Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/chemistryofpaintOOharr 
 
THE 
 
 Chemistry of Paints 
 
 OR 
 
 A PARTIAL DESCRIPTION 
 
 0 • • * » • 
 
 1 » • s 0 »»•••• ••>. • • •,«.•••• im }«• ) h< 
 
 • • ».•«..• v • • • • • , , » • • > • « 
 
 tt B • • « , sv • B . » > > % , B » 
 
 u i * B » • • « * • B » *B B » ** 
 
 The Harffsori - * White Lead, Color 
 and Chemical Works 
 
 WITH A PRACTICAL, TREATISE ON PAINTING. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 HARRISON BROTHERS & CO., 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
QjQA/S 
 
 TP 
 
 f36 
 
 fSJo 
 
 DESKiNKD AND M A I) I . BY 
 
 HARRISON HK')TUI.KS >C CO. 
 
 riUI- VIM- IS'lV \. . 
 
 . « f f r _ A m 0 • • • •• 
 
 l390. 
 
 THE GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
JOHN HARRISON 
 
 FOUNDER OF THE MOUSE Of 
 
 HARRISON BROS. & CO. 
 1793. 
 
The Chemistry ok Paints. 
 
 IN February, 1886, a committee of the Master Painters of Phila- 
 delphia called upon. Harrison Bros. & Co. to request aid in 
 entertaining the Master Painters' Association of the United States 
 and Canada, which was to hold its regular annual meeting in 
 Philadelphia in the following July. The firm promptly subscribed 
 to the general entertainment fund, and favorably considered the 
 suggestion of the committee to open their works to the inspection 
 of the members of the Association, so that they might view the opera- 
 tions of paint-making through all the various processes, beginning 
 at the crude material and ending with the highly -finished pigments 
 in condition to meet the varied requirements of the trade. This 
 was an especial consideration on the part of this firm, as their 
 works are usually closed to visitors because of the employment of 
 much special machinery and processes not elsewhere in use. Never- 
 theless, as these factories are the only plant in which the manufacture 
 of acids and chemicals is conducted in conjunction with the manu- 
 facture of paints, and as the association might not have a similar 
 opportunity offering such interest and instruction, the firm waived 
 all rules and precedent so that the local committee might be in posi- 
 tion to entertain their guests in an unusual manner. 
 
 The inspection of large works (especially such as those at 
 Grays Ferry, which include thirty-five different buildings and 
 departments) at any time is more or less fatiguing, but in the 
 middle of summer it may be particularly so, owing to the heat ; it 
 was, therefore, thought desirable to make special provision for the 
 comfort, as well as for the instruction, of the visitors. The entire 
 matter was given in charge of one of the firm's business managers, 
 who was enjoined to spare no expense in making complete in every 
 respect the arrangements for a satisfactory and pleasant visit. 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 Committees from the clerks and salesmen were appointed to take 
 charge of the various details. After careful planning, a route was 
 laid throughout the entire works, so that all might be seen without 
 retracing any steps, and, where necessary, special passage-ways 
 were constructed to accomplish this end. A guide-book was care- 
 fully prepared, and all the prominent points were numbered in 
 large figures, with corresponding numbers in the guide-book for 
 reference, so that, by the aid of the book, any one could readily 
 understand the connection of the different factories and the 
 different processes. 
 
 A special train of seven passenger coaches was provided to 
 earn- the members of the Association from the Broad v Street Sta- 
 tion (which was near their general meeting hall) directly into the 
 works. Upon leaving the train, preliminary light refreshments 
 were provided, so that prior to starting on the tour all might 
 be in good trim. Although the progress through the works 
 was rapid, several hours were occupied in making the inspection, 
 and it was nearly dark when finished. 
 
 The visitors were then conducted into a large tent erected for 
 the puq^ose, where tables had been set and covers laid for over 
 four hundred guests ; brilliantly lighted with electric and Siemens 
 lamps and elaborately decorated with natural plants and draperies, 
 the scene impressed every one with its richness and its beauty. A 
 banquet, served by one of Philadelphia's famous caterers and 
 enlivened by the music of a military band, was thoroughly 
 enjoyed. The usual speeches concluded the affair, and the 
 special train landed the beaming and rotund painters safely at the 
 Broad Street Station before midnight. 
 
 The arrangements for the exhibition of the works and foi 
 the entertainment of the guests of the firm were unanimousl} 
 declared fitting and complete. 
 
 The following description of the processes of paint making 
 is largely taken from the guide-book prepared for the above- 
 mentioned occasion, and it is hoped that it will interest and 
 instruct all who may have anything to do with paints. 
 
 Pigments and material used in the manufacture of paints 
 are so essentially chemical products that their consideration is 
 involved in that of manufacturing chemistry; and, as manu- 
 facturing chemistry so largely depends on sulphuric acid, it is 
 well to have some information as to the manufacture of this 
 article and its relation, through the many intermediate processes, 
 to the manufacture of paints. 
 
 4 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 With that thought we start our guests at the begin- 
 ning of chemical processes, showing the pile of brim- stone" 
 stone, which is the article as received from Sicily, 
 smelted there in a primitive way from the brimstone-bearing rock. 
 This is crude brimstone, and it is procured by a crude process; 
 but by selection a wonderfully pure article can be had. 
 
 We next see it burnt in the furnaces arranged for 
 its combustion, known as sulphur burners. Burned Burifrs" 
 in this way, the fumes are similar to those given 
 from a sulphur match, and are sulphurous-acid gas. This gas, 
 by coming in contact with oxidizing material — generally pro- 
 vided in the form of nitrate of soda — is converted into the higher 
 oxide, or sulphuric acid. The hot gases from the burners are 
 passed through a tower called a ' ' Glover ' ' tower, which provides 
 oxidizing material by means of a cascade of mixed sulphuric acid 
 and nitrous products; in this tower the sulphuric acid is mingled 
 with the oxidizing material, and thence carried into the large 
 leaden chambers. 
 
 We now reach the chamber floor and have a 
 view between two of the leaden chambers, which chamber" 
 are known in the factory as " Chambers 3 and 
 4." The length of each of these is 265 feet. We walk between 
 them to continue our investigation of the process. In these 
 chambers there is a continual commingling of the sulphurous 
 fumes, the nitrous gases and steam; also more or less air, which 
 flows in through the sulphur burners during the combustion of 
 the brimstone. We can hardly say "air," because it is largely 
 nitrogen, or devitalized air — that is, air with its oxygen extracted, 
 the oxygen having gone to the sulphur in the process of com- 
 bustion. The draught through the chambers carries these 
 mingled gases along, depositing on the way, by a continual 
 dropping, the sulphuric acid, which collects at the bottom. The 
 acid thus collected is known as ' ' chamber ' ' acid. 
 
