The Daily Missoulian., 1910-12-19
aints and Paintings
BY Frederic J. Hsskin.

d
the Industrial world was SO deeply in
terested In the matter Of paints as
| It is today. The National Paint
manufacturers association maintains
a bureau Of promotion, the purpose of
| Ntllich Is to demonstrate how econom-
ical the use of paint is. and during
t.he past year or more it has main
1ained test fences in Atlantic City
and In Pittsburg for the purpose of
finding out just what kinds of paint
1 are most economical and serviceable.
The tests on these fences are being
| made under the auspices of COM
mittee from the American Society for
Testing Materials. The final verdicts
VIII serve as guide In future for
all large painting operations.
| Among the most interesting of
recent developments is the perfection
OF device by which painting is done
| by machine. The liquid paint Is
| sprayed on Instead of being spread
with brush. The result Is an
en- ormous saving of time and labor.
Large surfaces, like floors or the
walls of houses can be given a coat
~ paint by one man working with
the spraying machine in less time
/ than dozen men could do the same
work with hand brushes. With this
cevice the paint comes through hose
and out of nozzle like water is
! sprayed from a garden hose. There
is some waste In the process, but this
Is said to be more than counter-bal-
anced by the great saving of time and
labor. The scheme Is not unlike that
| adopted In constructing the Chicago
worlds fair buildings in 1893. The
! beautiful white City" was built
principally Of a plaster composition
| called staff The frame work OF
huge buildings was put up and the
staff" poured over the frame through
hose in liq'fd or semi liquid form
beirg nodded. into the desired shape.
Similar Methods are used in concrete
construction work
America leads the world in the paint
INDUSTRY There are $4,000 painters
included in the organized unions and
many more thousands who are un-
orRP mixed. As rule American paint
ers receive higher wages than menu
per6 of their trade abroad, and build
ers testify that the American work.
nlen stand first in the amount ana
quality of the work they do. Some
OF them, besides being expert with the
hand brush, can handle the spraying
machines with great dexterity.
The use of paints is one of the oldest
arts known to mankind. Holy Writ
Is authority for the statement that
Noah coated the seams of the ark
with pitch before the deluge. "de
was doubtless following the most ap-
proved system in the use of pro-
tective coating on structural ma
lterials." comments modern writer
That method was then probably Of
remote antiquity and traditional origin
and Noah may have learned it when
ne was boy" This proves that the
world has not advanced SO very far,
after all, in some respects as there is
no substance known to modern science
and Industry which serves as well for
coating the outside of a vessels hull
I as pitch. OF course. pitch Ia, not
paint. strictly speaking. but it belongs
to the same class of materials which
are used for preservative and pro-
tective purposes. as we'll as for orna-
mentation and decoration. Various
OILS. including creosote, belong to the
same class, and are used in treating
wood for purposes of preservation
Returning to the ancient history of
paints and painting, the art was
! practiced by the Egyptians and in
Mesopotamia when that desert coun-
i hJOSSnr1n1 nc hn oNIn rf
| This almost takes the art back to the
days of Adam. Pigments were used
by the ancients for various purposes
The Egyptians colored the cases con-
taining their mummfied ancestors
with many bright hues and coated
tFrem with varnish, and those sub
stances have defied the elements for
thousands of years. They are still
bright and beautiful
White lead is the basis of much
paint that. Is used commercially
| Formed by the action of chemicals
on lead, this product is handled on
the market in powdered form or mixed
In oil. White lead was used by the
ancient Romans and Athenians as a
cosmetic and to form the basis of
| paints for many purposes. 1t was
manufactured as early as 800 b. c., by
covering sheets of lead with vinegar
or wine lees, the action of the air
doing the rest. This method is still
used in some parts of Europe and
Is known as the Dutch method"
White lead is easily adulterated
with many substances and manufac-
turers unfortunately often yield to
temptation. An investigation by a
| United States governmental agency a
| few years ago into a widely adver-
tised brand of pure white lead and
oil paint" showed that there was not
q grain of lead or a drop of linseed
oil In the product. Progressive paint
manufacturers favor law similar to
the pure food law, which will protect
|