Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1892-11-10
WONDERFUL LENSES.
Glasses That Can he Changed by tho Pres'
sure of the Thumb.

uIhsSeS Ihat Gan lie changed Dy the iros'
sure of the Thumb.
In 1s43 petty accident happened at
Phillips academy, Andovor, Mass A
linner-bell was broken, and the pieces
If metal were carelessly thrown away.
A student of more than average
thoughtfulness picked up the pieces
and carried them home. lie put them
in a cruciblc in the kitchen stove, and
mentioned to his family the apparently
unimportant circumstance that he was
going to make u telescope.
His father did not discourage the as
piring boy, but became interested in
his purpose, and gave his own trained
genius to the accurate shaping and pol
ishing of his sons reflector.
Thus, an accident at a dinner-bell
was of value to science, for the boy
astronomer became the head of n firm
that makes the greatest refracting tclc-
scopes in the world.
Years passed. y New systems and
suns, new planets and satellites had
been discovered Great observatories
had been built, when group of
Harvard students found themselves one
day inspecting the unassuming shops
in which were made the instruments by
means of which these wonderful dis
coverics had becomec possible.
They were a rollicking lot of boys,
just crossing the outer threshold of
science. They stood, half-carlessly,
before huge lens, forty inches in di-
ameter and nearly a foot thick The
maker pointed to it with pride, but
cautioned his visitors not to touch it.
'Iiow long did it take the glass-worl1-
ers to make this disk ready for polish
ing? Six months?' A student asked the
question as though he himself were Civ
ing the information.
at took four years." said the telc
scopemalSer, quietly. 'The worlsmen
failed many times before they succeed
ed"
The boys uttered EXPLANATIONS of sur
prise.
"And how long will it take to polish
it?" asked another
1.-TWO years This forty-inch lens has
fifty-foot focus. That is, it must catch
the rays of star upon every point of
its surface, and refract them to a COM
mon point exactly fifty feet away. If
one ray falls but the breadth of hair
from that focal point the glass is de.
| fective."
''But how can You do it?" said one OF
the group, sobercd by the thought OF
such n problem.
"With patience and without machin
cry" replied the lens-maker ''It is al
done with the trained eye and def
| hand. A dab of becswaX here, bit o1
rouge there, or the pressure of the
thumb on the defective shot-that is
| ALL"
"Thumb?" exclaimed the thoughtful
student. Can you wear that finty
| glass down with the bare thumb?"
The maker of the lenses, seeing thai
the student was the one in wclve-thC
earnest boy-th real seeker after
truth-tool1 him into another room
and walking up to Il table showed him
lcnse that had been laid aside. Their
the master gave the tempered glass {
few sharp rubs with the thick of hi.
thumb.
eff that had been perfect lens" HI
said, with an authoritative smile, "thost
rubs would have changed its shap,
enough to ruin it, perhaps beyond rene
dy."
The heart of the telescope and Tho
heart of man have many points In com
mon. 1t takes years Of toll and pa
tience to perfect either Which needs
the finer polishing the lens or the soul
The one is made to reflect the stars th,
other God Himself.
Spiritual and scientific laws are no
so far apart after all; and perhaps thi
incident of the wonderful lens viii
help us to realize the sensitiveness o
our own hearts to benign or maligr
pressure. Youths Companion.