 We now reach the end of the chambers and 
 make our exit from the building opposite a tower. &Y Tower 0 
 This is known as a "Gay-Lussac" tower, from the 
 name of its famous inventor, and is intended to remove any 
 valuable constituents remaining in the gases which have passed 
 through the chambers, and which were not deposited in 
 the liquid acid. In the process of removal a cascade of acid 
 is employed, as in the Glover tower, the object, however, being 
 to take from, instead of to give to, the gases. The acid, flowing 
 
 5 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF IWIXTS 
 
 continually over proper material, presents a large surface to the 
 ascending gases and dissolves out the valuable portions. Finally, 
 the exit is through the high pipe; and when the chambers are 
 working well, the escaping gases are mainly made up of steam 
 and nitrogen. 
 
 We now reach the concentrating apparatus. 
 
 The acid from the chambers is first passed into leaden 
 trTun" pans supported on iron framework enclosed in brick, in 
 Apparatus which the first concentration is made. From these it 
 passes into the platinum stills, of which there are two 
 sets constantly at work. These stills are very costly appa- 
 ratus, although externally they do not impress one as being 
 very valuable. They consist of a number of platinum dishes 
 enclosed in lead; each dish has an actual money- value of 
 some $2000. 
 
 Sulphuric acid is very eager for water — so eager that 
 The Theory |£ a saucerm l G f oil of vitriol be exposed it will draw 
 
 of Concen- . ... . F . 
 
 tration. tne atmospheric moisture to it and soon run over the 
 sides of the dish, increasing its bulk, and weakening 
 itself accordingly. Concentration simply consists of depriving 
 the acid of its water by means of heat. Immense quantities 
 of water are necessary to surround the apparatus to cool the acid 
 after concentration, its temperature being from 600 to 700 degrees 
 Fahrenheit when it leaves the platinum apparatus. 
 
 Next we see the apparatus for moving oil of vitriol. It consists 
 of large receivers made of iron lined with lead, into which the 
 acid flows; when filled, the supply is cut off, and air, under heavy 
 pressure, is forced on top, driving the acid out from the bottom 
 by a suitable outlet. As acid is almost twice as heavy as water, 
 it will take about twice the pressure to lift it to any height; con- 
 sequently, the air-pressure required is sometimes very great, the 
 acid frequently being lifted to a height of sixty feet. It is forced 
 by this system to the different portions of the works. Its uses in 
 the paint department are numerous. 
 
 Sulphuric acid has already been referred to as a sort of prime 
 motor of chemical manufacturing processes; it might almost be 
 compared with the engine that moves the machinery of a factory. 
 It would be difficult to name a paint — or, in fact, anything con- 
 nected with paints — in which this important material cannot be 
 found as a constituent or directly entering into, or connected with, 
 its preparation. It is a large ingredient, naturally, of that great 
 bugbear of the painting fraternity, "barytes," which is a com- 
 
 6 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 pound of barium and sulphuric acid. It will be found in all 
 chrome yellows which are paler than a neutral medium, and even 
 .in this it is a constituent of some of the salts employed in its 
 manufacture. It will be found in some form in the majority of the 
 earth paints. It is employed in the refining and bleaching of oil. 
 
 In these works there are four sets of sulphur burners such as 
 described, each burning daily 6000 pounds of the brimstone, or a 
 total of 24,000 pounds. The furnaces work continuously, day 
 and night, weekdays and Sundays, stopping only when necessary 
 to repair the chambers. The daily product is about 115,000 
 pounds of chamber acid, equal to nearly 75,000 pounds of con- 
 centrated sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol. 
 
 As sulphuric acid enters largely into the composition of alum, 
 the manufacture of this will now be described. 
 
 We enter the clay-grinding room. This clay is 
 known as bauxite, and the best deposits are found in ^"inciin^ 
 the South of France. It is very rich in the ma- 
 terial known as alumina. The clay, after having been thoroughly 
 calcined, is ground very finely in the mills seen, which are kept 
 continually running to grind the large quantity daily used. When 
 this clay is mixed with sulphuric acid, the alumina is extracted, 
 and is finally utilized as alum. 
 
 Next we enter what is known as an "attacking" 
 department. You will here see the large vats for the ^D^arf 
 treatment of the alum clay with sulphuric acid, which ment 
 extracts the valuable constituent, leaving behind all 
 the insoluble and useless material. 
 
 Now we enter another building, used for the separation of the 
 extraneous material from the alumina solution, also for the 
 partial purification of the same. In the cellar of this building we 
 notice engines and mills for the grinding of some of the material 
 used in the purification processes ; and on the second floor we 
 find a number of filters, which are used for taking out the 
 remaining light insoluble matter which will not readily settle. 
 
 We pass more filters and settling boxes, and see the alum 
 boiled down to a thick mass which is fluid when hot, but which be- 
 comes solid when cold, somewhat resembling clear sugar-candy. 
 This is perfectly pure sulphate of alumina, or concentrated alum. 
 
 We continue through this building, passing stacks 
 of alum ready for shipment. Alum bears a highly Aiunf 
 important part in the manufacture of colors, and it 
 is very necessary that it be pure. The purest made is that known 
 
 7 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 as "Turkey-Red" alum and is intended for turkey-red dyers; it 
 must be so pure or free from other substances that one pound of dele- 
 terious matter should not be found in 100,000 pounds of the alum. 
 
 Alum is interesting to the paint man as giving 
 fJ eoiors^ tne basis f° r carmine and nearly all lake colors, and 
 
 is used also in greens, yellows, Prussian blues, and 
 other paints. The product of these works is about 300 barrels 
 daily. The alum used in the color-making department is the 
 Turkey-Red alum. 
 
 We pass out of this building, cross one of the rail- 
 ratorics roac * s ^ cnn k rs < &nd go up stairs into the laboratory 
 
 building, where, in one of the best-appointed and 
 largest laboratories connected with any establishment, some half 
 dozen chemists are continually at work examining the crude 
 material that comes into the factory and testing the finished 
 products. Besides the chemists employed in the laboratory, each 
 department is supervised by a chemist who has his own minor 
 laboratory or testing room. In all the processes of this establish- 
 ment tests must continually be made to determine that the 
 processes are being properly conducted. The "secrets" of the 
 business of this firm are the employment of able talent and a 
 close attention to chemical principles, backed up by a liberal 
 expenditure for experiment. 
 
 Directly dependent on sulphuric acid is the manufacture of 
 muriatic and nitric acids, which department is now visited. 
 
