Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1906-06-22
AMERlcANsA ARE PAINT USERS

subject IL was figured that our yearly
consumption Is over 100, OO0, 900 gal.
Ions of paints of all kinds, of which
over one.half Is used in the paintings
Of houses.
The reason for this great consump.
ton Is twofold: a large proportion
OF Il buildings. especially In small
towns and rural districts. are con-
structed Of wood, and we, as a people,
are given to neatness and cleanliness.
For, take It all in all, there Is moth.
Ing SO clearly or so sanitary as paint
Travel where we will throughout
the country, everywhere we find the
neat, cheerful painted dwelling, pro-
claiming at once the prosperity and
the s%elf.respect Of our population.
Fifty years Z 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, a large pro-
portion OF those buildings were tenn
porary makeshifts, and, on the other
hand, because paint was then a lux.
ury. expensive and difficult to obtain
In the out-of-the.way places, and re.
curing special knowledge and much
preparation to At it for use.
The introduction of ready mixed o r
prepared paints, about 1860, changed
the entire aspect of affairs. AS the
Jack-ofall-trades told the Walking
Delegate In one Of Octave Thanet's
stories, Anyone can slather paint"
The insurmountable difficulty with
our predecessors was to get the paint
ready for 's~lathering." That the
country was ready for paint in a con-
venient. popular form Is shown by
the immediate success of the indus
try and its phenomenal growth in
80 years from nothing to G0,000,000
gallOns-the estimated output for
1900.
Some pretty severe things have
been written about and said against
this class of paints, especially by
painters and manufacturers OF GER
tain kinds Of paste paints. Doubtless
in many instances these structures
Ho'S OCCh JuSbilItl dhl ooIlc lChIluI-
ly and wonderfully constructed mix.
lures have in the past been worked
off on the guileless consumer in the
shape OF prepared paint. But such
products have had their short day
end quickly disappeared, and the too
enterprising manufacturers that pro-
duced them have come to grief in
the bankruptcy courts or have
learned by costly experience that
honesty is the best policy and have
reformed their ways.
The chief exceptions to this rule
direct to the country trade, at a very
low pricc-frcquently below the
wholesale price of linsecd oil. The
buyer Of such goods. like the buyer
of a gold brick" has only himself to
blame ii he finds his purchase worth
less. With gold selling at any bank
or mint at a fixed price, owners Of
gold do not sell 1t at a discount; and
with ligsced oil quoted everywhere
at so to 20 cents a gallon, manufac-
turers do not sell a pure linseod oil
paint at 80 or 40 cents a gallon.
The composition of prepared paints
differs because paint experts have
not yet agreed as to the best pig.
ments and because the daily results
OF tests on a large scale are constant.
ly improving the formulas of manu-.
f%acturers; but all have come to the
nnnnlnGtnn that th1 ngaantialg 80 mood
paint are pure linseed oil, fine grind.
ing and thorough incorporation, and
In those particulars all the products
OF reputable manufacturers CORE.
spond: all first-class prepared paints
are thoroughly mixed and ground and
pure linseed oil. the necessary vola.
tito "thinners" and Japan dryers.
The painters oppo.itiOn to such
products Is based largely on self in.
tercst. He wants to mix the paint
himself and to be paid for doing it,
and to q certain class OF painters II
Is no recommendation for a paint to
say that it will last Ave or ten years
The longer a paint lasts the longer
he will have to wait for the Job OF
repainting. The latter consideration
has no weight with the consumer
and the former Is a false idea OF
economy. Had labor q lever be
Is cheap or as efficient as machine
work. and every time the painter
mikes paint, did he but know it. hi
Is losing money. because he can buy
q better paint than he car mix a,
less than Il costs him to mix Il.