Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1906-06-28
AMERICANS ARE r Int USERS

In a recently published artlcle on Ihe
subject it was figured that our yearly
consumption Is over 100,000,00O gal
Ions of paints Of ali kinds, Of which
over onehalf Ia used in the paintings
OF houses.
The reason for this great consump-
ton 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 1t 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 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 lux
ury, expensive and difficult to obtain
In the out-of-the-way places, and re-
quiring special knowledge and much
preparation to at 1t for use.
The introduction Of ready mixed or
prepared paints, about 1860, changed
the entire aspect of affairs. AS the
Jack-of-all-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 SCATTERING" 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
30 years from nothing to 60,000,000
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
have been justified and some fearful.
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
and 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
are some mail order houses who sell
direct to the country trade, at very
low price-frequently below the
wholesale price of linseed oil. The
buyer Of such goods, like the buyer
of gold BRICK" has only himself t
blame IL he finds his purchase worth
less. With gold selling at any banl
or mint at fixed price, owners o
gold do not sell 1t at a discount; ant
with linseed oil quoted everywher,
at 80 to 70 cents a gallon, manufaC
turers do not sell pure linseed oil
paint at 30 or 40 cents a gallon.
The composition of prepared paint
differs because paint experts hav
not yet agreed as to the best pig
ments and because the daily result
OF tests on large scale are constant
ly improving the formulas of mani
, facturers; but all have come to tn
conclusion that the essentials of goo
paint are pure linseed oil, fine grint
ing and thorough incorporation, an
In these particulars all the product
OF reputable manufacturers corr,
spond; all first-class prepared pain,
are thoroughly mixed and ground an
the liquid base is almost exclusivel
pure linseed oil, the necessary vol
tile "thinners" and Japan dryers.
: The painters opposition to sue
| products is based largely on self-i
), terest. He wants to mix the pail
n himself and to be paid for doing
= and to certain class of painters
Is no recommendation for paint
say that 1t will last five or ten year
The longer paint lasts the long
d he will have to wait for the job
|, repainting The latter considerable
}, has no weight with the consume
b and the former is false idea
= economy. Hand labor can never
as cheap or as efficient as machil
work, and every time the paint
mixes paint, did he but know 1t,
i is losing money, because he can b,
better paint than he can mix
k less than It costs him to mix 1t.
n Prepared paints have won, not on
1t on their actual merits, but on the
II convenience and economy. They a
t. comparatively cheap and they are
y comparably handy. But when all
said, the experienced painter is t
proper person to apply even a rea
mixed paint. He knows better tn
i anyone else the when" and "ho'
3 and the difference between painti
lg and "slathering" is much great
$, than 1t appears to a novice. Evel
III one to his trade, and after all pail