The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-08-29
JAM Ex|P|'Il|N| ON. EYES
A Man Who Wears All
Kindsof Optics :
A RARE ASSORTMENT

i've known q lot Of freak collect
ors In my ttme.rs remarked Archer
Way of San Francisco to Tommy Ma,
gruder Of Newark one night last
week." but the qneerest within I ever
knew of was that. which caught Ike
Smalley. |T
J. Ike and his brother Amzi were
earlies at CRIPPLE Creek, although
they didn't, line under the family
name there. Ike was the elder and
fought his brothers battles, likewise
those of his brother-in-law, Barzilla
linton Of New Jersey. One night
Ike took up q scrap that fell to Bar
billa and lost his left eye.
When l met him in San Francisco
he was pretty lean in frame and
pocket, but he managed to get to
Alaska and sent for Amzi and his
brother7in-law after making a stake.
He came back three years ago with
something less than ton of dust,
leaving Amzi and. Brazilla up there
to share half interest in a paying
proposition while he held them ao-
countable for the other half.
while up In the wilderness of
that cold cline Ike was satisfied to
go one eye on things When he got
down to San Francisco he began to
think about appearances. He got
to talking to me, about glass eyes
and l took him to an optist's shop
and showed him a tray of eyes in
the window. We, went in and the
eye sharp matched his eye pretty
we'll and charged him $40.
1T was difficult job to find any,
thing to gee with -Ikes good eye, for
1T was yellowy grecny lamp with
fishy look to 1t, but the optist did
his worst and it wasn't his fault that
the clay bird had more expression in
1t than the real pigeon. Ike spent
an hour looking In the glass practis-
ing with it before he left the shop.
and on the street he admitted to me
that the ,phony lamp had more char
acter than his real locker.
HE wore it a week or two night
and day and sorter became absorbed
in 1t. Then he branched out. He'd
got the habit and: just went in for
glass eyes. ~,
He bought light blues, dark blues
browns. hazels and all kinds of COM
binations, all Of Which diverted at
tention from his ! he eye. He used
the artificial glass eyes like an Eng
fish Duke would Ibis collection of
scarf pins and soon had different
| plaSe oyo for ouorudo,, l., tbo ,,,ool-
and two or three for Sunday.
/. THE field on the coast got too
narrow for him and ne came East
and looked up a Frenchman who
makes eyes in Chatham square and
got him to make some specialties for
him. He had original ideas and the
lamp expert was willing to humor
him at $50 throw.
| like startled me one night with
a topaz eye, only in imitation gem,
but mighty fetching. Then he had
an amethyst eye and turquoise eye
but really this was only starter.
He was looking over the shop
windows in Maiden lane one day
when he came across crystal brooch
scarfpin with a picture of a trout
painted in it. He wanted some
thing just like that for a glass eye
and made inquiries about how the
| work was done. He managed to
find out that an old Frenchman in
Newark painted such things and
chased him to his dugout.
There he made combination
between the glass eye maker and the
miniature man and set up new
line Of work. He gave the artist a
line OF subjects to bring out on the
blanks made by the Chatham square
man and had the colors baked in.
LAS artistic specimens they were
great, but as facial ornaments they
were rather startling. The first time
saw Ike with one was in the cafe
Of an uptown hotel 1t jumped me
when l saw a pretty butterfly star.
ing out Of his left. optic.
Il met him again that night to &C
to a theatre and he called my atten
ton to the fact that he had changed
| the ornament for the occasion. The
picture this time was that of wo
mans head and bust.
1--WE went to Boston on the boat
and on the way to Fall river he wore
an eye with picture OF steamboat
in 1t. He said it cost him 5000
Next morning he showed up with {
locomotive head on In his eye socket
That afternoon he showed me
what he had in his collection. He
twenty-four eyes In it. There were
fish, game, flies, elks' heads, steam
ships, yachts in full sail, bull dogs
ineoofs oofroeeoe an loufny,rohfTS O