The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-03-30
ABOUT GLASS.

ANVIL UhAbE1s
"Such foolish. little girl as Alice is,
mother; | could hardly get her away
from the tea-store down town"
but, mother, it was so beautiful
said the little maiden, just returned from
the rare treat of an evenings walk
among the stores, while looking rather
reproachfully at her big brother. at
looked like great iewels-green, red,
blue and white-only shining and moy-
ing just like fire."
"She means the sign above the store,
mother; it does look pretty when the
gas is lighted; but then, you know, it's
only glass, after ALL #-F
"Why only glass, my son?n.
"Why, glass is so common; just as
common as-windows," said the boy,
at a loss for suitable comparison.
"But common things are often the
most beautiful, my dear, and in this
case you have put your contemptuous
only before one of the most interesting
and useful things manufactured by men.
The word glass, which our Saxon an
cestors spelt glaeS, was at first given to
all things that could shine. The Ger
mans called amber giles, the Swedes
termed gold gliS, and the French called
ice glace, all for the same reason; while
our words glare, glance, glitter and
glisten are derived from the same root
"What is glass made OPP said Alice.
Just of sand and ashes, called scien-
tifically silica and an alIaH, with some
thing else called 1ltr, to make it melt
easily-lead, borax, manganese, or
some other metal"
81 know how glass was discovered
said Tom; 8 our teacher told it to us.
One day some Phenician sailors, who
had cargo of soda, landed near the
mouth of the river Belus, at the foot of
Mount Carmel, in Palestine. They made
a fire to cook their supper, and took
some Jumps of soda to stand their pot
on. The fire was 50 hot it melted the soda
and sand, which ran together and thus
became glass"
eyes, that is the old story, though q
good many people doubt it, butt is GER
tain that glass was made by the Egyp-
tians at least $500 years ago, Or before
the Hebrews came out of Egypt, as we
read in the book of Exodus. Glass
beads of ancient date are found in the
catacombs and among the ruins OF Egypt,
and, curiously enough, the earliest glass
known was that which has been so much
talked about of late, blue glass; the
Egyptians seem to have originated no
other color. Nearly all the nations of
antiquity seem to have known about and
orln 3
the 'spoils' which the Jews carried up
into Canaan; it was made in Rome two
centuries before the Christian era, and
from thence spread to Gaul or France,
Spain and Britain. The Roman glass
was wonderfully beautiful and pos
sessed a texture more like that of
precious stones than can be made at the
present day. 1t was of all sorts of colors,
transparent and Opaque, and used for
all sorts of purposes, the colors being
given by metal. Often two or three
layers of different colors and kinds were
laid closely together and heated till
they united at the edges, and then the
outside layer was cut into beautiful and
intricate patterns. But the most curl
Gus process was the putting together,
according to certain pattern, rods or
threads of different colors and shades,
and combining them in one rod, which,
while it was still warm and soft, was
drawn out to any degree of fineness.
When this rod cooled, flat pieces were
cut off, on the surface of which would
be seen beautiful pictures, some of the
lines of which were SO fine that they
can only be seen by magnifying glass
ain the Middle Ages the Venetian
glass was the most celebrated The
great Cathedral of St Mark was built
in the eleventh century, and as its in
side surface is almost entirely covered
with mosaics, chiefly composed of glass,
great number of glass-workers were
drawn together from Asia and else
where, ana glass-making became the
chief industry of the city. The Vene-
tian glasses, cups, mirrors, ETC., are all
very light and elegant; and there We're
six different kinds of work in which the
workmen, who were all placed upon
the island of Murano and protected by
Government, excelled, the chief of which
were Uitro Ill trina Qaee-work), Iatti-
ci',o with milk-white threads). cracked
or frozen, and 0UUdfltVrino (speckled
with goldD.p
"Was glass always used for window
panes, motherP" ...u. .... .-
"Not so universally as it is now, and
yet more than is generally supposed.
fraompnt of n GLASS WindOW-pane was