Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-03-18
MAKING GLASS EYES.
More OF Them In Use Now Than Ever
Before.


More OF Them In Use Now Than Ever
BEFORE.
.'The demand for artificial eyes,"
said the proprietor of a glass eye fac
tory in New York to writer for the
Washington Star recently, was larger
during the last two years than ] have
ever known it to be, and l have been
engaged in the manufacture OF the
article in question for the past quarter
OF century. Last year we sold 90,
900 artificial eyes, or an increase Oh
1000 over the previous year. Prior to
that our sales would not exceed 20, oOO
annually. The recent demand indi'
Gates that more people are wearing
glass eyes than formerly, and one OF
the chief reasons for this is that the
false articles are sold cheaper and are
made to resemble the natural organs
more perfectly now than ever before.
Hence the poor who are compelled TO
wear glass eyes have little difficulty
in obtaining them, and rich people
are less sensitive about wearing the
artificial product when necessary.
Ten years ago an ordinary glass eye
cost from SO to 81, while those made
to order with the pupil and the cornea
carefully colored sold anywhere from
Sl2 to $50. Competition has cut these
prices down, until now an ordinary
eye sells for 50, and the finer grades
are worth from $40 to $50, according
to finish.
More gray eyes are manufactured
than any other color; then comes the
blue and next the brown eye. The
call for black eyes is quite rare. They
are only made to order, andare seldom,
If ever, kept in stock. Opthalmia hos.
pitfalls are the largest consumers Of
false eyes, These institutions buy in
quantities, and naturally obtain their
supply at reduced rates. They gen.
orally purchase the ready-made eyes,
which are used on poor patients who
are not in financial position to be
fastidious either as to the quality or
finish of the article. We have hun.
dreds of customers scattered all over
the country, for all of whom we keep
duplicates, ready to ship when ordered.
The best glass eyes do not last for
more than year, owing to the action
of such moisture as the tear, the acids
of which affect the enamel, roughen
the edges of the surface and very
often cause painful irritation Of the
eyelids.
1.-THE process of manufacture is in
teresting. In its initial stage the eye
is long, slender stick Of enamel, made
Of perfectly transparent and fusible
flint glass. This is put into a cruel
BILE and exposed to great heat. Now
the globemaker places the enamel over
a blowpipe supplied with air, which is
pumped by machine into huge
cylinder and stored under water pres
sure. Then under the careful manip-
ulation of the workman the enamel
tube is formed into al oblong globe,
just the size and shape of the human
eye. Next it passes into the coloring
room, where q correct tint is applied
to the summit of the globe, and this
is gently heated by small fame aud
continuously rotated. When it has
assumed the correct form of the iris
more coloring matter is added to rep
resent the pupil, and it is then COW
cred by thick layer of crystal to
form the cornea. This done, the eye
is cooled and sent TO the cutting room,
where it is formed into small hollow
oval, with irregular edges. These
edges are again heated and the eye
allowed to cool slowly. This temper
ing process toughens the enamel and
renders it less liable to break. The
finish work consists in polishing the
eye, and when this has been completed
- 10 ,aaJ, for tho u,orkat