Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-06-21
Am ericana Are Paint Users.


lean people consume more paint, both
in the aggregate and per capita, than
any other people in the world. In
recently published article on the sub.
ject it was figured that our yearly
consumption is over 1OO,0OO,000 gallons
of paints of all kinds. of which over
one-half is used in the paintings of
houses.
The reason for this great consump.
tlon is twofold: large proportion OF
our buildings. especially In small
towns and rural districts, are con.
structed Of wood, and we, as people.
are given to neatness and cleanliness.
For, take it all in all, there is nothing
SO clearly or so sanitary as paint.
Travel where we will throughout the
country, everywhere we find the neat,
cheerful painted dwelling, proclaiming
at once the prosperity and the self
respect Of our population.
Fifty years ago this was not SO;
painted dwellings, while common In
the larger cities and towns, were the
exception in the rural districts; be-
cause. on the one hand, large pro-
portion Of those buildings were tenn
porary makeshifts, and, on the other
hand. because paint was then a luxury,
expensive and difficult to obtain in the
out-of- the-way places. and requiring
special knowledge and much prepare.
tion to tit it for use.
The introduction of ready mixed or
prepared paints. about 1860, changed
the entire aspect of affairs. AS the
,Tack-of- all-trades told the Walking
delegate in one of Octave 1hanets
stories "Any one can slather paint"
The insurmOuntable difficulty with
our predecessors was to get the paint
ready for "slatherins." That the coun-
try was ready for paint in convenient,
popular form is shown by the imme-
diate success of the industry and its
phenomenal growth in fifty years from
nothing to G0000,000 gallons-the esti'
mated output for 1900.
Some pretty severe things have been
written about anG said against this
class of paints, especially by painters
and manufacturers Of certain kinds OF
paste paints. Doubtless in many in
stances these strict Tres have been JUS
titled and some fearfully and wonder
past been worked off on the guilcleSs
SohSunSl III INC StiupC VI ItSphiSN
paint. But such products have had
their short day and quickly disap-
peared, and The 100 Cnte:prising man
ufacturers that produced them have
come to grief in the bankruptcy
courts or Ii; e .carne. by costly eX-
perience that honesty is the best pol
icy and Lave reformed their ways.
The chief exceptions to this lulc are
some mail order houses who sell direct
to The country trade, at a very lew
price-frequontly below the wholesale
price of linseed oil. The buyer of such
goo !, ike the buyer Of n gold brick"
has only himself to blame it he fin,
his purchase worthless With gold
selling at any bank or mint at fixed
price owners OF gold do not sell 1t ut
a discount: and with linseed oil quoted
everywhere ut fifty 10 seventy cents
gallon. manufacturers do not sell n
pure linseed oil paint at thirty or forty
cents u gallon.
The composition of prepared paints
differs because paint experts lave not
yet agreed as to th, best pigments
and because the Gailv results OF tests
on large scale are constantly I'M
proving tie formulas Of manufacture
ers; but all have come to the conclu-
sion that the essentials of good paint
are pure linseed oil. fine Grinting and
thorough Incorporation, and i'll these
particulars all the produces Of repu-
ta,io manufacturers correspond; all
first class prepared paints are thor
oughly mixed and ground and the LID
uid base is almost exclusively pure
lfncna6 oil fhn Volatile
"thinners" and Japan dryers.
The painters opposition 20 such pro-
ducts is based largely on self-interest.
He want. to mi. the >aint himself
and TO be paid for do'nS it, and to
certain class of painters it IL no rec
ommendation for paint to say that 1t
will last five or ten years. The longer
paint lasts the longer he will nave
to wait for the job Of rcpaintlng. The
latter consideration has no weight with
the consumer, and the former Is
.alse idea of economy. Hand labor
can never be as cheap or as efficient
rs machine work, and every time the
painter mixes paint, did he but know
1t, he is losing money. because he can
buy better paint than he can mix
at less than it costs him to mix it.
Prepared paints have won, not only
OH their actual merits, but on their
convenience and economy. They are
comparatively cheap and they are in
comparably handy. But when all is
said, the experienced painter Is the
proper person to apply even a ready
mixed paint. He knows better than
any one else the "when" and chow
and the difference between painting
and "slathering" is much greater than
it appears TO novice. Every one to
his trade, and after all painting is the
painters trade and not the household
er's.