 The one is made by treating common salt, or any 
 MdNitri other muriate, with sulphuric acid, which takes the 
 Acids. place of the muriatic acid, the latter being driven 
 
 off as a gas and collected in the necessary receivers; 
 mid for nitric acid the same process is used, nitrate of soda or any 
 oilier nitrate being employed. Nitrate of soda, being a dangerous 
 substance when near burning material, is always stored in a fire- 
 proof vault. 
 
 Acetic Acetic acid is also a dependent of the sulphuric- 
 
 Ac ^ (1 e acid chamber, and the department for its manufac- 
 
 ture is now properly the next one to examine. The 
 acetic acid employed in the arts is made primarily by the dry dis- 
 tillation of wood. It is a product from the manufacture of 
 charcoal, known in its crude form as " pyroligneous" acid; so that 
 it may be concentrated and carried from the charcoal works, which 
 are principally in the woods, where timber for burning is abun- 
 dant, it is mixed with lime, and is then known as acetate of 
 
 8 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 lime — a very aromatic substance in its ordinary impure state. By 
 means of sulphuric and muriatic acids the acetic acid is separated 
 from the acetate of lime, and by distillation collected in the neces- 
 sary receivers. By undergoing various purification processes it is 
 sufficiently purified from the empyreuinatic matters which, be- 
 cause of its source of production, necessarily accompany it, to be 
 used, when properly diluted with water, for household purposes. 
 The acetic acid made in this way is precisely the same as that 
 made from alcohol in the fermentation of cider and other alcoholic 
 material. The quantity of acetic acid made daily in these works 
 is 16,000 pounds, which would be equal to the acid in 450 barrels 
 of table vinegar. Acetic acid plays a very important part in color 
 making, forming, when united with litharge, acetate of lead, or the 
 well-known sugar of lead — probably more used in color making 
 than any other salt. 
 
 Aqua ammonia is a product of these works, but it 
 is used only to a very limited extent in paint making-. water of 
 The usual process of making it is to heat sulphate 
 of ammonia with quicklime in a tight cylinder; the quicklime 
 unites with the sulphuric acid and liberates the ammonia in 
 gaseous form. The liberated gas is conducted to receivers 
 charged with water, in which the gas is dissolved. The liquid 
 ammonia, as usually sold, contains eight to ten per cent, of gas. 
 The strongest made contains about twenty-seven per cent. The 
 ammonia gas, by powerful pressure, may be condensed to a liquid 
 which can be preserved only in very strong iron cylinders. This 
 is known as anhydrous ammonia, and because of the danger in its 
 use will never be employed for popular purposes. The original 
 source of ammonia is principally in the manufacture of illuminat- 
 ing gas, there collecting in the gas liquors. The pure water of 
 ammonia is now obtained direct from these liquors without first 
 making the sulphate. Ammonia is very useful to the painter 
 and the householder. As a detergent it readily removes paint and 
 varnish. It should be in every household in the land. Of course 
 it must be used quickly, as it evaporates rapidly and soon 
 dissipates its strength. 
 
 A fixed paint remover is made at these works, 
 known as paint resolvent. It is in paste form, and Resolve"? 
 is used b}^ thinly and evenly spreading it over the 
 paint to be removed, which it soon softens, and which may be then 
 scraped away clean from the original surface. This will be found 
 invaluable to all painters. 
 
 9 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 1 
 
 white Lead. Now we coine to tne lllost interesting of all articles 
 to those who have to do with paints — white lead. 
 Its manufacture can be only briefly described. The materials used 
 are pig lead, acetic acid, water and tan bark. By a special 
 machine, the pig lead is cast automatically into flat round perforated 
 plates about rive inches in diameter, called buckles. A quantity 
 
 " nrcKi.i:" <n mktallic i.f.ad. i.aktiiin lorkosion-pot. 
 
 of these buckles is placed in earthenware pots or jars of about one 
 gallon capacity, each having two large holes in the side to permit 
 a free circulation of gases. Lugs or shoulders a few inches from 
 the bottom sustain the lead buckles and keep them from 
 touching the diluted acetic acid, which is first poured in. 
 The pots are placed in layers on tan in houses provided 
 for the purpose, until built up fifteen or twenty feet high. 
 These piles of lead-and-acid-filled pots and tan are called stac ks 
 or beds. Everything is made properly tight. The tan soon heats 
 
 and ferments, and generates carbonic acid; the 
 ComJion vinegar in the pots, under the influence of the heat, 
 
 evaporates and attacks the lead, placing it in a state 
 to combine with the carbonic acid and moisture now in free circu- 
 lation. In from sixty to ninety days the buckles of metallic lead — 
 excepting, perhaps, a little core — have become snowy-white 
 swollen masses. The acetic acid has disappeared almost entirely. 
 Many of the pots are broken apart by the swelling of the lead. 
 The corroded white buckles are removed first to an apparatus 
 to shake them free from the uncorroded or blue lead, then to 
 the separators, then to mills to grind the whole mass witli water 
 into a sort of milk, which is mixed with more water and run 
 
 IO 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 through vats and boxes in order to permit all the coarse particles 
 to settle out and to wash out the remaining vinegar. Lastly, the 
 milky liquid is conducted to the final settling vat, where it settles 
 to a stiff paste, which is afterward dried and then ground in oil. 
 The pig lead, by the aid of the heat and vinegar, has united with 
 carbonic acid and water, increasing in weight nearly twenty-five 
 per cent., and in bulk several times. 
 
 A new process lead, which is gaining quite a reputa- N ew 
 tion with many discriminating painters, is made upon Process 
 precisely the same principles, but differently applied. Lead. 
 The pig lead, instead of being cast in buckles, is reduced to a fine 
 powder; this powder is moistened with the dilute acid or vinegar, then 
 so placed that carbonic-acid gas circulates freely through it, the 
 mass being maintained at proper temperature. Sometimes this is 
 called " quick-process" lead, because it maybe made in two or 
 three weeks ; but if the difference in the weights of the minute 
 grain of lead powder and the cast buckle be considered, it is 
 relatively a very slow process — much slower than the stack process 
 first described, which is known as the old Dutch method; and it is 
 well established that the more slowly the lead is corroded, the bet- 
 ter the body of the white lead. 
 
 We have seen all the apparatus for making the white lead from 
 the pig metal to the dry white powder. Next in order, and im- 
 mediately adjoining the drying-houses, we enter the department 
 where the dry white lead is ground in oil, but will describe this 
 later on, and will now go into the oxides department. 
 
