Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-08-22


to a Dollar a Gross.
''Ah, there goes another crystal"
why don't you get a bunting case"
Because prefer the open face, even if
they are more expensive"
This conversation was overheard the
other day between two gentlemen who
were playing billiards in fremont street
hotel
Here thought the writer, is a subject Of
interest to readers, and straightforward he
visited the rooms of one Of the oldest, if
not the oldest, dealers in watch crystals in
the city. He was found on Court street,
up one fight, in room which was ver-
table curiosity shop.
On orc side Of the room was a line of
grandfather clocks whose voices had not
becn heard for half II century. The dust
lay on them in ridges, and their old yellow
faces looked solemn and sud. Some were
without hands, while others were in cases
warped and scanned by age.
"Can see the proprietor Of this cstab-
lshmcntf" inquired the newspaper man.
One Of the bent figures arose from his
bench in response. A snow white beard
flowed down his chin and . pair Of steel
bbNth oIJtCbtlClNo iOSlNu VI JllC ilp VI HIS
nose.
81 conduct this shop" said he "What is
wantedp'
q came to ask you few questions -
lating to watch crystals" responded the
scribe.
"Oh, yes. Well, you will find me pretty
well acquainted with the business
"What style of crystal was sold in 1884
or about the days when you first went into
businesst'
"The principal one was the Lunette for
both open faced and hunting cases. The
watches were known as bulls eyes. The
Lunette was invented by Frenchman of
that name, and he must have done an enor
nous business, as the whole watch wear
ing world was n customer of his. These
old fashioned tmcpieces had detachable
cases, and when your grandfatt perform
cd the important duty of winding up his
sd ticker just us the sun was sinking in
the west, he would remove the outer cover
ing, hang ii on his thumb adjust the key,
and then solcmnly and slowly tighten the
spring for another twenty-four hours SER
vice. The crystals of the bulls eye had to
lie very high in the center because the post
to which the hands were adjusted stood up
nearly quarter of m inch"
"Will you give me the process of manu-
factures'
with pleasure. 1t should be under-
stood, in the first place, that the finest
quality Of glass is necessary, and, in order
TO make the business profitable, the factory
must be located contiguous to rich bed
OF silica or pulverized flint. | am now
speaking more particularly of the present
time. Che glass is taken from the ovens
on the blow pipe, and a large globe, the
size OF u half barrel formed. sa ,4s,t
"W hen cool this Is taken by the operator
and, with II heated piece of thin iron, he
traces Il line around the globe and then
quickly lifts it above his head. The sudden
change of temperature causes the glass to
separate where the heated metal has been
in contact. This is continued until the
entire sphere has been made into hoops or
bands. These are then cut into squares
the size Of the crystal it is designed to pro
ducc.
"The process is TO place these squares on
wheel covered with buckskin, which il
made to revolve under stationary rod, in
the end of which is diamond. This opcr-
alton produces the disk. These are then
placed ON blocks of soapstone, with round
ed tops, and put into a little oven at n
white heat, where they remain about a
minute. This softens the glass, and it set
Ties down upon the soapstone, conforming
itself exactly to the mold. The crystals
are now ready for the grinders, who bring
them down to a sharp edge so that they
shall ilt snugly into the bezel."
"How are the various styles of crystals
n Ia mt finn Iogipyn ot aI DtI
First we have the Geneva, which is
slightly crowned and quite thin. Then the
patent Geneva, made in the same form, but
with small polished space in the center.
The bulls eye is high crowned, also with
polished center. Then there is the thick
parallel This is fiat on top and very
thick. They have been in vogue for about
twelve years, and were brought out, ] bc-
lieye, in answer to demands made necessary
by the great popularity of the open face
watch. The edges nre ground down so as
70 fit the chronometer bezel. They are very
strong, and will stand great deal of hard
usage before breaking The miooncayc has
a very slight swell and is used mostly in
ladies' watches. The thick miconcave is
for gcntlemcn's open faced timers, The
thick concaye is made heavy and ground
out on the under side and has n fiat top.
Then there 10 also the thin concave, which
is almost fat The Lunctte is oval or
crowned, running in height from l to 8.
The Verge glass was used largely in the
old bulls eye"
what are the diameters of the various
crystals"
"Thcy run from 0 to 81, 0 being about
the size Of a ten cent piece ana 81 measur-
ing . 5-lG inches"
The speaker here went to drawer in
cabinet and iished out a dusty package,
and upon opening it showed the writer a
crystal almost large enough for a town
clock.
Il manufactured these myself said he
us he held one of them up to the light.
"They are made of the finest glass possible
10 Obtain
"You were then in the manufacturing
business"
eyes. In 1874 ] opened n small factory
in Williamsburg, n. V, and these glasses
ami now showing you were part of my
product In those days n crystal was worth
about a dollar, and | concluded they could
be produced in this country at much
,ower figure. | broached the matter Of
;tarting factory here, but all my friends
poke very disparagingly of the project,
aging il was impossible To make n salahle
crystal on this side of the Atlantic, was
not discouraged, however, by these pcssi-
mistic views and went right along and
carried out my proposition to n successful
conclusion, but kept what was doing to
myself.
at soon began to be noiscd about that
was underselling the market, and one Of
the greatest wonders of the time was to
know how | managed TO do business at
such ruinous figures, and the old white
haired dealer gave little Chucklp as his