Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1898-03-03
MAKING CCtSS EYES.
More of Them in Use Now Than Ever
Before.

Before.
The demand for artificial evas.''
said the proprietor Of a glass eve fac
tory in New York to a writer for the
Washington Star recently, was larger
during tue last two wears than / have
ever known it to be. and | have been
engaged IN the manufacture Of the
article IN question for the past quarter
OF century. Last year we sod 35-.
400 Artificial eyes. or an increase of
1000 over the previous wear. Prior to
that our sales would not exceed 20. 900
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.
len years ago an ordinary glass eve
cost from s. to 81, while those made
| to order with the pupil and the cornea
carefully colored sold anywhere from
Sl2 to $40. Competition has cut these
prices down, until now an ordinary
eye sells for s., and the finer grades
are worth from SO to $50, according
to finish
More gray eyes are manufactured
than any other color then comes the
/ blue and next the brown eve The
call for black ewes is quite rare They
are only made to order. and are seldom.
/ If ever, kept in stock Opthalmia hos
! pitfalls are the largest consumers Of
I false eyes. These institutions buy iii
| quantities, and naturally obtain their
/ supply at reduced rates They gem
orally purchase the ready-lnade eyes,
which are used on poor patients who
/ are not IN a financial position to be
! fastidious either as to the quality or
finish Of the article. We have hum
dreds of customers scattered all over
t the country. for all Of whom we keep
duplicates, ready to ship when ordered
The best & lass eyes do not last for
more than q year, owing to the action
of which affect the enamel, roughen
the edges of the surface and very
often cause painful irritation Of the
eyelids.
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 cruel
BILE and exposed to great heat. Now
the globemaker place, ,he enamel ovel
a blowpipe supplied with air. which is
pumped by machine into a huge
cylinder and stored under water pres
sure. Then under the careful mauip
ulation Of the workman the enamel
tube is formed into an oblong glone,
just the size and shape Of the human
eye. Next it passes into the colorine
room, where a correct tint is applied
to the summit of the globe, and this
is gently heated by small flame ant
continuously rotated When it ha:
assumed the correct form OF the iri:
more coloring matter is added to rep
resent the pupil. and it is then GOV
cred by thick layer of crystal t,
form the cornea This done. the ev,
is cooled and sent to the cutting room
where it is formed into small hollow
oval, with irregular edges. Thes,
edges are again heated and the ey
allowed to cool slowly. This temper
ing process tonghens the enamel an,
renders it less liable TO break. tn
finish work consists III polishing th
eye, and when tnis has been complete,
it is ready for the market.