 Passing a large stack of pig lead received from the 
 cars on the adjoining siding, we enter the furnace- ° X ^ead f 
 room, where are found a number of retorts. The pig 
 lead is placed in these; and when melted, the retorts are made to 
 revolve, thereby constantly exposing a fresh surface of melted lead 
 to the atmosphere and effecting a rapid oxidation. This oxidation 
 is as much a combustion as in the case of the brimstone. The 
 vital principle of the atmosphere, oxygen, combines with the lead, 
 the first combination, or when the smallest quantity is taken, 
 giving litharge, or the yellow oxide, also known as massicot ; a 
 little more gives red lead, or red oxide, also known as minium. 
 If the lead be heated very hot, still more oxygen is taken up, and 
 a brown oxide of no interest to painters is formed; in fact, in the 
 ordinary manufactory such oxide would be called " burnt lead." 
 
 We rapidly pass through this building, by the mills, in 
 which the litharge from the retorts is ground up in water to sep- 
 
 1 1 
 
TIM CIM.mSTRV OF PAIXTS. 
 
 arate the unoxidized portions, precisely as is done 
 uidLevfL- m the corroding department, previously described, by 
 tion of oxides, the pans on which the separated fine litharge is dried, 
 and by the mills in which the dry product is ground 
 up ready for packing. 
 
 The retort system — controlled by patents of Har- 
 sv«ftem t0rt rison Bros. & Co.— for making red lead and litharge, 
 as shown here, gives a very pure product ; the lead 
 is entirely guarded from contact with the flame, thereby pre- 
 venting cinders and other dirt from the furnace becoming mixed 
 with it, as in the ordinary apparatus, in which the flame passes 
 over it. A large part of the product made here is used by flint- 
 glass makers, and, as they can use only the very purest of material, 
 it follows that for all fine purposes in other lines of manufacture 
 where these oxides are required the product of this depart- 
 ment should be used. 
 
 The next in importance to the glass makers is the 
 VUh varnish trade. The 14 Harrison" oxides are well known 
 Makers. among the particular varnish manufacturers, going to 
 all parts of the country, the Western manufacturers 
 especially regarding them as standard goods. The same litharge 
 that is used by glass makers and varnish manufacturers is 
 employed in this factory in color making, and is delivered direct, 
 without any charge for packing or handling, to the color-making 
 department, into which we shall shortly enter. 
 
 The retorts, sixteen in all, require fifty-five tons of lead weekly 
 to keep them in operation. 
 
 Next in importance to white lead is zinc white. It 
 white * s a demonstrated fact that a mixture of white lead and 
 
 zinc white makes a better paint for exterior work than 
 either singly. While this may seem like heresy to the old-time 
 painter, it is accepted as a fact by unbiased practical men, and by 
 all scientific writers on the subject of pigments and painting. It 
 is the judicious proportions of these two pigments, together with 
 their thorough combination with, and special treatment of, the 
 oil, that has made the enviable reputation of " Town and Country" 
 paints. We can devote a few lines only to the description of the 
 manufacture of zinc white. The zinc ore is ground to 
 Method of a ^ ne p OWC i er an d mixed with finelv powdered anthra- 
 cite coal. This mixture is burned, in specially con- 
 structed furnaces, on a bed of anthracite previously ignited. The 
 fumes arising are oxide of zinc. They are carefully conducted 
 
 12 
 
: I 
 
 r. 
 
 n 
 
 n 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 through proper conduits to houses rilled with bags, through which 
 the draft is forced. The gases filter through the canvas, deposit- 
 ing the fine white oxide-of-zinc powder. This is the American 
 method, and with unimportant exceptions all made in the United 
 States is by this method. The European method differs in first 
 smelting the metallic zinc from the ore and subsequently burning it. 
 The different grades of zinc white are established 
 simply by the proximity of the product to the furnace. trades* 
 The bags nearer the furnace will contain the oxide of 
 poorest color and mixed with a minute quantity of ash. The 
 more distant bags will have the whitest and purest oxide. 
 
 Nothing is more important to the color-maker than the 
 chrome salt, bichromate of potash. Chrome literally ^aitsT 
 means ' ' color, ' ' and is certainly the great color producer. 
 The Harrison works would not be complete without a department 
 for the manufacture of this valuable salt, and until the establish- 
 ment of this factory there was only one other in the country 
 that had been successfully conducted. Chrome ore a speckled 
 mineral, very hard and heavy, is a combination of 
 oxide of iron and oxide of chromium. It was mined Sna!?" 
 for a long time past in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and f^ores 
 recently in California. The supply for these works 
 comes principally from California and the dominions of the Sub- 
 lime Porte, where probably the richest ores are found. The hard 
 ore is first ground to a fine powder, and until the plan Process c f 
 of percussion grinding was adopted it was the terror Manufacture 
 of millwrights. The powdered ore is mixed with lime 
 and potash (or soda, to make the soda salt) and then roasted at a 
 bright-red heat with free access of air. This causes the oxide of 
 chromium to take up more oxygen and become chromic acid, and 
 to unite with the lime and potash (or soda) present. The mass when 
 cooled is leached, and the liquors are concentrated and treated with 
 sulphuric acid — ever present in chemical processes. This acid 
 takes up a portion of the potash and any lime present, leaving the 
 chromic acid united in double the original proportion with the re- 
 maining potash; hence the name fo'-chromate. This bi-chromate 
 liquor is then allowed to cool and crystallize in large vats or tanks, 
 technically known as dishes. In the course of ten days or two 
 weeks the sides and pendent rods are coated with magnificent red 
 crystals, which are drained, dried and packed. The product of 
 these works (managed under a separate organization known as 
 the Kalion Chemical Company) is of unexampled purity, and 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
■ 
 
 THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS 
 
 has already received special awards at various chemical exhi- 
 bitions. 
 
 Having studied the manufacture of the more im- 
 plant portant chemicals required by the color-maker, we are 
 
 ready to enter the color-making department; but before 
 doing so we will stop at the boiler plant, which is well 
 worthy of description. Originally each department had its separ- 
 ate battery of boilers. In several instances the allotted space had 
 been filled up without supplying the demand for steam. Increase 
 was necessary, and it became apparent that two batteries would be 
 required for one department. After much consideration, the plan 
 was adopted of concentrating in one building the steam 
 plant for the entire works. An immense boiler-house was 
 erected, the noble stack, one hundred and seventy-five feet high, 
 seen in the view of the factories given in the fore part of this pam- 
 phlet, was built, and large new boilers of the most recent design 
 were placed in the new house. The pressure carried is one hundred 
 
 pounds, and the capacity is equal to over two thousand 
 
 horse power. A railroad siding is laid on a trestle 
 along the front of the building, permitting the coal to be dumped 
 
 from the cars directly in front of the boilers, minimiz- 
 pilnd 1 *" tatg the firemen's labor. Forty to sixty tons of hard coal 
 consumption are turned daily, converting into steam from one million 
 
 to one million five hundred thousand pounds of water. 
 The steam is supplied to the works from an immense main steam 
 
 pipe over one thousand feet in length — the largest of 
 
 the kind in the country at this time. It is all wrought- 
 Pipe iron lap-welded pipe, made by the National Tube 
 
 Works. It begins with a diameter of twenty inches, 
 and is gradually reduced to fifteen inches as branches are taken 
 off. In all its great length there is not one expansion joint. It is 
 laid free on roller chairs, which permit movement over its entire 
 length without strain, to counteract expansion and contraction, 
 which is sometimes seven inches. Not a leak is visible. This is 
 a great triumph in a construction of this kind. 
 
