The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1897-05-22
GLASS EYES.
THEIR MANUFACTURE IS A CURIOUS
AND PROFITABLE BUSINESS.

IHElH WANOEHN Oh% - ~
AND PROFITABLE BUSINESS.
Thousands Turned Out Every Year. Ready
Made Ones Are Cheap, 6ut the Made
to Order Sort Come High.
There ere many curious Industries III
this biz city, says the New York Her.
aid, and one that ranks pre-emlnent IN
the peculiar line is glass eye factory.
It may seem strange that there should
he sufficient demand for glass eyes
to support such a factory, especially
as it employees a number OF skilled
workmen all the year round. But
when one learns some of the secrets OF
the trade all cause for wonder van
ishes.
The prime reason for it's existence is
that a glass eye does not last more
than year and very often not more
than six months. OF course, this ne
cessitates the purchase of new eyes
every little while by afflicted people,
and the number of people who use these
eyes is surprisingly large, judged by
the yearly production of the factory.
Five hundred eyes are turned out
weekly, or about twenty-six thousand
in year. Not all of these are sold,
but this percentage is very small. The
unsold ones are stock eyes-that is,
they are used in the sale department
of the factory, or are sent to dealers
throughout the country as samples.
The prices of glass eyes vary consid-
erably. An ordinary ready made eye
costs S., while made to order eye
with the pupil and cornea carefully
colored, costs anywhere from $40 to $50,
and occasionally as much as $50, but
this latter price is rare ono, Poor
people can only afford the ready made
eye, and large number Of these are
always kept in stock in different shades
Of blue, gray and brown.
Gray eyes are the most common;
then come blue, and then brown.
Black eyes are a myth, and the factory
has never had call to make one.
Ophthalmic hospitals are the largest
consumers of the false eye. These buy
in quantities, and naturally get the pro-
duct at reduced rates.
They buy the ordinary ready made
eye, as they are used, for the most
part, OH poor people who are financial
" unable to be fastidiOus in the man
ner of exact color.
The most startling feature Of the fac
tory is the cabinet in which the stock
eyes are kept. They are placed in
large trays, sectioned off into tiny
squares, each square containing an eye.
Blue eyes of many shapes and shades
are in one tray; brown eyes of all kinds
in another, and gray eyes of many
varieties in third.
When a purchaser comes in he or
she is fitted with an eye from one OF
these trays, and if the buyer is con-
tent with the ready made article a
duplicate is furnished from the stock
If the made to order article is wanted,
the sample is sent up to the work.
rooms with instructions covering the
minor changes or Improvements that
can be made.
All of the regular customers have
sample eyes in the factory. This en-
ables them to send from distance for
duplicate, and new eye, perfectly
fitting and of the correct color, is ship>
ped to them. The reason that the eye
wears out is that the action of the tear
which is acid-affects the enamel,
roughing the edges and surface and
causing an irritation of the eyelids.
There has never been time in the
history of the world that artificial eyes
did not exist. The ancient Egyptians,
four and five thousand years ago, wore
false eyes of gold and silver, and later
OF copper and ivory. It is on record
that two patriotic Lutetians, when their
country was in financial distress, gen.
erously presented their golden eyes to
the public treasury.
During the Middle Ages porcelain svl-
perseded metal in the making of arti-
fetal eyes, and century ago the glass
eye arrived. Now enamel is considered
to he the best material for the work,
and it is used to the exclusion Of all
others.
The process of making the eye is
easily described, but the work calls for
much delicate and painstaking labor on
the part of the seven Or eight skilled
workmen. Formerly one man made
the artificial eye from the crude to the
finished state, but now the work is di-
vided into number Of specialties, each
man performing only a fraction of the
whole task.
In it's initial stage the eye is long,
slender stick of enamel, made of per-
fectly transparent and fusible flint
glass. This is placed in a crucible
and exposed to great heat. The globe
maker places the enamel over blow
pipe supplied with wind which is pump