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ANTIQUITY OF
DECORATIVE ART
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES.
. Oryds but Effective Processes Employ
d by the Egyptians and Greeks of
Pliny's Day Noah Prudently
v Waterproofed the Ark.
Whether paint was invented In an
swer to a need for a preservative or to
uaeet a desire for beauty. Is a question
tfully as knotty as the ancient one about
the relative time of arrival of the
.chicken or the egg. It was Invented,
tthough, and It serves both purposes
equally; so whether It Is an offspring
1 -of mother necessity or an adopted son
f beauty remains forever a disputed
i question.
The first men, cowering under the
i Aerce 14 d glaring suns of the biblical
countries, constructed rude huts of
' wood to shelter them. The perishable
: nature of these structures caused rapid
-decay, and It Is probable that the oc-:-
cupants, seeking some artificial means
i.f preservation, hit upon the pigments
f the earth in their search. It 1b per
t Imps natural to' suppose that It was
- .the Instinct of preservation that led
snen to the search, although the glories
Vf the sunsets and the beauties of the
' rainbow may have created a desire to
Imitate those wonders In their own
dwellings.
The earliest record of the appllca
, tlon of a preservative to a 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
r lacked as a thing of beauty..
Decoration applied to buildings first
-comes to light with ancient Babylon,
whose walls were covered with repre
sentations of huntivg scenes and of
combat These were done In red and
the method followed was to paint the
'scene on the bricks at the time of
manufacture, assuring permanence by
'baking. Strictly speaking, this was
'; -not painting so much as It was the
'earliest manifestation of our own fa
miliar kalsomlnlng.
The first Hebrew to mention paint
ing Is Moses. In the thirty-third chap
iter of the book of Numbers be In
structs the Israelites, "Vhen 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 and destroy all 'their pic
tures. ..."
At later periods the Jews adopted
many customs of the peoples who suc
cessively obtained power over them
and In the apocryphal book of the
Maccabees Is found this allusion to
the art of decorating, "For as the mas
. -ter builder of a new house must care
for the whole building, but he that
ondertaketh to set It out and paint It,
: must seek out things for the adorning
thereof."
Although Homer gives credit to a
-Greek for the discovery of paint, the
allusions to It In the books of Moses,
the painted mummy cases of the Kgyp-
-tians and the decorated walls of Baby
lon and Thebes fix Its origin at a
'.period long antecedent to the Grecian
.era. The walls of Thebes were paint
ed 1,900 years before the coming of
Christ and 000 years before "'Onier
smote his bloomln' lyre."
The Greeks recognized the value of.
' paint as a preservative and mnde use
of something akin to It on their ships.
.Pliny writes of the mode of boiling
wax and puintlng 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 a
. -warlike people, never brought the dec
oration of buildings to the high plane
It had reached with the Greeks. For
.all that the mine of Pompeii show
aaany structures whose uiural decora
tions are In fair shape today. The
colors used were glaring.. A. black
- hnrkfiTnund was the usual one and the
combinations worked thereon red, yel
low and blue.
In the early Christian era the use of
-mosaics for. churches somewhat sup-
' planted mural painting. Still, during
the reign of Justinian the Church of
Saint Sophia was built at Constantino
ple and Its walls were adorned with
nalntines.
In modern' times the uses dX paint
have come to be as numerous as Its
. myriad shades and tints. Point . Is
,v unique In that Its name jas no syno-
. nytn and for It there is no substitute
material. Bread Is the staff of life, but
-paint Is the life of the stuff,
- No one thinks of the exterior of a
wooden building now except lu terms
-of paint coated. Interiors, too, from
painted .walls and stained furniture
down to the lowliest kitchen utensil,
-all receive their protective covering,
'Steel, so often associated with cement
Te-euforelng, Is .minted before It goes
to give Holl.iliy to the manufactured
It Is Good Business
to Subscribe to the
Victory Liberty Loan
TT is freely stated that the VICTORY LIB-
ERTY LOAN should be floated on a business
basis. It is contended that the rate of interest and
terms should be attractive to banks and investors
with idle funds.