 The cost of this main pipe alone, including ks 
 
 erection and jacketing, was over eleven thousand dol- 
 lars. The value of the entire steam plant is over one hundred 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 Adjoining the boiler-house is the compressor room, 
 pressors where may be seen three huge air compressors, which 
 
 keep up a constant supply of compressed air, at a pres- 
 
 '4 
 
CHEMISTRY 
 
 sure of seventy-five pounds, for use in all the departments requir- 
 ing it. This has already been mentioned in the description of 
 the acid works, and as we proceed we will notice the air pipes 
 everywhere carrying this useful force which works so silently. 
 Back of the boilers— in a large vault running the length of the 
 boiler-house, one hundred and fifty feet — may be seen various 
 pumps, storage tanks, etc. , used for collecting and storing all the 
 condensed steam, which is pulled back to the boiler house, to 
 be used again in the boilers — a perfect circulation. 
 
 Near by are the powerful pumps, running night and 
 day to furnish the great quantities of water required. A WatC g^ 
 ten-inch main is scarcely sufficient to supply the works. Pump! 
 In a separate building, absolutely fireproof, is a large 
 fire pump, which is arranged to work automatically even when 
 flames so surround it as to render it unapproachable. 
 
 The steam plant is under the charge of an experi- 
 enced engineer. Connected with it is a large machine Machine 
 shop, where all repairs are made and much new work 
 is constructed. All the mills used in the paint department are of 
 special construction, and built in the machine shop. This shop is 
 a special feature, and its importance may be determined from the 
 fact that, at times, fifty machinists and iron workers are employed. 
 
 Having examined the various departments where are manu- 
 factured the more important chemicals used in color-making, we 
 may enter the color-making department itself. This 
 department is really a group of factories which would c °f or " 
 of themselves form an independent business, and there Department! 
 are many prominent firms and corporations whose plant 
 consists only of what in the Harrison works is a single depart- 
 ment. 
 
 The first minor department we enter is for the manufacture of 
 American vermilion; this article is a combination of chromic acid 
 and oxide of lead, the latter existing in large propor- 
 tions. It is made by boiling together white lead and ven^mon* 
 bichromate of potash, and subsequently treating the 
 product with sulphuric acid; the result is a crystalline orange 
 chromate of lead. The Harrison brand is known as ' ' Chinese 
 Imperial Scarlet. ' ' Its use was at one time almost universal in agri- 
 cultural-implement and wagon factories, but recently the imitation 
 of English vermilion has greatly surpassed it. Considering its 
 cost and durability of color, it is, after all, a very useful pigment, 
 and is yet the standard color of many such establishments. If the 
 
 15 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 crystals be crushed, the color thereby becomes much lighter, or the 
 same as the uucrystallized orange chrome. American vermilion 
 is very frequently adulterated with red lead and barytes. 
 
 Next to this, in a separate building, are the cylinders for mak- 
 ing English or mercurial (quicksilver) vermilion. This is a com- 
 bination of sulphur and mercury. Mercury or quick- 
 Quicksilver s ji ver sulphur and a solution of soda are placed in a 
 
 Vermilion. , '.. .* .. - A - . * , .. 
 
 heavy iron cylinder so constructed that when it is 
 rapidly revolved a violent agitation of the contents results; great 
 heat is generated, and the sulphur and the mercury unite. Great care 
 is necessary to secure a good color. A natural color of the com- 
 bination of sulphur and mercury is black, and the red color is 
 largely due to friction. The chemical composition of both the 
 black and the red sulphide is precisely the same; the difference is 
 due to a difference in the arrangement of the particles, or what 
 the chemists call the molecules; a chemist would say it is a dif- 
 ference in molecular structure. This fact accounts for the tend- 
 ency of quicksilver vermilion to blacken: it is the tendency of the 
 compound to return to its more natural black state. As there is 
 always an escape of sulphuretted gases in the manufacture of this 
 article, it is necessary to conduct it in an isolated building freely 
 ventilated; otherwise, all the lead colors — such as yellow chrome, 
 green, etc. — would be seriously damaged by the formation of the 
 black sulphide of lead. 
 
 We all know that one of the most wonderful exploits of 
 chemistry was the discovery in nasty coal tar of the most bril- 
 liant dyes. One of these dyes is called eosine. By itself it is a 
 most lovely rose color; when the red oxide of lead is dyed with 
 it, a magnificent vermilion is obtained, as much brighter than 
 the quicksilver vermilion as the latter is brighter than the lead 
 vermilion. This brilliant pigment is known as imitation ver- 
 milion, and is sold under various fancy-names, many of the 
 manufacturers adopting the names of the celebrated mines of 
 quicksilver. One of the most famous mines is that of Idria, in 
 Austria; the imitation vermilion made at this factory is named 
 
 after that mine, prefixing the word 4 1 New. ' ' New Idria 
 idria vermilion is well known to all consumers of vermilion 
 
 vermilion. as one of the best of the class. New Idria vermilion 
 
 is made from the finest orange mineral dyed with the 
 strongest eosin. As are all other colors, imitation vermilion is 
 grossly adulterated, and, as usual, the chief adulterant is barytes; 
 some specimens contain as much as eighty-five per cent. Other 
 
 16 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 adulterants are whiting and terra alba. Some are made with the 
 addition of white lead; this requires more eosin, and a beautiful 
 crimson shade is produced. This, however, rapidly fades on ex- 
 posure, and the best and most permanent is that made with 
 orange mineral and eosin only, which give the rich scarlet shade. 
 
