Omaha daily bee., 1883-11-02
FALSE EYES.
Painted Coverings For BlGmiShGd
EyGblllS.
The Discovery Made bya Young Hus'
band. Together With Some Notes
on the Manufacture, &c.

corner of Fourth and Walnut the other
afternoon waiting for an uptown car.
what a delightful husband you must
be- she murmured. 81 NEAR to call on
your wife at once and persuade her to let
me see it. Is it a placque}'
''Well not exactly. 1t is very small
scarcely more than half an inch in diane
ter"
"Half an inch? Dear mel
Eyes; and / paid $40 for it,"
"Was it painted here in the city,"
"No; it is an imported piece, brought
over from Paris"
The young lady's ~face-which, by the
way, was an exceedingly handsome one,
with black eyes and rcd lips-lookedpuz.
lied. She took a lace handkerchief from
the alligator skin satchel at her side and
pretended to brush a speck of dust from
her shoulder.
81 can't possibly imagine what it may
be-" she said.
81 would like to tell you, but really
I'm not at liberty to do So"
"Will your wife let me seer
"She cannot help doing so, if you sec
her"
"Oh, then, it is something to wear-a
setting for a brooch, perhaps; but, of
course, if she doesn't chance to be dressed
for seeing company she won't have it
on"
"Ah, but she will, though. No mat.
ter in what stage of her toilet you find
her, / think she will have my present
where it will be the first thing to strike
your eye"
DO you know / am going up to your
house right this minute! l want to know
what this mystery is."
"But i would advise you not to say O
word about it, even if you don't recog-
nize the article at once. My wife is a
terror when she is angry"
The young lady's car came by Just
then, and she had barely time to gather
up her drapery and step aboard, without
at all satisfying her curiosity in regard to
the last statement.
''There will be a h. o. t. up at my house
in the course of an hour" remarked the
gentleman to the Enquirer, as the cal
went by.
"Why sol"
"Why, that young lady is bound to &C
there, as straight as a die in order to sat
isfy her curiosity about that bit of chini
painting. She is interested in some way
in the lockwood pottery, and is con
frmed china-maniac. just let her asl
my wife about that half-inch specimen o
ceramics that | bought for her yesterday
and there will be music in the air"
"Does not your wife like to show he
~treasures2"
"Why, my dsai, r boyt is a glass eye
You see, when married my wife, abou
six years ago, | knew her eyesight wa
defective on n side; but thought tn
useless eye was just as handsome as tn
good one. That is where | made my mis-
take. She wore a glass eye then, over
horribly disfgured eyeball. That ey
has lost its color, and l was compelle
yesterday to buy her a new one. He
friends are now in the same box that
was before marriage showed me my mis-
take. They imagine that she has tw
handsome eyes, without the slightest ide
that one is false.
"When our young lady begins her in
v~estigation my wife will see at once tina
her secret is in danger, and she will b.
fairly wild. came away this mornin
without any breakfast, because there wa
no breakfast ready for me, and that is tn
reason i let the cat out of the bag"
''Is the wearing of a glass at all pain
ful?"
"Not at all. Have you never see
one?"
ono"
"The importers place of business j
but a short distance from here. W. will
drop down there, if you like"
Passing a sign in the narrow doorwa,
read "Glass Eyes inserted, and going u
a steep flight of stairs, the reporter ant
his companion found themselves in tn
parlor of the importer.
"Yes, | import all of my human eyes,
said he, land sell them at uniform pric
of $40 each. There is a larger sale 70
them than you might think. They ar
merely shells made to fit over tho face G
the eyeball, as you see."
He took q brown. irised eye out of it
padded case and handed it over for in
spection. 1t was simply a shell of glass
with perfectly smooth edges, shaped I
cover the eye-ball from muscle to muscl,
This iris, pupil and veins that travers
the white of the eye were delicatel
painted in exact imitation of u natur;
orb.
"The shell, at first" remarked the in
porter, sis n concave bit of pure crysta
1t is then passed to the painter, VIII
colors it on the inside, and thence
goes to be fired. A small particle
glaze is placed in the hollow, upon I'll
painting, and when the firing is complei
the colors are fixed between two plate
of glass, as it were. Unless broker
through carelessness, a glass eye wi
keep its color and usefulness for to
years or more"
SIS there any difficulty in insertir
!, theml'
None at all. Stand right still for mil
Ute"
Slightly turning back the reporter
upper oyelid, the artist inserted Il
upper edge Of one of the shells; he move
it sidewise and upward with a dextrol
motion of his fingers, and then, with
little click, it settled into place, cor
pletely covering the eye-ball, and
course binding the eye for the time b
ing. Beyond a slight feeling of fullnes
which was declared would soon we
t away, there was no pain or diseomfo
noticeable.
"We have quite as many gentlemen
lady customers" came the response to
question.
"When it is possible to cover so prom
/ nent q Disagreement as an injured g
there is no question that duty to the pu
lie demands the wearing of these shell
' They are not painful or injurious. The
is no danger Of their falling out, as I