The Democratic advocate., 1885-04-18

Ihe Jars are taken to the washing troughs
and their contents emptied in, and the wa
ter is then let in and the batch is sluiced
until we have mixture the color of milk
and scarcely heavier After deal of
washing the water is drawn off and the
lead is found at the bottom of the troughs.
If the acid has been taken out it is shovel
ed into jars again, and these are carried in
to a hot-air room and left for the water to
evaporate. When this has been accom-
plished the contents of the jars are emptied
on copper drying pans heated by steam
The stuff now looks like ice cream, but soon
dries until it is as fine and almost as white
as -four. To make paint it simply has to
be ground in OIL
Let me ask you if that wasn't curious
discovery? Who could have got the idea
into his head as he looked at bar of lead
that it would preserve and beautify the
buildings of the world? And the process
requires 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
charcoal, dig out small hole in the centre,
and fill the cavity with paint Now light
your coal and put the blow-pipe at work,
and what is the result? A ragged button
of lead Acid made it paint turns it
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 added,
and the stuff is ground through three
different mills before it comes out as you
see it in the paint cans If the paint man
is making pure lead he adds nothing. If
he so desires the lead is adulterated while
grinding. There is 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 boy "putty head"
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 keep mixing the stuff up and
turning it over and over, and grindstone,
weighing 1000 pounds and faced with iron,
rolls around the basin twenty times min
ute. The stone is called "chaser,e and
it mashes the putty down as fast as the
knives can fling it over. Pure putty is
made almost entirely of whiting and lin
seed oil, although small quantity of cot
ton-seed oil is used in every grade to pre-
vent it from drying too soon. The next
grade contains about half marble-dust, and
the poorest grade, which is good enough
for all outdoor work, is fve-seyenths mar
ble-dust to two of whiting.
@But what is whiting" ?"
Ask your father that question and see
if he can come within forty rods of cor
rect answer. I've many time been told
that it 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 from lamp-black,
which is simply SCOT, and there are several
kinds of paint which are simply mineral
clay purified and burned Most of the
colored paints-as blue, green, pink, ETC.
have white lead for basis.
Here in the office of the factory is a fine
pair of scales-delicate enough to weigh
gold-dust with, and here are two samples
of Prussian blue which agents have brought
in to SELL Both look alike, and each
claims his sample to be the stronger. Now
watch the factory man make the test He
weighs out one grain of each sample, and
then five grains of white lead for each.
In each case the one grain is mixed with
the five on palette, and whichever colors
the white the bluest is of course the strong
est sample.
And now about the cans. You find
them of all sizes, from the little chap hold
ing four ounces to the big one holding
gallon. All are filled from large tin
bucket provided with spout, and each is
filled to exact weight. Here is machine
which puts the covers on. Formerly this
work was done by man with a soldering
iron, and it was slow process. The boy
takes up a can on which other hands have
placed the cover, and places it on this lower
Jaw of the machine. Up rises the jaw un-
till the top of the can meets the solid plate
above and then two or three wheels chase
each other around over the cover and crimp
it down until it is positively air-tight and
perfectly secure. A smart boy will stand
there and cover ten thousand cans per day,
while man working with soldering iron
oouId not covar thrap hundred
We have skipped many things about
paints, but we have learned more by this
visit than you could have acquired in any
other way in lifetime 1t was not ne
cessary to your future success to know these
things, but you could also become mer-
chant without knowing that the earth re-
wolves around the sun.