Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-21

cold out of dwelling built of them, while
admitting the light. 1t is claimed that they
will exclude noise, being hollow. Further
more, the inmates of a glass house need
rot be afraid Of being under too close Oh
servation by neighbors. inasmuch as 1t is
not requisite that the bricks shall be trans
parent. They may be Of Opaque ground
glass. or of any color that may be suitable
for decorative effect.
Thus before many years have passed it
will be considered the height of luxury,
perhaps, to occupy a dwelling of glass;
Glass bricks, of course, are expensive
People who live in glass houses will be able
to afford to wear clothes Of glass. That
sounds like nonsense. but the fact Is that
beautiful and most delicate fabrics are
made out of spun glass. Nearly twenty
years ago there was shown at the centen-
NAL exposition in Philadelphia a bonnet
composed entirely of glass. 1t was love
of bonnet. Tho flowers on 1t were glass.
and so were the ribbons. which looked like
the finest satin. The patentee of this pro-
cess describes 1t as suitable for the manu-
facture of neckties. shawls. table covers.
etc.
Woven ON a Loom.
In fabrics of this kind very fine quality
OF glass Is used. 1t is spun in threads of
exceeding delicacy, and Of these several
colors may be produced at the same time.
They ere woven in loom of ordinary pat
tern. Anybody may observe that a thin
sheet of glass Is somewhat elastic. The
threads employed in weaving are Of such
fineness as to be perfectly pliable. and not
at all brittle. With a gown of glass would
naturally go pair of glass slippers. Not
like Cinderella's. Oh, no! Cinderella did
not wear glass slippers. Her slippers in
the original French story were Of ''vair."
which means fur. VAR and "verre," mean
ing glass, are pronounced exactly alike
Hence the corruption.
A Pittsburg man named Smith has in
vented process for making glass slippers
in molds They would not do very well for
dancing. There is no reason why a glass
gown should not be woven of iridescent
glass, SO that the wearer would look like
an animated rainbow OIL a ball room floor
one dazzling simmer of ever-changing
hues. Until recently the manufacture Of
iridescent glass was set down in the list of
the lost arts. But in 1878 1t was redis-
covered, and now 1t is common CONNER
cial article. 1t Is made by exposing the
melted glass to the vapors of salts of
sodium. At the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York city are exhibited great
numbers of bottles. plates and other arti-
cles of glass which were made and used
long before Christ was born. They were
dug up In Cyprus and elsewhere. Many of
them have beautiful iridescence but 1t is
the result of decay. Glass will rot like
anything else. and decay has split the
structure Of this ancient glass into laminae
or fakes. which interrupt the light SO as
to produce brilliant red, green, purple and
Otner ralnDCW c0l0rS.
Even Worms for Bait.
The window blinds of the glass house of
the future will be of glass, of course That
is another patent, and the inventor sug-
gests that such blinds may be made of
whatever colors are desired. Baby in the
nursery perhaps will play with glass build
ing blocks, and at suitable age he will
receive Christmas gift of pair of roller
skates with glass rollers. Both of these
ideas have been patented When he fs old
enough to go fishing he will not dig worms
In the garden, but will be provided with
artificial bait in the shape of a hollow min
now OF glass, coated on the inside partly
with a solution of gold or silver and partly
with luminous paint. The originator of
this minrfow says that 1t is a brilliant OBJ
1ect In the water, and calculated to compel
the attention of any fish that has a par
ticle of appetite.
Glass bedsteads may be proof against light
ming and bugs, but it is hardly to Re ex-
pected that glass houses should be free
from mice. The inmates could hardly do
better than to employ glass traps for the
capture of such vermin. The great adyan-
tage of the glass mouse trap, according to
the statement of the inventor, is that eff
one mouse has entered the trap he may be
seen by others who chance to 20 that way.
and they will be inclined to join the one in
side, especially when they observe that he
is nibbling choice morsel." Up to date
the glass mouse trap has not made itself
popular, Notwithstanding the important ar
guments In Its favor, and of most of the
other devices described it is unfortunately
true that they have not proved profitable
to the persons who contrived them. This
remark, however, by no means applies to
the glass lemon squeeZer which is already
familiar household utensil. The inventor
of 1t is said to have sold his rights for
$4,000.
Bottles and Pitchers.
The most merltorious inventions do not
always obtain adoption. For example, sew
eral good processes for making glass bot
ties by machine have been patented. But
they are not used to any great extent, be-
cause the trade of the bottle makers is con-
sentative. Glass pitchers. handle and all
in one piece, are now being produced in
molds by pressure. The upper part having
been formed in the mold the lower part Of
the pitcher Is distended to the requisite
globular shape by forcing compressed air
downward through the neck.
American invention. Many centuries ego
buttons and such little things of glass were
produced by means Of primitive pinch
molds. But now this branch Of manufac-
that cups, bowls and other articles of
pressed glass closely initiate the costly
cut glass. The process is very simple. A
measured quantity of melted glass being
pldCeQ III the BOTTOM OF the mold, down
comes a plunger, which forces the vitreous
fluid into all parts of the mold. When cold
the cast thus obtained is taken out of
the mold.
The latter, Of course, may be of any
shape desired and Of as elaborate pattern
One of the most remarkable inventions in
glass, by the way. was that Of Venetian
named Joquin, in 1856. He noticed that the
scales of fish called the bleak gave
milky hue to water, and that glass beads
dipped into such water looked like pearls
when dried: Subsequently the idea was
conceived Of making hollow heads of glass
and lining them with the peculiar sub
stance from the scales of the fish, and it is
in this way that the so-called Roman
pearls are now manufactured. It Is to this
substance that the iridescence of the scales
of many species of fishes is due.
Making of Mirrors.
To the Venetians also must be attrib-