Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1908-01-08
A FREAK
COLLECTOR
He Had an Eye Gone and He
Bought Remarkable Substitutes

1--WE known lot of freak collectors
in nv time" remarked Archer Way OF
San Francisco, but the queerest
whom ever knew Of was that which
caught Ike Smalley. Ike and his
brother Amzi were earlies at Cripple
Crek, although they didn't line up
under the family name there. Ike was
the elder and fought his brothers bat
ties, likewise those of his brother-in
law, Barzilla linton of New Jersey
One night Ike took up a scrap that fell
to Barzilla and lost his left eye.
when | met him in San Francisct
he was pretty lean in frame and pock
at, but he managed to get to Alaska,
and sent for AMI and his brotherin
law after making a stake. He came
bac. three years ago with something
less than a ton of dust, leaving Am2.
and Rarzilla up there to share hall
interest in a paying proposition, while
he held them accountable for the other
half
while up in the wilderness of that
cold cline Ike was satisfied to go enc
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 took him to an
ortists shop and showed him a tray OF
ewes in the window. We went in and
he eve sharp matched his eye pretty
well and charged him $40
1T was a difficult job to find any
thing to gee with Ike's good eye, for
it was yellowy greeny lamp with a
fishv look to it; but the optist did his
worst and it wasn't his fault that the
clay bird had more expression in it
than the real pigeon Ike spent an
hour looking in the glass and prac-
Using with it before he left the shop,
and on the street he admitted to me
that the phony lamp had more charac-
ter than the real locker.
"He wore it a week or two night
and day and sorter became absorbed
in it. 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 atten
ton from his live eye. He used the
artificial eyes like an English duke
would his collection of scarf pins, and
soon had different glass eye fol
every day in the week andl two oil
three for Sunday
1.-THE field on the coast got too ma
row for him, and he came east anl
looked up a Frenchman who make.
ewes in Chatham square and got hin
to make some specialties for him. Ht
had original ideas, and the lamp eX
merit was willing to humor him at So
throw.
Ike startled me one night with
topaz eye, only an imitation gem, blu
mighty fetching. Then he had an anne
thyst eye and a turquoise eye, bu
really this was only starter.
HE was looking over the shop win
dows in Maiden lane one day, when h
came across a crystal brooch scarfpil
with a picture of a trout painted in II
He wanted something just like tina
for a glass eye, and made inquire
about how the work was. done. H
managed to find out that an oil
Frenchman in Newark painted sue
things and chased him to his dugou
There he made combination bt
tween the glass eye maker and tn
miniature man and set up new lin
of work. He gave the artist line
subjects to bring out on the blank
made by the Chatham square man an
had the colors baked into the glass
"As artistic specimens they wei
great, but as facial ornaments the
were rather startling The first tim
l saw Ike with one was in the cafe {
an uptown hotel. 1t jumped me whe
1 saw a pretty butterfly staring OF
of his left optic.
Il met him again that night to 6
to a theater, and he called my ate
ton to the fact that he had change
the ornament for the occasion. III
picture this time was woman's hes
and bust.
1--WE went to Boston on the boa
and on the way to Fall River he wo
an eye with picture of steambo
! in it. He said it cost him 5000. Ne
, morning he showed up with LOGON
tive head-on in his eye-socket.
"That afternoon he showed me VIII
he had in his collection. He had "
vet-lined leather case with "a eyes
S 1t. There were fish, game, flies, ell
i heads, steamships, yachts in full sa
e bulldogs. insects, actresses, an au
+" mobile, a monogram, and lot OF pla
S eyes of different colors.
: IKE wasn't satisfied. He said tn
a the work wasn't fun enough for h
q and that he was going abroad to s
:, what he could do in Paris and Gene7
o Somebody had told him about
t, nous Swiss miniature painter, a
e somebody else had put him wise to
$ firm in Paris that made splendid lit
IS photographs on glass. He let on
y me that he was going to travel sol
k and have eyes made reproducing
Of the famous buildings and art wor
Hes got the collecting habit