The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-07-22

ceilings and wall decora tions. mantel-
pieces and fireplaces, would all he
constructed of glass. Some of Nj. Hen
rivaux's conceptions in the way OF
decorations. in which the glass is
made Opaque or tinted with brilliant
colors, or made silver and golden, or
arranged in prisms and crystals with
facets like diamonds, are perhaps too
fanciful to be taken seriously, but
through them all there runs the same
enthusiasm, the same belief that glass,
as Theirs once said to Louis Napoleon,
is capable of anything.
Our chairs and tables, in the new
glass age, will be made Of vitrified
material toughened to the strength OF
oak and mahogany. Our cooking uten-
sils, our plates and cups and saucers
will be made of the same substance.
Even our knives and forks will have
grass handles, if not glass blades.
The new glass house will be abso-
lutely clean and practically indestruct-
iblc. The whole of its surface can be
washed from the top story to the base
ment without a trace of humidity be-
ing left. Dust cannot collect on its
| polished face, and the spider viii find
| no place on which to hang its cob
webs.
They have already begun to pave the
streets of Paris with glass, and il is
| found that the substance, while praCti-
| cally indeStruCtible, is admira bly, suit
| ed to the feet of both men and beasts;
| and as it neither holds or makes any
| dirt. ii is absurdly easy to clean. Its
| only fault is that ii somewhat increases
| the noise Of the traffic but even this
| might, by and by, he overcome.
| One of the features of last years's
| exhibition was the Palais LumneuX,
| or the Palace of Light. built entirely
| of glass. 1t was to some extent the re-
alization of NJ. Henrivauxs ideal. Not
| only was it of solid construction, but
| the adaptibility of glass to every class
| OF decoration in form and in color, aid
! ed by its various degrees of opaqueness
| and transparency, enabled its builders
| TO raise "A structure which as far tram
| ScCnded our own Crystal Palace as a
diamond outshines the imitation.
The question of cost has not been left
| out of account Glass can be made out
| of almost anything amcnable to the
| influence of fire. The stone glass, to
which reference has already been made,
| is manufactured mainly from what
| have hitherto been regarded as waste
| substances. The Stag heaps which dis
| figure our mining and iron districts are
| all convertible into glass. Evidently
the days Of brick and states are num-
| bered.
Perhaps it might be possible, in con-
| nCCtion with one of the many projected
exhibitions. to construct on "A modest
| but sufficient scale a dwelling of the
| kind that NJ. HcnrivauX describes
| People would then be able to experience
| the actual sensation of walking along
glass floors, or climbing glass STAIR
| case, Of being surrounded by glass
walls, Of sitting on glass chairs at
glass tables, drinking tea out of glass
cups and stirring it with glass tea
| spoons
| How far this could be accomplished
| with due avoidance of monotony it is
| hard to say. Certainly NJ. Hcnrivaug
is enthusiastic enough to believe in tn,
! fullest development of his idea.