The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-05-26
MENDlNG AS A FINE ART.
Wonderful Skill Displayed by Some of til 9
Professional Members.

(From the Philadelphia Timse.)
Almost everything once broken may
be mended. How many. shattered bits of
valuable bric-a-brac would be saved from
the ash barrel if people knew how to
mend things properly There are in this
city mon who day by day perform little
miracles in the art of mending. These
miracles are the result of thoughtful
years and the most stud ious application
to the investigation of minute things. If
you have broken glass, china, wood,
metal, or broken bones, go to him Of
the mastic mystery and have your glass
eye, your false teeth, or your teacup
made whole.
Oae of these men said the other day:
~ have studied the art of mending TWEEN
| ty-two years, and as result this is my
conclusion: AS nothing in the universe
of matter is capable of humiliation, so
| there Is nothing broken it is not possible
| to mend; it is scientific study, that re-
quires the closest investig alton of princi-
pie to understand it's breadth and usage.
First of all, the Ingredients of my &C.
ment must be absolutely pure. Second
| ly, they must be so amalgamated that the
mastic properties OF each ingredient shall
be wholly preserved, or the cement when
finished will be lacking some quality,
yielding poor results in using it. Third
ly, perfect cement must be almost co l.
orless and capable of hardening more
firmly than the substance to be mended,
wholly losing Its yiscidity. This is why
when some article once Inonded by me is
again broken it never breaks in the same
place.
"In my long experience have not only
! treated broken glass, china, wooden
ware. ivory, bronzes, cracked jewels,
&C., but glass eeys and artificial teeth
Not long since wealthy gentleman OF
this city came to me in sore distress
having dropped and seriously splintered
his glass eye. Now, one would naturally
suppose false eye to be tho easiest thing
in the world to replace; this gentleman
thought otherwise, saying that after an
eye has been worn many years, as in his
case, tho nerves, lgamonts, and muscles
of the eye socket having become moulded
and shaped to the artificial organ, 1t is
next to impossible to make another so
exactly that much pain and annoyance
will not be experienced in wearing 1t.
The gentleman in question, being per-
fectly satisfied with my work. paid me
$50 for mending his eye"
| glanced at an extraordinary specimen
of Sevres china in the form OF huge
plague, which has no appearance OF ever
having been cracked. "That, 'ssaid the
man, Il consider wonderful piece of
work. Before broken that plaque was
Invaluable: Well, sir, you see to the
naked eye it is as perfect az before, yet
1t was shattered Into hundred pisces-I
counted them myself-and many of those
pieces were so minute they could only he
handled by using pincers. Look at the
one hundred pieces now, they are wed
ded SO inssparably it is Impossible to de-
tect h flaw upon the front of the plaque. F"
One piece after another was examined
with the same result-no evidence of
the articles having been broken being ap-
parent.
In all large bric-a-brac houses that
import articles OF vertu men are en-
ployed to mend broken china, bronzos
| and marble
An immense Cluny vase, for instance.
was seen by the writer in New York that
had been thus repaired and redecorated.
yet the dealers price for it was several
thousand dollars, the same to a penny as
would have been asked for it had it ar
rived in this country in a perfect CON
dition. In one sense this may be con
sidered as fraud upon the too TRUSTING
public or connoisseur, and yet this NAV
be question of opinion, as the strength