he ‘was told that he had now an opportunity of surpassing the dome ot Florence,’ he replied, ‘I will make her sister dome larger; j yes, but not more beautiful.’ ’’ In the midday sun the Cathedral has a verv rich appearance, arising from the many colored marbles used in its exteriorjits porch front-; ’ ing the Via Ricasoli, being very 1 graceful with pillars resting on v the backs of lions. The Facade to the Cathedral, in same vari-colortd marbles, is very costly and beauti ful also. As one goes around the Cathedral something striking can be seen specially worty of atten tion, its portals, statuary, window tracery, etc. Its painted windows are wonderful. As Nathaniel Hawthorne puts it: “The Floren tine Cathedral has a spacious and lofty nave, and side aisles divided from it by pillars; but there are no chapels along the aisles, so that there is tar more breadth and free dom of interior, in proportion to the actual space, than is usual in churches. . . The pillars and walls of the Duomo are of a uni form brownish neutral tint; the pavement a mosaic-work of mar ble; the ceiling of the dome itself is covered with frescoes, which, V being very imperfectly lighted, it * is impossible to tTace out. Indeed it is but a twilight region that is enclosed within the firmament of this great dome, which is actually larger than that of St. Peter’s, though not lifted so high from the pavement. But looking at the painted windows, I little cared what dimness there might be else where; for certainly the art of man has never contrived any other beauty and glory at all to be com- | pared to this. . . The dome sits as it were upon three smaller domes—smaller, but still great— | beneath which are three vast I niches, forming the transepts ot the Cathedral and the tribune be hind the high altar. All round these hollow dome-covered arches or niches are high and narrow win dows, crowded with saints, angels, and all manner of blessed shapes, that turn the common daylight in to a miracle of richness and splen dour, as it passes through their heavenly substance. It is a pity anybody should die without seeing an antique painted window with the bright Italian sunshine glow ing through it,” From designs of Vasari the cupola is painted with representations of Heaven and Hell, Prophets, Saints and Angels. Among its chief objects of in terest are the monuments to Fili ppo Brunelleschi and that of Giotto no less than that of Mar- silio Ficino (reviver of the Plato nic philosophy and friend of Lor enzo the Magnificent). In the centre of the pavement in the north transept is a marble slab used in the service of astronomy as far back as 1468, the “gnomon of Paolo Toscanelli, on which the rays of the sun fell through an opening in the lantern of the cupola, and showed the position of the sun at the summer solstice.” For historic association this Cathedral is well known. “Here on the 26th day of April, 1478, when the priest was elevating the host at high mass, Giulano de’ Medici fell by the murderous blow of Pazzi, while Lorenzo fled to the sacristy, and escaped the conspira tors, who thought to have given liberty to Florence. Here, when the Turks were approaching Con stantinople, the Greek Emperor fell before the Pope, pledging him self and all his people to renounce the errors of the Greek Church, and adopt the truths of the Ro man, provided treasure and assist ance were given him to resist the foe. Here Frederick III, the Em peror of Germany, ‘forgetting that the holy spirit of the place was one of peace and good-will to all men, knighted some scores ot the bravest and fiercest of his cut-, throat soldiery.’ But to tell of all 1 j the scenes the Duomo has wit nessed, would be to tell the history of Florence since the days of Arnolfo. Italy has many churches of vast extent and magnificence, of which any country might well be proud, but the Duomo ot Florence has this interest beyond them all, that its fine double cupola was the first ever reared in Europe, that it has served as a model for all time, and that it introduced a new era into the history of architectuae.” I (Cook;. The Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni), as is not unusual in Italian cities, is a distinct edi- | fice from the Cathedral Church, at ! one time long before the Cathe- I dral’s erection serving as the Ca thedral itself, It dates back to 589, it is said, and was dedicated