The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1906-06-08
BUYING PAINT.

Springtime-after the weather has
become well settled-is painting time.
There Is no dust flying, no insects
are in the air at that time ready to
commit suicide by suffocation in the
coat of fresh paint. The atmospheric
conditions are also favorable at that
season for proper drying and increased
life Of the paint.
1t should be habit with every prop
erty owner every spring to look over
his buildings, etc, and see If they need
repainting; not merely to see if they
will go another year." but whether
the time has not come for putting in
the proverbial stitch in time" which
shall eventually "save nine" For one
coat OF paint applied just little be-
fore 1t Is actually needed will often
save most Of the paint on the building
by preventing it from letting go and
causing endless trouble and expense
Paint lets go because linseed oil,
which is the cement" that holds all
good paint together, gradually decays
or oxidizes, just as iron exposed to
GAL anu 01Ll PACoS W llA oIoWly dCSdJ VI
oxidize. The water and oxygen in the
air are the cause of the trouble in both
cases, and the only reason. outside OF
its beautifying effect. that we apply
paint to wood or iron Is because we
want to keep water and air away from
them. Live paint, that is paint in
which the linseed oil Is still oily, does
this very effectually; but dead paint,
that Is paint In which the oil is no
longer oily. Is no more tmperyious to
air and water than a single thickness
OF cheesecloth would be. II then we
apply fresh coat of oily paint before
the old paint is dead. the oil from the
new coat will penetrate the old coat,
and the whole coating will once more
become alive: and this method Of rem
ovation may go on Indefinitely.
This explains why 1t is better econ.
omy to repaint little before it be-
comes absolutely necessary than a
little after. When the paint Is once
dead the fresh coat will pull the whole
coating off.
In the days when repainting meant
a general turning OF things upside
down, two-weeks' "cluttering up" Of
the place with kegs, cans and pals,
a lot of inflammable and ill-smelling
materials standing around, ETC., the
dread Of painting time was natural.
So was the dread of soap-making time,
Of shirt-making time, of candle mould
ing time and the like. But we live in
an age when soap comes from the
make 1t, when shirts are sold ready
made for less than we can buy the
materials, when We can burn coal oil
or gas cheaper than we can make tai
low candles, and when all we have to
do when we want TO repaint Is to pick
out our colors from the card at the
store and pay tho painter for putting
on the paint.
When It comes to picking out the
paint 1t Ia not necessary that one
should be paint chemist, any more
than one should be An oil chemist
when buying kerosene. Or q depart
ment store buyer when selecting
shirts. or soap chemist when buying
soap. All that Is necessary to insure
fair show Is some knowledge of the
character OF our paint dealer and the
reputation and standing OF the maker
OF the paint offered. Nor must one
expect to buy . pure linseed oil paint
for the price OF linseed oil alone. It
can be taken for granted when any
one offers to sell dollar bills at dis
count, he Is batting z hook for suck.
ers." So It can be taken for granted
when anyone-whether mail order
house, paint manufacturer or dealer
offers paint too cheap. he Is bidding
for the trade Of suckers" no matter
what his promises.
But paints sold In responsible stores
under the brands Of reputable manu-
facturers are all good products, differ.
ing from one another In tho less I'm
portant matter of the solid pigments
contained. but practically alike In hav.
Ing their liquid portions composed a.
sentially Of pure linseed OIL The com.
petition of the better class Of paints
has driven inferior goods practically
out Of tho market. and no manufac-
tureY Of standing now puts out poor
paint, under his own name a& least.
Az to guarantees on paint they can
be taken for what they are worth.
Any reputable manufacturer VIII make
good any defect actually traceable to
the paint itself and not to inproper
use or treatment Of It. The really I'm
portant guarantee which the paint
buyer should exact from HE dealer Is
that the paint is made by . manufao
turer that knows bis business. and
that the paint itself has Z record. n
hs secures this guarantee he can af.
ford TO chance the rest OF it-ths paint
viii undoubtedly give good service II
properly applied, according to diyeo-
tjons.
Long and Short o. Il
6cslbbles-I wonder why e takes
Day day 90 long to come nroundf