We are assured that the terms of-the Loan
will be attractive, but it matters not what the terms
are, there is not enough idle .money available to
take up a loan of five or six billion dollars.
It would be bad business for the banks to ab
sorb the Loan. It would be bad for the banks and
it would be bad for our community. ,
Good business demands that the. banks keep
their funds in such shape that they can loan money
to their customers when it is needed. If the banks
use their funds to purchase Liberty Bonds, their
ability to loan money to business men and farmers
is lessened. The question is shall the banks loan
their money to Uncle Sam or to our people?
If our people buy the Bonds the banks will lend
them the money they need to complete the pay
ments. This will not affect the ability of the banks
to take care of the loans to our business men and
farmers, because the banks can rediscount the
notes given for Liberty Bonds and thus replenish
their funds.
It is good business for our people to subscribe
to the VICTORY LIBERTY LOAN and thus
keep the banks free to take care of their regular
borrowers.
If business can get the money it needs, more
crops will be grown, more goods will be made,
more people will be employed.
For purely selfish business reasons our people
should subscribe to the VICTORY LIBERTY
LOAN. For patriotic reasons, also, we should all
do our part.- The money raised by the VICTORY
LIBERTY LOAN will be largely used to pay for
' bills already contracted in winning the war. We
must keep the credit of our Government untar
nished. What American would refuse to do his
share m keeping bright the name of our glorious
country?
We are not quitters. Let's finish the job as
only real Americans know how.
tone. The huge girders of the sky
scrapers are daubed an ugly but eCl
ctent red underneath the sjrface coat
of black. Perhaps the best example
of the Value of paint on steel Is found
In the venerable Brooklyn bridge, on
which a gang of paluters Is kept go
ing continually. It Is scarce possible
to think of a -single manufactured ar
ticle which does not meet paint some
where In the course of Its construc
tion. So has paint grown Into the
very marrow of our lives.
PAINT AND ILLITERACY.
Curious Fact Comes to Light That Lo
calities Least Using Books Avoid
Paint Also.
Washington, D. C A curious fact
has been brought to light by the Edu
cational Bureau and the Bureau of In
dustrial Research here. It Is that Id
the states where illiteracy Is most
prevalent paint Is least used. The
paint referred to Is the common or
barn variety, of course, for the back
woods countries have no neeu for the
finer pigments or facial adornments.
It Is true, though, that In the sections
of all states where white Illiteracy Is
highest painted homes are rare and
painted outbuildings and barns are
practically unknown. Probably the
Illiterates do not use paint on their
buildings because they do not under
stand Its value as a preservative.
OA 8 WITHOUT METER.
The Editor My dear sir, we can't
publish nonsense like this it's not
poetry at all, it's an escape of gas.
Poet Ah, I ' see. Something
wrong with the meter. London Tit
BiU. .
NATURAL OFFICIAL.
"Pop, when the German soldiers
poisoned the wells
."Yes. son TV'
"li( '!;i: li ll Tat!!. ! til"
PAINT ASMI ASSET.
Bankers Say They Lend More
Money on Property When
Buildings Are Well Painted.
AN INDICATION OF THRIFT.
One Concern Advances 29 Per Cent
More If Repainting la Done
Every Five Years.
Does tt pay to paint carefully farm
buildings? Does it add to the selling
value of a farm when buildings are
properly kept up and regularly paint
ed? A careful Inquiry of a number of
leading bankers In the Mississippi val
ley, Including such states as Iowa, Illi
nois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Mis
souri, reveals the fact that In nearly
every case the bankers did not hesi
tate to say that they would lend all the
way from 5 to CO per cent, more on
land where farm buildings were well
painted and kept In good condition.
They maintain that well kept-up and
well painted buildings and fences are
an Indication of thrift and that the
thrifty farmer Is a good client and to
him money can be safely loaned. An
average of the returns from these
bankers shows that the Increased loan
value because of painted buildings Is
around 22 per cent.