to St. John, “Florence having al ways been distinguished as the city of that saint." Besides its rare beauty from an outside view, it has three immense and very re markable bronze doors that at once hold the attention of a visitor; the southern and oldest gate by An drea Pisano (after 22 years of la bor), representing scenes from the Life and History of John the Baptizcr, divided into twenty com partments; the northern gate, by Ghiberti, (after about twenty-two years’ wotk) presenting scenes in the life and history of the Saviour from the Annunciation to the Descent of the Holy Spirit, exe cuted in twenty panels; and the eastern gate, by Ghiberti, (after some twenty-seven years’ labor), of greater excellence and showing wonderfully the genius of the artist, delineating scenes from the Old Testament History (Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and Ins Brethren, Moses on Sinai, Joshua at Jericho, David and Goliath, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba); Ghiberti dying before the work was finish ed, and the lower reliefs being completed by his pupils. His was a pictorial genius, each panel a picture in relief; and his work ex hibits a master in art. Thus judged (from a pictorial rather than from a sculptural side), "we shall be able to appreciate the astonishing tertility of invention exhibited in the various designs, the felicity and clearness with which every story is told, the grace and naivete of the figures, the simple grandeur of others, the luxuriant fancy displayed in the ornaments, and the perfection with which the whole is executed, and to echo the energetic praise of Michael Angelo, who pronounced these gates ‘worthy to be the gates of Paradise.’ ” Tie gilding origi- nally covering the gates has long since worn away. On the inside the Baptistery is gloon.y for a while until one be comes used to the transition from sunlight to twilight. Then we see statues of prophets and apostles about us, a statue in wood of Mary Magdalene by D matello, and a zodiac in an ingenious white and marble mosaic in the pavement centre (of 1048 date by Strozzi, an astrologer). The Font origi nally standing here was removed in 1571, greatly to the displeasure of the Florentines. But the sight worth noting in here is in the cupola covered with stupendous and unique mosaics of an early date, representing the Saviour sitting ■in Judgment, with archangels, thrones, principalities, and powers, good and evil around Him; while the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are depicted with the souls of men in their laps, and the Evil One literally devouring a soul that he has sought. The Campanile, or Bell-Tower of the celebrated Giotto’s genius, is a beautiful study whether by sunlight or moonlight for poet or artist or architect or traveller,such that John Ruskin (no me..n au thority on architecture) believed ; it to be “the model and mirror of ! perfect architecture,” saying: “Th e I characteristics of Power and Beau- 1 ty occur more or less in different buildings—some in one and some in another. But all together, all in their highest possible relative ‘ degrees, they exist, as far as I : know, only in one building in the world—the Campanile of Giotto at Florence.” Of it also the poet Longfellow has given his estimate in the passage— “In the olrl Tuscan town stands Giotto’s tower, The City of Florence blossoming in stone— A vision, a delight, and a desire, The builder’s perfect and centennial flower.” Its famous author is the hero of the pretty story, so often told ana so widely pictured, introduced in j Rogers’ “Italy” with the words— “Let us wander thro’ the fluids, Where Cimabue found the shepherd-boy Tracing his idle fancies on the ground.” j It is a square-built tower with! an easy ascent of 414 steps, and j has six bells, the largest one hear- ing the Medici arms. When begun (1334; Giotto was given instruc- j tions to “surpass in magnificence of design and structure everything the world had ever seen,” and, as you look it over and make com parisons, he seems to have fulfill ed the plan desired. From base to summit it is 292 feet high, of variegated marbles, in four storys 1—the basement and the topmost being the tallest, and crowded in its lightness and elegance and j ethereal beauty with reliefs and J statues and tablets, of which every ; minute detail calls for cldse ex-j animation. After