Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-03-20
CHOOSING A GLASS EYE.
Dealer Says That Blue is the FREEDOM
inatinu Color.


From the Sunday Sun.
I'VE are still a blued eyed race"
said the man who sells artificial eyes,
I'm site Of the tremendous influx of
dark eyed races in the last few years
the call for blue eyes In Our busi-
ness Oyerbalances all the rest.
"Of course, articncial eyes are large
ly the result of accidents, and SO are
most in deman in the hazardous CALL
ings. There Is ornament demand for
them in the western mining regions
where the miners are largely American
and irish. I Ishould think there must
be 10000 glass eyes In use beyond the
Mississippi.
"Of all colors blue eyes are the
hardest to match. There are many
different shades of blue eyes and they
melt into one another by imperceptible
graduations There is the cat blue eye,
the common, pale blue eye. which Is.
so to speak, the conventional blue eye.
Then there is blue gray, a blue
brown and a bluegreen eye. But as
to that pet of the novelist, the violet
eyed heroine, I never saw her. That
full, rich. liquid, deep blue eye, the
color of violets, which writer's are SO
fond of giving their heroines, does not
exist In grown people. 1t is seen only
In very young children, where. indeed,
it is the loveliest thing In nature
"eNlther is there any such thing
as a black eye. A negro's eye is not
perfectly black. It Is simply darker
shade of brown.
Hazel and gray eyes are the easiest
tn match pnrcnrc with
and one black eye are not rare. There
was q funny little incident one day
when a man came in here after an op-
GRAFTON to have glass eye put in.
His remaining eye was dark, and we
matched it very nicely. After he had
taken a good look at himself in the
glass he heaved sign of relief and
said:
Well, 1t is an i'll wind that blows
no good at all. I've been tormented
with one blue eye and one black one
all my life. At last I've got them both
alike
I'VE have one customer who seems
to luxuriate in glass eyes. She is a
connoiseur. She comes around several
times year and spends hours sitting
before that glass having new eyes fitted
and examining and discussing the eff
feet.
She seems to regard 1t is privilege
of wealth to have a change Of eyes,
and her jewel box must contain
enough OF them to stock small store.
often wonder II she wouldn't like
them to match her different costumes.
But it's all in the way of business, SO
we have no complaint.
mo two pairs Of eyes in the world
are just alike in shape size or color.
The largest retail stock of glass eyes
in this country is carried In a Boston
store, which makes speciality of this
1t carries 10000 glass eyes constantly
in stock, yet not a week passes that 1t
doesn't have to manufacture glass
eye to fill special order. But there
is not a human eye that cannot be
matched perfectly in size, form and
color.
II knew ona case in which a little
girl here in New York had an eye
movement SO natural that even ! my
self couldn't distinguish between the
real eye and the false one the next
time she came in. But this is rare.
Generally there is bad movement Of
the artificial eye, because the person
waits too long after the operation be-
fore being fitted. The fitting should be
made within three weeks.
Artificial eyes do not drop. out, for
they are held in place by the lid and
by vacuum suction. But they explode,
which is Dealers term to signify that
they break to pieces in the socket,
without any apparent reason. On the
whole they must be replaced about as
often as spectacles.
"The acids secreted by the eye also
pit the glass eye, discolor it and wear
off its polish. An artificial eye is al
ways crying, the tear ducts having
been abnormally sensitized.
"Nine persons out of ten believe that
a glass eye is solid ball. 1t is a hol-
low shell. A solid ball would be too
heavy for an eye socket to support.
Even the shell, is too heavy in some
cases.
"Do you see these eyes?" bringing
out a tray of distorted and discolored
creations. "a recent development OF
the art has provided exict reproduc-