 The operations of making the American and imita- 
 tion vermilions are conducted in large vats or tubs. Rooms 
 The finished color is then freed of its water as much 
 as possible by filtering and pressing, and the moist mass 
 is afterward removed to the drying rooms, where the re- 
 maining moisture is dried out. In the past the final drying 
 required weeks; now days are sufficient. The unscientifically 
 constructed drying closets are replaced by rooms built entirely of 
 brick and iron. Bach room is provided with a fan, which forces 
 throughout the entire space a continuous current of warm dry air 
 in a complete circulation. The color, in cakes, is placed on trays, 
 which are laid on racks. Each color has its own room. The fans 
 are run by small engines, which operate day and night until the 
 cakes of color are bone dry. The room is emptied and filled 
 again, closed up, and the operation continues without the least 
 possible loss of time. Each sub- department of the general depart- 
 ment of color-making has its own drying rooms. From the dry- 
 ing rooms the vermilions are taken to the grinding and sifting 
 apparatus and reduced to the fine state in which they are found 
 in the dealers' hands. 
 
 The next department we visit is that for making yellow and 
 orange chrome. These also are combinations of 
 chromic acid and oxide of lead; but for these, lead salts — Yellow* 
 the nitrate and acetate of lead — are used. A nitrate of 
 lead will give a yellow with physical properties different from one 
 made of acetate, though both have precisely the same chemical 
 composition. This is again due to the different arrangement of 
 those imaginary atoms called by the chemist molecules. We see 
 large vats in which the various salts are dissolved; when of the 
 right temperature and density, these solutions are run together in 
 large vats, and the color is seen to fall out. This is called ' ' strik- 
 ing' ' the color, and the operation is one of great delicacy. The 
 chemical change is easily understood. Acetic acid and oxide of 
 lead are combined as sugar of lead; this is soluble in water. 
 Chromic acid and potash are combined as bichromate of potash — 
 a salt also soluble in water. When the two solutions come 
 together, the chromic acid goes to the lead, making 
 
 17 
 
1 HE i HEM IS TR ) ' OF P. 1 AY TS. 
 
 Theory of chromate of lead, and the acetic acid goes to the 
 predpita- potash, making acetate of potash. The chromate of 
 tlon - lead is the insoluble chrome yellow, and falls out of 
 
 the solution. The acetate of potash is soluble, remains in the 
 liquid with the color, and is finally washed out with pure water. 
 This operation is one of precipitation. The reaction is called 
 double decomposition, and the foregoing explanation answers for 
 all colors made by precipitation. 
 
 This leads us to consider color-making in a more general way. 
 We are now in the chief color-maker's office, and find it quite 
 similar in appearance to the laboratories referred to on 
 JtyT P^£e 8. It is a laboratory as well as an office. The chief 
 
 science. color-maker is a chemist who received most of his train- 
 ing in the general laboratories of the works; his assistants 
 are required to be able to make chemical tests, and are expected 
 to familiarize themselves with the chemical knowledge bearing 
 directly on their work. While color-making involves what might 
 be called many "rule-of-thumb" operations, yet every one 
 of these so-called 44 rule-of-thumb' ' practices, when viewed from a 
 scientific standpoint, is capable of being resolved and amplified 
 into scientific practice. Much mystery is thrown around this 
 business, but, after all, success depends upon education guided 
 by practical experience. Many of the most valuable chemi- 
 cal theories have been evolved from facts or results noticed and 
 known for a long time by workmen, and it is only when some one 
 of them inquires into the cause of certain effects that the reason 
 or theory is finally discovered and more folly and scientifically 
 applied. When, in the color-making department, it is ascertained 
 that brown sugar of lead — an impure salt as compared with the 
 beautiful white crystallized sugar of lead — will make certain 
 colors which the white will not produce, we soon learn that the 
 very impurities, which consist of pyroligneous matters, have a 
 peculiar mordanting effect which prevents the reaction of the 
 residual salts on the newly- formed color — a reaction that would 
 take place if absolutely pure chemicals were used, without the 
 pyroligneous mordant or its equivalent. 
 
 Barytes is the common adulterant of all paints, and 
 
 □f coior ati ° U is used immediatel y before or after 4 ' striking' ' the color, 
 according to circumstances. Probably no other indus- 
 tries offer the same opportunities for downright robbery, by means 
 of sophistication, as paint-making and painting. The unscrupu- 
 lous paint-maker uses increased closes of barytes as competition 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 lowers his prices. The dishonest painter makes two coats of paint 
 fill his contract for three; he buys adulterated oils, or wilfully 
 adulterates them; he will take a strong-bodied and originally 
 reliable paint, and by reducing it with all the cheap and vile 
 material it will bear will make a profit out of a contract taken at a 
 rate that would net only a loss to the honest man. 
 
 Fortunately, the great majority of painters are honest; and the 
 crusade against low-grade paints .started by the proprietors of the 
 works we are now describing is forcing unscrupulous paint- makers 
 to adopt higher standards. While barytes is used almost invari- 
 ably as a mere adulterant, it occasionally serves the purpose of 
 diluting a color, or, more properly speaking, of separating its parti- 
 cles and delaying — or preventing, possibly — chemical reactions 
 which speedily might occur were the color perfectly pure. In its 
 precipitated form, or as blanc fixe, it is an invaluable material 
 when used as a base for certain light lake colors which could 
 hardly be collected but for such a base; so, when the analysis of a 
 color shows the presence of barytes, it is necessary to go farther — 
 and the intelligent analyst knows how to go farther — to discover 
 whether this sulphate of baryta which he finds is the crude 
 native mineral simply ground to a fine powder, or that precipi- 
 tated to impalpable fineness from solutions — the blanc fixe. The 
 proprietors of these works stand alone in having for a long 
 time past steadily and persistently exposed to painters the frauds 
 practised upon them; yet they know that sulphate of baryta is like 
 a great many other things in constant use: it may be used prop- 
 erly or it may be abused. On general principles, however, it is 
 safe to turn resolutely from any color which consists largely of 
 barytes. Some colors are wonderfully strong, and may apparent- 
 ly still be good colors, when there is no standard near for com- 
 parison, and yet may contain ninety-five per cent, or more of this 
 adulterant. 
 
 To insure success in these days of intense com- 
 petition, not only must the scientific features of color- ciianicsai 
 making be well understood, but all the mechanics of coior- 
 the business must be thoroughly studied. In these 
 works every known appliance is used; the agency of compressed 
 air is brought into play wherever possible; the old-style slow- 
 working filter and the hand press are replaced by the filter press, 
 in which machine are combined the two operations of 
 filtering and pressing. Some colors, such as ver- Vl&l 
 mi lion, will not readily permit the employment of the 
 
 19 
 
run chemistry of paints. 
 
 filter press, and for such colors very few modifications of the old 
 processes are practicable. Colors such as chrome yellows, chrome 
 greens, Prussian blues, Tuscan red and the lakes make a thin fluid 
 pulp which may be forced into the filter press through pipes. 
 The thin color is run from the striking tub, after it has been 
 washed, into a vat of sufficient size to hold several batches; in 
 this they are intimately blended, to insure uniformity of shade. 
 Next they are run into a cylindrical vessel made of very heavy 
 sheet copper: this is called montjus (meaning to raise liquid); 
 and when filled, the inlet is closed. A pressure of fifty to eighty 
 pounds to the square inch is applied to the surface of the pulp, 
 which forces it from the exit tube opening at the bottom of the 
 vessel and connecting with the press; the press is rapidly filled 
 up, and the cakes of color become very dense, the water being 
 squeezed out by the powerful pressure. 
 