Giotto’s death j it was finished by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti (1387). On ' it are works of Luca della Rubia j and Donatello likewise. A fine view is afforded from the summit j to which we climbed, and on which we remained some time, our guide being either too Lzy or too feeble to climb so high. It is indeed the very picked jewel of all buildings we have seen, so delicately finish ed, so luxuriantly sculptured, so pure in its intricacy of detail, so lull of suggestion for poetic fancy. “It is like a toy shrine ot ivory which some ingenious and pious monk might have spent his life time m adorning with sculptural designs and figures of s.tints; and when it was finished, seeing it so beautiful, he prayed that it might be miraculously magnified from the size ol one toot to that ol three hundred.” No word-painting can do it justice. It required fifty yoars to comqlete it. On the south of the Piazza Duomo some steps beyond the statues of Brunelleschi and Ar nolfo is the celebrated Sasso di Dante (Stone of Dante), where the great poet is said to have of ten sat to gaze on the Cathedral: “Oil the stout) Called Dante’s—a plain flat stone soarco disueruait From others in the pavement—where upon He used to bring his quiet chair out, turned To Brunellesohi’s ohuroh.and pour alono The lava of his spirit when it burned.” A rather austere, almost spec tral looking man, of vivid burning words; of good birth and educa tion, of thoughtful but rather melancholic temperament, a war rior and publicist, a patriot and ambassador, unhappy in marriage, in temporary exile, some times terribly plain and roughly sarcas tic, he was variously in the Courts of Florence, Verona, Padua, Ur- bino, Bologna. “Meanwhile, his wondrous poem was shadowing itself forth, and taking the gloomy hue of his ideas. Its subject was dark and horrible; its treatment was severe; yet it boasted flowers of exquisite poetry that sprang up like the vegetation in the neigh borhood of a volcano. He inter wove it with the philosophy and theology of the age; he introduced living friends and foes into the drama with questionable taste,and bestowed on them imaginary woes, according to his own judgment ot their merits and demerits. Yet his pages were interwoven with immutable truths, and abounded in lofty morality. Printing was not yet invented; but no sooner was his Divina Commedia com pleted than it was copied, re-cop ied, commented upon with eager interest from one end of Italy to | the other. And, as soon as print ing multiplied copies to a hitherto undreamed-of extent, it became sown over the land thick as leaves on Vallombrosa—the next Italian book printed to the Bible, hive hundred years have passed, and its spell, as of some old oracle, still lies on us.” In the Academy of Fine Arts we saw the great statue of David by Michael Angelo, of marvellous beauty and enormous proportions, one of his finest productions, till 1 lately in the Piazza Della Signoria. In the National Museum we got a view of the history of the develop- : ment of Italian art, a large assort ment of pictures, tapestries, bronzes, ivories, statuary, coins, etc. Among the notable houses shown are those of Michael An gelo, Cellini, Dante Alighieri, : Galileo, Ghiberti, Machiavelli, j Amerigo Vespucci (who if not the discoverer of America, at least gave that great country its name), and Browning (wherein Elizabeth Browning died). The Pitti Palace and Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery and the Chapel of the Medici are full of rarest art treasures and some of the finest things to be seen in Italy. In the inner circle of an octagonal room in ihe Uffizi Monday Begins the Greatest 15-day Sale in the history of this house. Read every article in this advertisement; it means the saving and making of money for you. Here are some of our bargains: Men’s heavy lleeoe-lined 1111 - denvoar Men’s Imperial 81 shirts, culls attached Men’s embroidered socks, wtl 20c and 25c Men's white laundered shirts worth 81 to 81,5() Men's white laundered shirts worth 75c to N5e Men's v bite and colored band kerchiefs Ladies' new style patent loath or belts. 