The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1906-04-19


Fifty years ago a well-painted house
was rare sight: to-day an unpaiUted
house Is rarer. II people knew the real
value OF paint q house In need or paint
would be "scarcer than hens teeth"
There was some excuse for our fore
fathers. Many OF them lived In houses
hardly worth preserving; they kneY
nothing about paint, except that It was
pretty; aud TO get house painted was
serious and costly job. The differ
ence between their case and ours is
that when they wanted paint II had to
be made for them: whereas when we
need paint we can go to the nearest
good store and buy Ii, In any color or
quality ready for use. We know, or
ought to know by this time, that TO
let n house stand implanted Is most
costly, while q good coat OF paint, ap-
piled In season, is the best OF invest
ments. If we put or the brief visit OF
the painter we shall In due time have
the carpenter coming 10 pay us long
visit at our expense. Lumber Is con-
stantly getting scarcer, dearor and
poorer. while prepared paints are get
ting plentier, better and less expensive.
1t is short-sighted plan to let the val
liable lumber of our houses go to pieces
for the want of paint.
For the man that needs paint there
are two forms from which to choose;
one is the old form, still favored by GER
tain unprogresSive painters who have
not yet caught up with the tImes-lead
and oil; the other is the ready-for-use
paint found IN every up-to-date store.
The first must be mixed with oil,
driers, turpentine and colors before Ii
is rea1y for use; the ether need only
be stirred up I'm the can and IL Is
ready to go on. To buy lead and OIL
colors, etc, and mix them into q paint
by hand is, in this twentieth century,
about the same as refusing to ride In
trolley car because ones grandfather
had TO walk or ride on horseback
when he wanted to go any where.
Prepared paints have been on the mar
ket less than fifty years. but they have
proved on the whole so inexpensive, so
convenient and so good that the con-
sumption to-day is something over six
~ million gallons year and still grow
Ing Unless they had been In the main
satisfactory, it stands to reason there
would have been no such steady
growth in their use.
Mixed paints are necessarily cheaper
than paint OF the hand-mixed kind, be-
cause they are made In large way by
machinery from materials bought in
large quantities by the manufacturer.
They are necessarily better than paints
mixed by hand, because they are more
| finely ground and more thoroughly
mixed and because there Is less chance
! of the raw materials in them being
adulterated- No painter, however care
full be may be, Gun ever be sure that
the materials he buys are not adulter-
ated, but the large paint manufacturer
does know In every case. because
everything he buys goes through the
chemists hands before he accepts it.
OF course there are poor paints on
the market (Which are generally chenp
paints. SO there is poor -four. poor
cloth, poor soap; but because of that
! do we go back to the hand-mllI, the
hand-lOom and the sOap-kettle OF the
backwOOds? No, we use our common
sense In choosing goods. We find out
the reputation of the different brands
of -four cloth and soap; we take ac-
count OF the standing Of the dealer that
handles them, we ask our nelghbors.
SO with paint; If the manufacturer has
a good reputation, If the dealer is re-
sponsible, If our nelghbOrs have had
satisfaction with it, that ought to he
pretty good evidence that the paint Is
! all right.
Many men of many minds
Many paints of many kinds;
but while prepared paints may differ
considerably in composition, the better
grades Of them all agree pretty closely
in results. "All roads lead to Rome"
and the paint manufacturers. starting
by different paths. have all the same
object-tO make the best paint possible
to sell for the least money and so cap
ture and keep the trade.
There is scarcely any other article OF
general use on the market to-day that
| can be bought with anything like the
assurance of getting your moneys
worth as the established brands of pre-
| pared paint. The paint you buy to-day
may not be like certain patent medi-
cine, 1.-THE same as you have always
bought" but If not, 1t VIII be because
the manufacturer has found way OF
giving you q better article for your
money, and SO making sure OF your
next order. p G.