Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1882 — BOGUS EYES, NOSES AID LEGS. [ARTICLE]

BOGUS EYES, NOSES AID LEGS.

HmrLnxTlwrLJ! [From the Mew York Star.] “I think nobody wt>uld be 90 deceitful as to steal a $6 ef«4”§ The speaker was a well-dressed matron who had visited the office of a manufacturer of “ artificial, human ey& ” in Bleecker street, to inquire what Bad become of an eye which had been ordered for her single-eyed daughter and paid for in advance. The eye was discovered securely packed away in a little box, and the lady took the treasure away. The office presented a neat, business-like appearance. Over tiie mantel-piece the sign was conspicuously displayed: “A deposit required on all eyes or“I don’t want an eye myself,” observed the reporter to the dapper young man in charge, “but I have a few friends who have just come in from Dead wood city, and want not only eyes, but noses, ears and teeth. Think you could straighten them out ?” “ Did they bring any dust home ?” “ Loaded down. Money no object.” A pleasant smile flitted across the young man’s face at this cheering information. “ We can match your friend with eyes of any size or tint, at prices ranging from $6 to sls; and I can direct you to artists who will fit them with ears, noses, teeth, eyebrows, arms and legs, if they stand in need of them,” he added, confidentially. “ Are your eyes ready-made ?” “ We have a stock of 2,000 on hand, but tne sound eye can be matched more perfectly when wo take the order. They are made of the finest glass. Get the right fit, and there is no more trouble in putting in or taking oat an eye than in arranging your hat on your head.” “ How long will an eye last?” “With careful treatment it should last six months or longer, but the material is fragile, and unless handled very carefully it is liable to break. The secretions from tlie lids and lachrymal gland act upon the enamel and in time destroy the smoothness of its surface. The roughness thus created gives rise to irritation and inflammation of the lids, which, if allowed to run its course unchecked, will result in a condition in which it will be impossible to wear an artificial eye with comfort. It is advisable to remove the artificial eye before retiring for the night, and to wipe it carefully. Cleanliness does as much good to tbe artificial as the natural eye.” The house referred to is engaged in tho manufacture and Bale of artificial eyes, and is one of the many in the same vicinity. The business of importing eyes is confined to three houses. A representative of one of these said : “ We import the finest Frenchand German eyes; the former are more perfect and more expensive. We sell on an average about six eyes a week. We do no business in tlie domestic article. The weekly sales of imported eyes in this city amount to about eighteen, the average cost being $lO. We can match every size, form and color. These eyes are lost chiefly by accidents, which befall men, women and children alike, but it so happens that men are the principal victims.” “ Do you do any business in the nasal line ?” He answered this question by producing a number of photographs of men and women without noses, or whose nasal adornments were so small and stumpy that the appearance of tho wearers would be decidedly improved by their total absence. “Look on these pictures,” he said, “and on these.” The new set represented the same beings after being supplied with new patent noses, and the change produced was really wonderful. “In making a new nose,” he said, we ask for the photograph of the individual before the nose was broken or destroyed, and shape the new ono tp correspond with the original. When tho work is properly done it takes the closest scrutiny to detect tho work of tlie artist. Our artificial noses are made entirely of pure silver, and after being shaped they aro carefully tinted to corres[)ond with tho complexion of tho wearer. Such noses cost from $25 to $75, according to circumstances.” All artificial noses are not so expensive, many artists lining celluloid instead of silver. These noses are adjusted with patent suction springs. Ears and cheeks are made of the same material, and also of gutta-percha and aluminum. ComC; tent judges nay that there are in tho nited States fully 200,000 “made-up” men and women, whose teeth, cheeks, nones and ears require to be renewed at intervals. The most important industry connected with tho building up of wrecked human beings is that which provides new arms and legs. Accidents on railroads and disasters in war supply the principal nubjects for the manufacturer of artificial arms and legs. One firm lias a contract with tlie United States Government to supply maimed pensioners 100,000 sots of arms and legs every five years. In that period —except with the most careful treatment—the limb wears out and must bo replaced. Legs cost from $65 to $125 a pair, anil arms from $65 to SIOO. Certificates of physicians show that it is no uncommon tiling for men to walk fifteen miles a day on false legs without support, and to eat, write and play niusio with false arms.