Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-07-12
AN UNSTOCKED TRADE.
One Business Which Has to Hunt Fol
Good Wor<men.


One Business Which Has to Hunt For
Good Workmen.
There is one class of workmen who,
in New York at least, do not have to
look for employment, but are eagerly
sought for by employers. They are
the skilled carriage painters and var
:hishers, the latter particularly, says
The New York Press. The enormous
growth of the automobile business ere
ated a demand that is nowhere nearly
met. There are establishments In the
city that constantly are on the watch
for good men, and while they are wait
ing for them they run the painting
department of their business at a big
loss. Other firms are more fortunate,
for they possess the right men or the
right man, but at the very best there
is an element of gambling in all fine
vehicle painting.
The work requires a special knack,
special training and care that never
for moment relaXes. A house paint
er, frescO painter or even a piano var
nisher is apt to be q bungler at the
work. A single mistake or slight ac-
cident may necessitate the whole
tedious process being gone through
again. When vanishing is done the
room is locked against all intruders,
the cracks of the windows and doors
are stuffed with rags and paper the
floors, lower part of the walls and the
window sillS are sprinkled with water,
and the place Is vigilantly searched
lest fly or other insect may be there
III speck of dust settles while the
varnish is being flowed on it will make
an ugly lump that stands out glaring-
ly in contrast to the rest of the smooth
surface. \ fly lighting on the fresh
varnish will cause an upheaval rela-
lively as great as n sun spot. And
sudden changes of temperature may
cause unequal drying, and n crack will
result. In any of these cases there Is
no possibility of patching and covering
over the defect. The coating has to be
burned Off down to the lead and the
work done over again. An inexpert
man in the paint shop can in n couple
OF days wipe out the profits of the
rest of the establishment, and, unfor-
tunately, expert men are harder to get
as the relative number of vehicles in
creases.
Even when u job leaves the place in
a good condition the difficulties of the
painter are not ended. a carriage may
be caught in shower. and the mois-
ture may dry on it. That will cause
spotting and streakng. The carriage
may be housed in an unventilated
stable, and the fumes will affect the
gum copal or the resin or other gum
in the varnish and cause it to turn
yellow. Then the owner comes back
at the painter, and it takes tact and
persuasive power TO convince the own
er that he has been In any way at
fault.
Another minor difficulty occurs in
the matter of brushes. 4 good set of
four varnish brushes, genuine badger
hair, of from one to three inches, can
be bought for So or sc. But the buying
OF the brushes only begins the opera
ton. They must be tested, worked
out and seasoned before they can be
used on fine work. Not long ago a
carriage painter sold his set of four
vanishing brushes, which he had used
continuously for fifteen years, for $500.
and the varnisher who got them cou-
sidered that he had bargain. The
brushes were perfect In every respect
and could he depended upon in any
job. no matter how difficult.