Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-06-11
SEEING THINGS IN NEW LIGHTS
BY ADAM STWTN.

| had some business with glazier the
other day, and on going to his workshop
| found him busy cutting colOred glass
for church window. 1t occurred to me
that johnny might like some pieces to
play with, so l asked the glazier, and he
kindly gave me several small strips, tint
ed red and blue and green.
Of course Johnny was greatly pleased
with them; and when l came home the
next afternoon found that he had been
looking through them as well as at
them.
"Isn't it queer?" he said "When
look through the red glass everything is
red; the green glass makes things green;
and the blue glass covers everything with
blue"
THAT as queer" I replied "I'm
sure never saw any glasses that would
do all that"
Johnny looked at me in a questioning
sort Of way, partly wondering whether he
had not discovered something that no one
else had noticed, but chiefly inclined to
think that [ was making game of him,
Really they dot" he said at last.
"The white window-shades, for in
stance. Your glass covers them with
blue?"
Certainly" said Johnny, looking at
them with a bit of blue glass.
"They look white to me-"
That's because you are not looking
through the glass"
"See," l said, taking a blue pencil
from my writing desk; "when mark
this white paper | cover part Of it with
blue, and we can both see the color"
"Yes," said Johnny.
$50 when mark it with red we both
| see the red, and it stays red'
"Of course" Johnny said; " the color
is on the paper"
eff your glass covers the paper with
blue, as you say, why can't see the color
as well as you? And if my glass covers
it with red, why can't you see the red?
And where do the colors go when we take
away the glasses?"
you're just awful to ask questions"
said Johnny, completely puzzled, as we'll
he might be.
"Let us look a little further" con-
| tinued. You said the blue glass makes
everything blue, didn't you?''
eyes," said Johnny, promptly, glad
to get back to familiar experience again.
Pm afraid your eyes have cheated
you," [ replied. "See if it makes my
coat blue"
ny liz OOl1uuJ CACldll1Su, NGIY
much surprised. 1t isn't a bit blue.
It's blacker than ever, for l can't see the
white threads. But your shirt-bosom is
blue, and everything else" he added, Civ
ing a sweeping glance toward the win
dow.
CRY the fireplace" suggested.
Another surprise for Johnny
Is the fire blue ?" l asked, as he con.
tinued to look without saying anything.
"NO-or' he replied, slowly. "It's red
der than without the glass, but Rot so
bright. The marble around the fireplace
is blue, though"
CRY with the red glass"
"The Goals are a different red now,"
said Johnny, when he had changed the
glass, "and SO bright that when take the
glass away they look almost yellow for
mement"
CRY the green glass"
ooh, how funnyP Johnny cried, when
he had put the green glass to his eye.
1t puts the fire out. No, not quite" he
continued, going closer to the
CRATE; 81 thought it was ashes,
| but it isn't; it's the fire, so
pale l csn hardly see it, and not green a
! bit, but yellow, queer kind of yellow,
too. How can green glass make yellow
out of red?"
"That's something for US to find out
if we can," replied l. do you see any,
thing green through the glass?"
"The marble is green" Johnny replied.
How is the iron Of the fre-place?"
"That is black. The glasses don't seem
to make any difference with that 1t stays
| black all the time"
Let US see what the glasses do make
4
white paper?n | said, taking a sheet from
my desk.
Johnny looked at the paper with each
OF the glasses, and said the color was
always like the glass he looked through.
Then he tried all the other white things
he could see, and found the observation
true IN every case--the whittier the object
the brighter Its color seemed to be through
| the glass.
But when he tried the furniture, the
| carpet, colored book-covers, and other
darker things, the rule held good no
longer. None Of these things were made
exactly the color of the glasses, while
many were very much changed.
sometimes the red glass would cause
RED Things to appear of deeper red, and
sometimes they would seem to be faded
OF yeIloWlsh, or perhaps DULL brown.
Some blue ribbons were made lighter,
some darker, by the blue glass, and pink
was turned to purple and yellow to brown
by it.
When we looked through the green
glass blue things seemed to be slate color,
red was orange, and pink brown. Seen
through the red glass some spools OF blue,
| green and drab sewing silk looked so
nearly the same color that one could hard
~ tell them apart.
Johnny was dreadfully puzzled, things
turned out so differently from what he ex-
pected.
q don't understand it at all,' he said
81 never saw colors behave So"
"Perhaps we can make it out by trying
little further" said, seeiN that he was
really interested, and woul refore be