Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1919-05-01
! nom /
DECOl
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.


gWSg5lo a 0OV0 xOS u VESD0Ev0SAy0 " - -e
meet ! desire for beauty 10 Z question Il
hully a. knetty - the ancient one abou,
Tho relative dine sf arrival Of the
chicken OF the -. Il was invepted
though. and II seevss both purposes
equally . whether It 10 an sRsprtnS
q nothsr necessity q A adopted cor
e beauty rsnaiAs fersver ! disputed
question. 81
The Arst men, covering under the
fierce and giaring suns Of the biblical
constructed rude huts Of \
wosd 70 shelter them. The perishabls
nature Of these structures caused rapid
decay, and It Il probable that the oc.
cupants, seeking some artificial means :
Of preservation. hit upon the pigments
Of the earth in their search. It 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 desire to
Initiate those wonders In their ewn
dwellings
The earliest record ef the applica-
ton Of preservative to q wooden
structure dates from the ark, which
was, according TO the Bible, pitched
within and without" The pitch was a
triumph Of preservation whatever It
lacked % Q thing Of beauty.
Decoration applies to buildings drst
comes to light with ancient Babylon,
whose walls were covered with repre-
ssntations Of hunting scenes and Of
combat. These were done II red and
the method followed was to paint the
scene On tie bricks at the time OF
;manufacturs. assuring permanence by
baking. Strictly speaking. this was
not painting % much % 1t was the
earliest manifestation Of our own fl
miiiar kalsomining.
The hrst Hebrew to mention paint
ing Is Moses. In the thirty chap.
ter Of the beck Of Numbers he In
,structs the Israelites, when ye have
passed over the Jordan into the land
Of Canaan. then shall ye drive out all
the inhabitants Of the land from be-
fore you ana destroy all their pic
lures. -.
4 Il later, periods the Jews adopted
many customs Of the peoples who sue.
cessively Obtained power over them
and "a the anocrynhal hook Of the
Naccabee. 10 found this allusien to
the art Of decorat ins. ~Eor a the mas
ter builder Of I new house must care
for the whole building. but he that
undertaketh to ret IL out and paint It.
must seek out things for the adorning
thereof"
Although Homer riyes credit to 1
Greek for the discovery Of paint, the
illusions to 1t in the books Of Noses,
the painted mummy cases Of the Egyp-
tians and the decorated walls Of Baby
lon and Thebes AZ its origin at q
+ period long antecedent to the Grecian
en- The wells Of Thebes were paint
"a 1900 years before tho coming Of
Christ and ee8 years before /. 'Omer
smote his bloomin' Tyre"
The Greeks recognized the value Of
paint a. 1 spreservativs and made use
sf something akin to It on their ships
Pliny writes Of the mode Of boiling
wax and painting ships with it. after
which, he continues, neither the sea.
nor the wind, nor the sun can destroy
the wood thus protected"
The Romans being essentially .
warliks people, never brought the dec
Grafton Of buildings to the high plane
1t had reached with the Greeks. For
Ill that the ruins OF Pompen show
many structures whose mural decora-
lions are u fair shaps to-day. Inc
colos used were slar1ns. 4 Diack
Background was the usual one ana the
combinations worKso tnereon req. yell
low and Diue.
u the eafiy CnFlsts ll ora tns use Of
lnosaics 1or cnsrcnes somewnat sup
planted mural p.,ntln Sa,,' durlnt:
the reign y Sest.n'an .he Cnurcn o.
Saans SOPHIA ~. !. Dunt = Consts \ tlno-
re ana Ns Wps Wse auo'heo WIZ lu
palnuhss.
mooera In tus uses VI ps,n'
! nave come % q numerous as i!'
..,.,. !, that q. .om. -. M emo
nyn and for ii there is no substitut,
material. Bread 10 the STAFF Of life. bu