Some of these hankers make Inter
esting comment A Michigan concern
says that while not especially pre
pared to advise definitely In response!
to this Inquiry, the officers would loan
more money on farms where buildings
were painted than where they were
not so treated. This bank also finds
that where houses, barns and fences
are well taken care of the farm Is a
profitable proposition, and bankers In
general consider the fanner a good
client Another Michigan bank auys
"farm buildings out of repair and
needing paint Indicate that the owner
Is slow pay." Such farms are rated at
uliout.pne-thtrd of the asseused value
for loans. Where the farm landings
are in good shape the rating Is one-
half. The president of a middle west
ern bank says that when real estate
loans are considered, painted buildings
are always taken Into consideration In
making an estimate. The general ap
pearance of the property surrounding
the house and barn and also the fields
and fences would be carefully observ
ed. Re farther says that he has no
hesitancy In aaylng that be would ab
solutely refuse a lean on farms where
the buildings were net kept np and
well painted. In his Judgment, un
palnted farm buildings would reduce
the loan value at least 23 per cent.
A Minnesota banker says that he la
much more willing to loan money
where the buildings are well painted,
la bis particular case he believes that
he would loan 20 per cent, more than
If the buildings were not properly
taken care of. A farmer who will
keep his buildings painted takes a
much deeper Interest in his work than
one who does not Another Minne
sota bank says that well painted build
ings have resulted In securing from
his bank sometimes as high as 29 per
cent more money than where the
buildings are not painted. An Ohio
concern says that It will loan 29 per
cent more money on a well kept farm
where buildings are painted at least
once every Ave years. A southern Illi
nois bank says that It has.no fixed
rule about this, but It does make a de
cided difference when owners of farm
lands apply for loans. If the buildings
are well painted and thus well pre
served the loan rate would not only
be cheaper, bnt the amount of money
borrowed would be larger. A northern
Illinois bank does not hesitate to say
that It would loan fully 50 per cent
more on a farm where buildings were
well painted and In good order than
where they were not. The vice presi
dent, who answers the Inquiry, goes
on to say: There probably are many
farmers good financially and morally
who permit their buildings to remain
unpalnted, but aa a rule the most sub
stantial people who live In the coun
try keep their buildings well painted."
An Iowa bank, through Its vice pres
ident, states that it would make a dif
ference of at least 29 per cent in fa
vor of the farm with painted build
Ings. Another Iowa concern says that
It would make a difference of at least
20 per cent
All this being true, It Is perfectly
evident that It Is a good business prop
osition to keep the farm buildings well
painted. They not only took better
and are more pleasing to the owner,
bnt the farm would sell to better ad'
vantage, the loan value of the property
would be greatly Increased and the
buildings themselves would last much
longer and need less repair. The
American Agriculturist
PAINT PROTECTION
AND ITS ECONOMY.
The preservation of structural ma
terials, which may be obtained through
the application of paint, constitutes a
most vital means of furthering the con
servation of our natural resources. It
is, moreover, the most economical
method of sustaining the appearance
and general upkeep of any commu
nity. A structure coaled with sheets of In
dia rubber would not be as well protect
ed from decay as a structure coated
with a good oil pnlnt This Is due to
the fact that a sheet of rubber Is not
so durable or as waterproof as a thin
dried film of paint. The-latter mate
rial when applied dries to a continuous
elastic film containing finely dlvi1el
particles of tuetulllc, wear resisting
pigments. A square foot of such a
film upon a wooden surface coxts less
than a penn.v. .vet li will beautify anl
protect a dollar's worth of surface for
many years. This Is a low rate of In
surance. Dwellings, barns, outbuildings, sheds,
posts, fences, stock enclosures, wapons,
implements, windmills and other struc
tures, whether of wood. Iron or cement,
should be preserved, through the use
of paint from rapid decay. Hijdi grade
paint may be used successfully for all
such purposes. Colored paints will be
found the most sevlcenhle, the coloring
matter in the pnlnt' ndding from two
to three years to the life of the coating.
