Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1883-10-06
1.-THE BE.A R7TFfBR OF THE Ma.
Ff(2N.s


New YorS Herald.
Ono of the persons who appeared be.
fore the senatorial committee Oh labor
this week said that the workingman
was the beautfier of the nation The
expression is pretty one, and all the
prettier because it is correct. The
millionaire may desire an elaborate
house, and the architect may plan it,
but both of them would be helpless
were not the stonecutter, tho mason, the
carpenter, the painter and thedecorator
within call the work would be impossi-
BILE If even the humble hodcarrier could
not be found. The man of moderate
means may want TO beautify his grounds,
but he cannot do it himself unless he
neglects his business and applies him
self to special study besides; he must
call in the gardner. The poorest of us
want neatly fitting clothes of good
material; we want slightly furniture,
shapely dishes, good carpets, and for
these we are dependent upon the weaver,
the tailor, the furniture maker, the
upholsterer and the potter. The pro-
fessional artist and designer is not to be
moderated, but if every one waited for
him what dreary wildernesses our
originates and completes most of what
is pleasing to the eye; it is to his
knowledge of the appropriateness OF
means, his ability to coax raw materials
into slightly forms, his sense of
proportion in details and of
harmony in the whole, that we owe
our elevation, in material things,
above the level of the barbarians
who are dependent upon their own
hands and wits for whatever they want.
But would the workingman beautify
the nation if he were obliged to do it
at his own expense? Does he always
beautify even his own home and sur
roundings? If not, why not? Because
things Of beauty are generally things OF
luxury; not being absolutely necessary
to human existence, they are seldom
called for except by those who have
money to spare. The workingman does
not obtain them for himself until,
between persistent industry and equally
persistent saving, he has more money
than is required by the bare necessities
Of life. In other words, the working
man does not expend money on appear
ance until he is, though perhaps in a
small way, capitalist.
COPPER ROOFING COMING INTO USE.
American Architect
The Scientific American mentions the
decline in the price of copper as likely
to lead to the>increased use of the metal
in building. At present the material
for copper roof costs, at the outset,
only about twice as much as tin, and
as the latter must be repaired and
painted about once in three years, and
in fifteen or twenty years must be re-
newed altogether, the copper, which
never needs painting, and is practically
indestructible. is much the cheaper
material i'll the end. There are in
Boston many copper roofs, put on
about forty years ago, which show no
signs of deterioration, and the metal is
still much employed i'll that city for
cornices, cutters and rain-water pipes,
as we'll as for covering bay-windows,
and in many other ways, in place OF
galvanized iron, which is much infer
Tor in beauty and durability, and not
very much cheaper. The copper has
the additional advantage of needing no
paint, so that the delicate lines of ar
tistic work are in no danger of being
filled up, and the metal increases
rather than diminishes in beauty by
the slow formation of bluish-green
patina over it. For Hastings, as we'll
as other portions of roof-work, copper
is much superior to zinc or tin, and
with the aid of a certain amount of
lead the most difficult problems in
roofing CON be successfully and per-
manently solved.