St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-28
SHORT TALKS WITH THE BOYS.
BY NJ. QUAD.
Detroit Free Press.


Fifteen OF twenty of you boys get on your
old clothes and come with me into the paint
factory, and We will learn some secrets worth
knowing.
To begin with, what is white lead, which is
the basis Of nearly all paintsi
,''Don't know
II would be odd if you did. Now and then
you may find some one to tell you that the
same lead you mold into bullets is the white
ask great many people before you find one
to explain the recess OF manufacture. Let US
follow it out.
Iron is melted into what is called "pigs''
for shipment and for convenient use. 1t is
the same with lead, only the ''plgs" are not
as large and heavy. The first step in the
manufacture is to eorrode the lead. We will
take what is called the ''old Dutch process, -
because that makes the best article. The
pigs are tossed into a melting furnace, and
when reduced to liquid state the metal is
drawn of into molds which are called
"buekle-molds." The lead thus nodded is
called buckle" beings little round cake
nearly as large as a saucer, but not so thick,
and perforated in many places.
These buckles are carried by an endless
belt and dropped into earthen jars Of various
sizes. At the bottom of each jar is a small
quantity of acetie acid When a lar is full
of buckles, :" which have been dropped In
without regard TO order, 1t is removed TO the
corroding house Here the jars are placed in
a row, covered BY boards, the boards covered
by two inches of tanbark, and then another
course Of jars is added until all the room is
taken up. There is nothing more to do for
ninety days except to wait. The acid at once
begins its wolk on the "buckles," and cor
rosion is. the result. 1t isn't the acid direct,
but its fumes, and the perforations of which
spoke permit the fumes to get at all parts
of the little cake.
At the end of ninety days the lead should
be corroded. The ''bucklesr are then
bleached out until they look like crackers.
and will crumble to pieces at the touch. The
same acid which has befriended us in the
corrosion Is now our worst enemy, and must
be got rid of. Haven't you rubbed your
hand along the clapbOards OF house and
found it smeared with white powder? We'll,
that house was painted with lead from which
out, and the paint killed and powdered up
The jars are taken 10 the washing troughs
aud their contents emptied in, and the water
let in and the batch is sluiced until we have
q mixture the color of milk, and scarcely
heavier. After q deal Of washing the water
is drawn off and the lead is found at the bot
tom Of the troughs. II the acid has been
taken out 1t is shoveled into jars again, and
these are carried into hot air room and left
for the water to evapOrate. When this has
been accom- plshed the contents OF the Jars
are emptied on copper drying pans heated BY
steam. The stuff now looks like ice cream,
bit soon dries until it is as fine and almost
as white as -four. To make paint it sim ply
has to be ground in oil.
Let me ask you II that wasn't curious
discoyeryl Who eonld have got the idea
into bis head as he looked at a bar of lead
that il would preserve and beautify the build
ines OF the worida And the process reunires
so much time that men must have spent
years in experimenting to get the right acid
and the proper method Of using.
Now TO prove to you that this white paint
was once metal, we'll take this piece of char
coal, dig out small hole in the center, and
ill the cavity with paint Now light your
coal and put the blow pipe to work, and
Acid made 1t paint-fre turns 1t back to its
original state.
The corroder ships to the paint factories by
the barrel. At the factories the dry stuff is
poured into paint mills, oil aided, and the
stufis ground through three different mills
before II comes out as you see it in the paint
cans. II the paint man is making pure
lead he adds nothing. II he so desires the
lead is adulterated while grinding. There is
a species Of quartz rock called barytes.
When this is pulverized It closely resembles
lead, and is largely used to adulterate It.
Did you ever call a boy Equity headl'
Well you did it without knowing anything
about putty. Here is where it is made, SO
many pounds of whiting are placed in this
great iron basin, so much oil added, and
then the machinery is set in motion. Iron
knives lie pt mixing the stuff up and turning
it over 4hd-ever, and grindstone, weighing
4, 600 pounds and faced with iron, rolls
around the basin twenty times a minute.
This stone Is called chaser, and II mashes
the putty down as fast as the knives can
fling it over, Pure putty is made almost en-
tirely Of whiting and liuseed oil, although
a small quantity Of cotton seed oil is used in
every grade, TO prevent it from drying too
soon. The next grade contains about half
udIDiC Ouob, onu IHC pOOECSb BIauc, winch Is
good enough for all outdoor work, Is five
seventies marble dust to two of whiting.
'-But what Is whitiugl"
Ask your father that question and see II he
can cone within forty rods OF q correct an
swer. i've many time been told that IL
was clay: 1t is chalk-the very same chalk
you Use on the blackboard, only ground to
fine powder.
Now, about other paints. Red lead Is the
white lead burned on the copper pans |
spoke Of until It is red. Yellow ochre is a
mineral, black is made fiom lamp black,
which Is simply SCOT, and there are several
kinds of paint which are simply a mineral
clay purified aud burned. Most Of the coll
ored paints-as blue, green, pink, etc.
have white lead for basis.
o. Herein the Office Of the factory is a fine
pAir OF scales, delicate enough to weigh gold
dust Withs aud here are two samples Of Prus-
sian blue which agents have brought in to
sell Both look alike and each claims his