50c values Powder 1 do/, pearl buttons, wort Safety pins, per do/ Ladies' skirts in 8S and values for Ladies' skirts in black, 1 brown, gray, 85 values Ladies' long cloaks, 8s 810 values Men’s all wool cash mere suits, .,‘tfle 81-.50 to 8H» values for. 0.08 Mini’s all wool suits in unlln- 19c Flic d worsteds am 1 t hi lids, It 815 values for .1 2.50 10c Bovs’ 85.00 all wool cash mere suit s for 2.08 liOc Boys’ all wool suits, will 88 1.50 7 I9e Boys’ nil wool knee pants, all size: s ‘2f>C 1- 8c Boys’ all wool knee punts 10c 2 cast >s of all eoloi s outing, regular 10c seller: S .... 1 r 7-8 •Sc 75 bci 1 spmttls, Marseilles pat- torn IS. 82.50 to 81 values 1.09 111 ■ 8c Extra line oiialiU towels, 85c 8c and 25c sellers 15c 0 Men’s ; 81 and 88.50 shoes 2.08 1 .SIS Men’s . 88 and 82.50 shoes 1 .‘.18 1‘, ♦> <)S Ladic s’ x;; and 88.50 shoes 2.40 1(1 Ladie s’ 82.50 and 8: 1 shoes 1.40 1,08 1 job sample shoes 49c BETTER TRIMMED HATS THAN EVER and More of Them "Sir TRIMMED HATS Expressed on all sides by everyone who visits this Department. It is a brilliant showing of Autumn and Winter Styles. It pre sents tlie world’s greatest successes in the milliners’ art. We want you to know how much we save you 011 Trimmed Millinery. The hatH that would cost you elsewhere 810 to 815 are here at 88.08. Special value! for Saturday in Vntrimmed and Rcady-(o-Wcar Hals All Hats trimmed free of charge In Lite lot are Turbans, Face Hats, Bailor Shapes, Patent Leather and Plain Leather Polo Shapes, READY-TO-WEAR FELT HATS—Choice assortment of shapes. Trimmed with pair of wings and velvet. Gome in black and in colors. In the lot are also some velvet hats. 85 values are marked 82 08. UNTRIMMED HATS—Variety of the newest shapes, small French sailor * 7 rllllllll I lulll.ll rltallwl in black and an assortment of col- effecte, largt dr ssstyles, etc. Plain ors. Prettily trimmed with cord, fitted velvet lints, something en- velvet, silk, quills, wings, etc. tirely new this season. Gome in Splendid hats for knock about plain Itlack, white with black un- wear. Ordinarily these hats cost derfacing and many other wanted from 81 to 81.25—our special sale colors. 88 is the real worth— price 49c. special 81 08. New York Bargain Store TO THOSE WHO ARE HOT BUT OUGHT TO BE READERS OF THE HEWS: Sometimes sample copies of Tim Nkwh are mailed to persons who are not subscribers of this paper. Of course thiH is an invitation to subscribe; and we take this method of letting people unacquainted with Tim Nkwh read a few copies in order to determine if they wish to become permanent readers. Every sample copy of Tiik Nkwh mailed has the words, “Sample Gopy” printed at the top of first page in bold type. No person is expected to or can be made to pay for sample copies of a newspaper. Therefore, any person may, with per fect propriety and freedom, receive from a postollice or carrier sample copies of Tiik Nkwh, with the assurance that they will never be asked to pay for them. Tiik Nkwh trusts all persons receiving sample copies will give them careful consideration. It is unfair to condemn Tiik Nkwh without a hearing (or, a reading) and we feel sure but very few people in Goweta county are so narrow-minded and prejudiced as to be unwilling to read a few sample copies of this paper. Tiik Nkwh seeks patronage on its merits as a newspaper. It neither panders to prejudice nor bows to puerility. It neither fears to approve right nor to condemn wrong. It proposes to meet all men and all issues in a spirit of candor, fairness and courtesy; but it does not propose to be a trimmer or a dodger, nor to veil its attitude on any question with a multitude of idle words. Tiik Nkwh hits straight from the shoulder ami ex presses its sentiments in the plainest English at its command. These are a few words in reference to the principles con trolling the conduct of Tiik Nkwh. In addition to these tilings, Tiik Nkwh prints the news of Goweta county with impartiality; and as it desires to exeell shall endeavor as the days go by to print more news than any other county paper and to give the people the Mist service ob tainable in a county paper. This we regard as a laudable ambition; and have no apol ogies to make for possessing that spirit or being guided by its inspiration. Finally, all Thk Nkwh auks is that persons who receive sample copies will examine them in a spirit of fairness, and render an unprejudiced verdict as to this paper’s merits and its claims for patronage. If all will do this, Thk Nkwh will !>e satis fied with their verdict, whether it is favorable or unfavorable to this paper. (Continued on page 7.) Try vs for Job Printing.