 The air pressure is used in the color-making depart- 
 T rLtt&Mr ment to move acids and chemical solutions which 
 s ( would corrode pumping machinery; the operation is 
 swift, noiseless and certain. The compressed air is also made to 
 do certain other work that formerly was done by the hand of the 
 laborer. 
 
 The description of the manufacture of chrome yel- 
 GreenT * ow a PP nes a ^ so to that of chrome green. This is really a 
 
 mixture of yellow and blue, and the two colors are 
 thrown down together, which gives a brightness and a per- 
 manency not obtained by simple mixture. When the yellow is 
 taken from the drying-room, it is ready for sale as dry yellow, or 
 for delivery to the grinding department to be converted into oil 
 color. Chrome green, before it is packed for sale dry or before it 
 is transferred to the color grinders, is first reduced in dry color 
 
 mills to a fine powder. Sylvan green, so w T ell known 
 Green" to tne tra< ^ e * n general, is made here. This is a very 
 
 permanent and brilliant green, and it is made in six 
 shades — from very pale to very deep. 
 
 Chinese and Prussian blues are produced from prus- 
 chmese Blue s j ate Q f potash and an iron salt — usually copperas. If 
 Blue. * ne yellow prussiate of potash and copperas be used, 
 
 the color, when first struck, is white; this by oxidation 
 turns blue, and the oxygen of the atmosphere w r ill effect this change 
 if sufficient time be given. To obtain quickly the rich deep blues 
 with a lustre of bronze, there must be recourse to powerful oxidizing 
 agents, aided by heat. Strong nitric acid is used for some blues, 
 
 23 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OE PAINTS. 
 
 chlorate of potash for others; and various other agents are em- 
 ployed. Soluble Chinese blue for the laundry is an important 
 feature of the blue department. There is but very little chemical 
 difference between the ordinary Chinese blue (which is insoluble 
 in water) and that which is soluble; this quality of solubility is 
 obtained chiefly by special manipulation. Blue is very light, and 
 it forms a very bulky paste; hence for the same product more 
 presses are required in this department than in any other, except- 
 ing in that for the lakes. The advantage of the application of me- 
 chanical principles in increasing the output is not so well shown 
 anywhere else as in this department. Were the old methods of 
 filtering, pressing and drying now in use, at least five times the 
 floor area would be required for the present output. 
 
 Leaving the sub-department for blues, we enter the factory for 
 the manufacture of Tuscan red and of lake colors. The apparatus 
 in this department is quite similar to that we have seen in the 
 others — the striking tubs, though somewhat different in shape, 
 the filter presses, with the addition of peculiarly-shaped copper 
 vessels, resembling a ball drawn out; these are suspended in iron 
 frames which permit them to be turned over in order to discharge 
 their contents. These are known as autoclaves or digesters, and 
 their purpose is to extract the coloring matter from dye woods; 
 the extracted coloring matter, in liquid state, is stored 
 away in vats until wanted for use, when it is precipi- c ^ lorsfr ° m 
 tated, by means of alum, tin salts, barium salts, etc., 
 according to the nature of the lake and the color or shade desired. 
 The texture of some of the very fine colors made in this depart- 
 ment would be injured by the severe pressure of the filter press, 
 and for these, vacuum filters are employed, using an opposite prin- 
 ciple, apparently, but really the same; for by means of a partial 
 vacuum the natural pressure of the atmosphere is in part realized. 
 The principal dyewood used is Brazil-wood, from which is pro- 
 duced the lake most largely used in paint-making, chatemuc. 
 This wood also gives us rose pink, which is simply a lake precipi- 
 tated on Paris white. Carmine and its lakes are obtained from 
 cochineal. The carmine apparatus is entirely distinct, and is 
 separated from all the others. The majority of the lake colors are 
 comparatively fugitive; therefore it is desirable to select such 
 material as will give the more permanent colors. 
 
 Tuscan red is made in this department; generally it Tuscan 
 is simply a mixture of Indian red and rose pink. Har- U rq&. 
 risons' new Tuscan red is made upon scientific principles 
 
 21 
 
J HE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 and is the most brilliant and the most durable color of the kind that 
 is known. The enriching lake is almost imperishable, and will bear 
 a temperature of 400 0 F. without being sensibly affected. Tuscan 
 red is a sort of connecting-link between the lake colors and the 
 mineral colors. The "Town and Country" Ready-Mixed Paint 
 No. 618, which is such a great favorite, is made from this new 
 Tuscan red. 
 
 Many of the recently-produced coal-tar dyes have much greater 
 permanency than those first made. This enables the 
 Srmti paint-maker to give to his trade brilliant pigments that 
 theretofore were unknown. One produced here is the 
 now celebrated Ottoman red — a color much less costly and of 
 more body than carmine, but equal to it in brilliancy and per- 
 manence. 
 
 The machinery for powdering dry colors is a very import- 
 ant feature of this large color-making establishment, 
 Madhine™ anc * * s ( l inte distinctly separated from the apparatus 
 employed in the other processes. Mills are the same 
 in principle, as a rule, no matter what their special use, and the 
 description of one answers for all; special mention of them will 
 be made farther on. It will be noticed that great care is taken to 
 isolate each color completely. In one room, in which everything 
 is green, there are several mills, and breakers and great piles of 
 green on the floor. To keep the shades of standard goods strictly 
 uniform, 25,000 to 35,000 pounds of the dried color are manipu- 
 lated at one time. The dried color is brought from the drying- 
 rooms directly here; it is immediately passed through the 
 breakers and then piled in heaps and mixed thoroughly; after- 
 ward it is fed to the mills, ground to the required degree of fine- 
 ness, and discharged through spouts into the storage bins on a 
 floor beneath. 
 