PRIVILEGED CHARACTER.
"Now that your former office boy
has returned from France and gone
to work for you again, I presume he
is treated with distinguished consid
eration."
"Quite right," answered Mr. Dub-
waite. "When that youngster is tell
ing a visitor what happened at Cha
teau Thierry I would never forgive
myself 11 I interrupted him on a
mere matter of business." Bir
mingham Age-IIerald. . '
SORE THING.
"I see the boys over there are go
ing to have winter baseball.
"Good enough. When they get
ice on the base-lines they ran do
some great slides." Louisville
Courier-Journal. .
Goon
ROADS-
PROPER DRAINAGE FOR ROAD
Side Ditches Should Be Amply Large
With Sufficient Fall to Carry
Off Water Rapidly.
(Prepared by the United. States Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
The only reason for crowning ro4
surface Is to enable it to ehed water.
and unless effective means are pre
Tided for disposing of the water after
It Is drained off the surface crowat
lng will be of very little. If any, ad
vantage. The side ditches should be
amply large and should have sufficient
fall to carry the water away aa rap
Idly as It enters them, and they should!
Ohio State Highway, Brick.
have outlets at all convenient points.
Cross drains or culverts' should bet
constructed wherever It Is desirable
to transfer drainage water across thai
road, and they should usually be pro
vided with end or wing walls for pro
tecting the slopes of the embankment.
When the material composing the)
roadbed Is likely to be springy, a sys
tem of longitudinal nnderdralaago
may be found necessary to secure)
proper drainage. In constructing at
road, of any type whatever, it should
be constantly borne In mind that ade
quate and continually effective drain
age Is absolutely necessary If the road
Is to be maintained In good condition.
SAGEBRUSH USED FOR ROADS
Despised Weed Is Now Declared to Be
Best Building Material In
Western States.
Nobody loves the sagebrush, yet
somebody Is always trying to uplift It
This is a difficult task since Its ante
cedents are so bad. Nevada, com
plained a long time because she was
called the "Sagebrush state;" hunters
hated the plant because of the bitter
flavor It Imparted to the grouse; pros
pectors, settlers, stockmen despised It
because it encumbered the earth. It
was fit only for rattlesnakes to coll Is
and strike or for coyotes to blend their
tawny skins into vanishment
Not long ago an Oregon man cried,
"Eureka!" He said that sugebrusht
was the best road-bulldlng material
In the West, says New York Sun.
Now Idaho claims In the despised weed
a source of great wealth and the solu
tion of the problem of potash short
age: "The average acre produces
three tons of sagebrush at a cost of
$25. The sagebrush burned In the
kiln gives from 25 to 30 per cent pot
ash. The supply Is Inexhaustible."
The Idaho poet who culled for a
festival "to lift the curse from the
plant we know so well and should
love," may now consider himself even
with those who Jeered and refused to
foregather with him.
CLEAN ROADSIDES ARE BEST
Makes Road Look Much Prettier and
Takes Very Little Time Pay
ment Not In Cash.
Why not mow the weeds along the
roadside? How much prettier the road
will look. It only takes a few minutes.
No, It doesn't matter that you may re
cede no cash payment for this service.
The knowledge that you huve beauti
fied the world a bit Is pay. And we
mi . do our bit lu many v. u.va aside from
donating cash to worthy causex
Every state highway department
which has had experience with army
trucks knows that these enormous cars
do almost Irreparable damage. to all
roads. Improved or unimproved, This
Is particularly true when the autos
move In trains, as is customary.
Annual Cost of Roads.
Road construction and maintenance)
In the United States Involve an an
nual outlay of over $aoo,000,)0, a sunt
which. It cupltallxed at ft per cent,
would represent an Investment of $0,-000,000,00a
? -'1 v y ' , - ' - - . .V
'--",-- "
