The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1919-04-30
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES
Crude but Effective Processes Employ.
Cd by the Egyptians and Greeks Of
P'iny's Oay-Noah Prudentiy
Waterproofed tho Ark.


meet desire for beauty Is q question
1uiiy as knotty us the ancient one about
the relative time OF arrival OF the
chicken or the egg. 1t was Invented,
though, and 1t serves both purposes
equally; 50 whether it is an offspring
Of mother necessity or an adoDtcd son
or beauty remains forever a dis6uted
| question.
The first men. covering under the
hcrce and glaring suns Of the biblical
! countries, constructed rude nuts OF
wood to shelter them. The pcriShablt
nature or these structures caused rapid
decay. and ii Is probable that sthe oc-
cupants, seeking some artificial means
or preservation, hit upon the pigments
or the earth in their search. 1t is per.
haps natural to suppose that it. was
the instinct OF preservation that led
men to the search, although the glories
| OF the sunsets and the beauties Of the
| rainbow may have created q desire TO
| initiate those wonders in their own
dwellings,
The earliest record OF the applira.
| tlon or preServative to a wooden
structure dates from the ark, which
was, according to the Bible, "pitchcI
| within and without" The pitch was a
triumph of preservation whatever IL
lacked as thing Of beauty.
Decoration applied to buildings first
I comes to light with ancient Babylon,
whose walls were covered with repre-
nf I,pn
combat. These were done In red and
the method followed was to paint the
scene on the bricks at the time OF
manufactures, assuring pcrmanence by
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting so much as it was the
earliest manifestation Of our own ia
miliar kalsomining
The first Hebrew to mention paint
Ing Is Moses. In the thirty-ihrd chap
| ter OF the book OF Numbers he in
structs the Israelites, "When We have
passed over the Jordan into the land
or Canaan. then Shall ye drive out all
the inhabitants OF the land from be-
fore you and destroy all their pic
lures :"
AT later periods the Jews adopted
many customs OF the peoples who sue
ccSsivcly obtained power over them
anu in the apocryphai book Of the
Mnccahccs is found this allusion to
the art OF decorating, "For as the mas
ter builder Gf a new house must care
for the whole building, but he that
undertakcih TO set it OUT and paint it.
must seek our things for the adorning
thereof"
Although Homer gives credit to q
Greek for the discovery OF paint, the
hllus;onS to It in the books OF Moses.
the painted mummy cases OF the EgyD-
tinns and the decorated walls OF Baby.
Ion and ThcbcS fix its origin at
period long antcccdent to the Grecian
era. The walls Of Ihebes were paint
ed 1900 years before the coming OF
Christ and 096 years before "'Omcr
smOte his bloomln' Tyre"
The Greeks recognized the value OF
paint as II prescrvative and made use
OF something akin to it on their ships.
Pliny writes Of the mode )f boiling
wax and painting ships wit 1t. after
which, he continues. "ncithr. the sea,
nor the wind, nor the sun can destroy
the wcr1 thus protected"
! ~ tbtRIiH, DtillS eSScntlIiIy q
warliRc people, never brought the dec
grafton OF buildings to the high plane
1t had reached with the Greeks. For
all that the ruins Of POmpeii show
many structures whose mural decOra-
tions are In fair shape today. The
coors used were glaring. a black
background was the usual one and tho
combinations worked thereon red, vel.
tow and blue.
In the early Christian era the use OF
nOsaics for churches somewhat sup
planted mural painting. Still. during
the reign Of Justinian the Church OF
Saint Sophia was built at Constantine.
pie and its walls were adorned with
paintings.
In modern times the uses OF paint
have come to be MS numerous ia its
myriad shades and tints. Paint Is
unique IN that its name .,na 90 syno-
nym and for It there Is no slbStitute
material. Bread is the stag Of life, out
paint IS the life OF the staff
No one thinks OF The exterior Of q
wooden building now except In terms
OF paint coated. Interiors. TOO, from
painted walls and stained furniture
down to the lowlIcSt kitchen utcnsil,
all receive their protective covering.
Steel, so often associated with cement
reinforcing, Is painted before Ii goes
to give solidity TO tho manufactured
stone, The huge grders OF the sky
scrapers are daubed an ugly but efl.
Client red underneath the surface coat
Of black. Perhaps the best example
Of the value Of paint on steel Is found
In the venerable Brooklyn bridge, on