The Washington herald., 1921-12-04
By WARREN SPENCER.

America has a passion for look
ing new 1t is. indeed, nation or
cleaners; CRIME of age or condltlon
finds no friend in these United states
The ravages of time are fought'
seriously and constantly. Amerl-
cans will not grow old. 1t is TINS
spirit that puts short skirts on the
dear old ladies and dyed hair on
the CAV old boys Americas Oldest
tradition is her youth" said witty
Oscar Wilde. and thereby voiced In
contradictory terms. a profound
truth. Youth is a tradition of the
country.
In Europe, dirt and CRIME may
accumulate. marking the passage
of time. setting periods to the dis
appearance of youth, and bringing
with them respect and considera-
ton. Indeed, Europe looks with
small favor upon whatever carries
the imprint of today; the dust OF
yesterday must be fround the
building or the man IL homage is
to be paid. So in England and
France and Italy the light falls
softly through stained and be-
smeared windows and walls are
dirt covered and ivy decorated and
OlQ lime goes quietly On HIS way
undisturbed and unfought.
Making oil Look Like New.
But here the urge to remain YER
dainty young. throws the nation
into a constant battle with Time,
and recourse is had to science and
art to keep up appearances; for.
after all, appearances only can be
maintained. In spite of short
skirts and dyed hair, men and wo-
men do grow old and much cleaning
cannot make new the old wall laid
a hundred years ago. The next best
thing, naturally, is to tear down
the building and raise a new one
in its place: a process that goes
on constantly all over the country.
New for old. but Time passes and
youth, at best, becomes only a
tradition.
1t should not be surprising, then.
that in the midst of much cleaning,
even the outsides of buildings can
not escape the soap and water or
acid or sand blast but must be
forced through a sort of rebirth in
to a false and startling, II rather
gratifying youth.
Cleaning the exteriors of build
ings is typically an American in
dustry and since the accent always
falls upon new in New York, it
reaches its highest development in
that city. Much work of this sort
is done in other cities but the great
bulk of it is confined to the Island
of Manhattan. There giant struc-
lures, like The Times building and
Liberty Tower, the former Manhat-
tan Hotel. and dozens OF others, go
through some process of rejuvena-
ton and stand once more glittering
and serene and hard to distinguish
from building completed today.
Various Kinds of Cleaners.
the outside of a building was the
sand blast BY this means the sur
face OF the stone, hardened by wear
and weather, is removed and a
fresh and unstained surface is
brought to view. That the new sur
face soiled quickly every one knew.
but it took time to develop the fact
that. according to some authorities,
actual damage is done and the life
of the stone materially shortened
Limestone and granite dealers in
sist that the stone should not be
cleaned by either an acid or a sand
blast process; and surely they
should be in position to know the
facts. Maybe they are; one can get
opinions on both sides of the sub
jects.
Any way, the use of terra Gotta, a
material with a surface more or
less highly glazed. called, of course.
for new process. Obviously. the
sand blast would. to some extent.
remove the enamel and expose the
porous material beneath. AZ re-