Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-07-23
MAKING GLAssEsAN ART
History of the Great Industry
Which Insures Clear Vision
to Mankind.
Care Taken In Fitting Glasses to the
Eyes Not to Strain Those
Delicate Organs.

Delicate Organs.
How did spectacles ever come into
use? Who was the first to discover this
artificial aid to sight, and to whom are
we that wear glasses to be thankful for
this indescribable blessing which we
that are near-sighted feel that we could
not possibly do without? There must
have been time when spectacles were
entirely unknown to the civilized world,
and our best authorities tell us that de-
fective eyesight has, in all probabilities,
existed all through the ages. The writer,
although taking more than usual inter-
est in this line of work, is not author
ity on the question as to the origination
OF spectacles, but because the following
version is quite plausible, only quotes it
as a story that has been told to him:
''There was once king, or ancient
ruler, who, although conscious of the
fact that he could not discern distant
objects as other people did, yet knew of
no way of curing his defect, although
he had consulted the wisest men of his
time and tried numerous experiments;
when one day he happened to be in the
shop of one of his subjects, and quite by
chance he picked up small piece Of
crystal, or glass, which, it seems, must
have been, through some accident,
broken or formed in the shape of con-
cave lens, for upon placing it to his eye
he discovered that he could see objects
quite distinct ut a distance that he was
wholly unable to see without the glass.
This little instance so interested him
that he Immediately began an investiga-
ton, and by being able to furnish all
the means necessary for experimenting,
and by the help of the best mechanics
of his time, he eventually succeeded in
procuring a pair of lenses, which, al
though they must have been very crude
at best, We're of countless value to him.
They must have made the world seem
like difllrent place, for how often do
we hear that remark made today by our
friends and acquaintances who are sub.
ject to what seems to them great
cross, yet to part with their glasses
would be equal to parting with one.half
of their happiness.
Wonderful Progress.
This little story naturally leads to
the inquiry as to what has been accom-.
plished in this line in the present gen.
Grafton. will venture there has been
more accomplished in perfecting arti-
fetal means Of sight in the past genera
ton than there has been since the king
produced the first pair of spectacles.
Not alone in the manufacturing of
glasses, but in the way they are adapted
to different eyes. Comparatively few
people are familiar with the fact chat
there are but two kinds of glass that
can be procured out of stock, that are
carried as articles of merchandise in our
general stores. This consists of piece
of glass SO shaped that it is thick in the
center and thin on the outside edge, and
is commonly called magnifying glass.
The same can be said of the second
kind of glass, only in the shape of the
mould i'll which it run. tits commonly
known as a concave or near-sighted
glass and in this case the outer edge
of the glass, or lens, is much thicker
than it is in the center. The glass hav-
ing the appearance when made in
strong numbers of being scooped out
or of a miniature sauce dish.
This, in general way, describes the
magnifying glasses, which are one kind
of the above mentioned. These. of
course. can be made in greater or less
curvatures which make the strength of
the glass and are necessary to give the
different numbers used by people with
different degrees of trouble and answer
in q general way for all people who
have what is commonly called "old
sight, or need some assistance for read.
ing, and is all that could be had in this
line by the average person of average
means, until the present generation.
These few facts regarding the cheaper
glasses are about all the average person
knows Of spectacles, for one Of these
inferior spectacle lenses, if we'll pol-
ished, will look to an inexperienced eve
to be as bright as perfectly, we'll
made lens. but there is always this
difference, that cheap lenses, although
they may seem to answer the purpose.
can be substituted with perfectly
made lens which will give much more
brilliance and distinctness, even though
1t has not the 1nagnifying power that
the cheaper one has. But these facts
do not explain the A B C's of what the
optician Of today must know before he
il competent to adjust any lens to such
q delicate thing as the human sight.
Yet how many persons are there who
will take this matter entirely in their
own hands and in the slang phrase,
wear ''any old thing" which may come
in their way? But rest assured the as.
sertion is made. on good ground that
these people pay the penalty sooner or
later. = y