 In the blue-grinding department are two divisions; one is 
 for soluble or laundry blue only, and the other for Chinese and 
 other blues intended strictly for pigment use. In one room the 
 prevailing color is maroon, and here Harrisons' new Tuscan red is 
 ground to an impalpable powder. In the red-milling department 
 there are three divisions — one for quicksilver vermilion, one for 
 American vermilion and the other for New Idria vermilion. As 
 the vermilions are more deleterious to health than other colors, 
 precaution is taken to keep the air clear of dust. Over the 
 hoppers of the mills, and over all points where dust may escape, 
 inverted funnels connected with large galvanized iron pipes may 
 
 22 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 be seen; these all run into one large pipe, in which 
 there is a powerful fan drawing the air through these Preca forthe 
 funnel-openings, and with it all the dust. This dust- ^p^fve^ 
 laden air is forced into a properly-constructed dust 
 chamber, where the greater part of the floating color is deposited; 
 that which is not caught in the chamber is collected by means 
 of a spray of water. Similar appliances were seen in the oxide 
 and white-lead departments, and are in use where all dangerous 
 dusts arise. Workmen in these departments are required to 
 change their clothing in a special room entirely apart from the 
 work places; aside of this dressing room are large bath and 
 wash rooms, where every facility is afforded for a thorough cleans- 
 ing of the body after quitting work. 
 
 Leaving the group of factories constituting the color-making 
 department, w T e pass a detached building in which are several 
 huge vertical iron cylinders with some peculiar attach- 
 ments suggesting steam-boilers. These are the water purifier" 
 purifiers. The water used in color-making must be very 
 pure — not merely clear, but free from all soluble impurities, partic- 
 . ularly organic matter. These purifiers remove not only the visible, 
 but the invisible, impurities; they give purer water than can be ob- 
 tained from any settling pond or crystal lake, and are of material 
 aid in securing the brilliancy and richness of the Harrison colors. 
 
 In the regular course of affairs the operations following the color- 
 making are those for grinding the colors in oil; but before entering 
 the oil-color mill-house we should inspect the dry color-grinding 
 department, where all the earth colors are specially treated to 
 develop their best qualities. In one of the adjoining 
 storehouses may be seen great tiers of barrels, casks storehouse" 
 and hogsheads, the contents of which are suggested 
 by their exterior coloring. Here is a lot of casks holding some- 
 thing very yellow, each package having a peculiar brand burnt 
 into the head; it is an invoice of the celebrated Auxerre ochre. 
 The marks " ss Switzerland 8-22-89" indicate that it was 
 received by the steamship Switzerland on August 22, 1889. 
 Adjoining is a pile of frail and awkward-looking packages which 
 contain Italian sienna; the marks " bk Leandro 5-2-89" indicate 
 that it was received by the bark L,eandro May 2, 1889. In 
 this manner each importation is kept distinct. There are a num- 
 ber of stacks of the same kind of packages, some with a reddish 
 look, others with a yellow or brownish stain; they all contain 
 siennas. Some of them are in the raw state, some of them burned. 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 Those ugly hogsheads, each large enough to hold a ton or more, con- 
 tain umber. This one storehouse is 60 x 1 50 feet, with a convenient 
 drive-way through it; it is filled with these foreign goods: ochres 
 from France; siennas from Italy; umbers from Cyprus and Italy; 
 browns from Germany — a big shipload in all. That immense 
 stock explains the enigma to those color-grinders who are puzzled 
 with the uniformity of the Harrison siennas, umbers, etc. These 
 earth pigments in the original state vary so much that no two 
 invoices are alike; only by having a varied stock which may be 
 mixed in proper proportions can a uniform color be maintained. 
 In the dry-color grinding department the crude earth paints are 
 
 carefully picked and sorted and dried; they are then 
 Grinding mixed in the proportions that will give the standard 
 Earth paints, shades, and finally ground to an impalpable powder. 
 
 Even those colors, such as ochres, metallic browns, 
 colcothars, etc., which by all other paint-makers are considered 
 sufficiently fine to grind in oil at once, in this establishment first 
 are treated in this department; none of these goods (and only the 
 finest are admitted here) are fine enough. 
 
 The careful observer will notice in his journey through these 
 great works the complete independence of one department on 
 another. Thus, in the dry-color grinding department is an inde- 
 pendent engine, enabling work to be done continually, day and 
 night, if the demands of the other departments, which may be 
 run only in daytime, make this necessary. No color can be 
 properly ground unless it be bone dry; and for drying purposes 
 may be seen large steam-heated, open drying pans and steam- 
 jacketed revolving drums of different sizes; also apparatus which 
 both dries and mixes at one operation. Drying is an important 
 operation, for the tone of some of the colors is much impaired by 
 Overheating. The mills are of special construction, and are almost 
 noiseless in operation. Their work is at variance somewhat with 
 those mills of which it is said, 
 
 " Though the mills of the gods grind slowly, 
 Yet they grind exceeding fine," 
 
 for these not only u grind exceeding fine," but grind very quickly 
 and in large quantity. The impalpable color is discharged into tight 
 cars, which are really movable bins, all of one size, holding 500 
 to 1000 pounds each, according to the nature of the material. 
 These cars are used to store the color until it is required in the oil- 
 color mill-house. 
 
 While the colors which are more directly the product of 
 
 24 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 chemistry in so large measure owe their existence to 
 chromium, the colors of this department — Nature' s prod- the'ijarth 
 ucts, as it were — owe their being to iron almost with- colors 
 out exception. The rich brown umbers, the bright 
 siennas, the beautiful maroon in all the various shades of Indian 
 red, Venetian red and ochre, — all of them owe their coloring to iron 
 only. Vandyke brown owes its color principally to carbon. Ivory 
 black owes its color entirely to carbon. 
 
 The grinding of colors in oil naturally follows the dry grind- 
 ing; and we now go into a building recently erected 
 especially for this purpose upon most carefully devised Mm House* 
 plans, and provided with all the latest and best ap- 
 pliances. 
 
 While the mechanical methods and processes now employed in 
 many of the important industries which have risen to their present 
 prominence within a comparatively recent period resemble but little 
 the early and hand processes which they have supplanted, the 
 reverse of this is the case in the grinding of colors: the mills are 
 made much more accurately, more highly finished and of material 
 better adapted to the purpose than they were some years ago, but 
 there are no essential changes, and, after all, it is only an evolution 
 from the slab and muller, and no real change in process. The 
 mixer, however, that is now employed can hardly be connected 
 with the idea of mixing dry color and oil in a keg laboriously by 
 hand. Even the mixer of comparatively recent production, with 
 its one set of fixed and one set of revolving arms, cannot com- 
 pare with the one which is here used, and in which, 
 by means of complex motion, the thorough incor- ^cofonf 
 poration of the pigment and oil is rapidly effected, 
 and with economical expenditure of power. 
 
 In this great mill house the progress of modern 
 ideas is especially shown in all the arrangements where- ^deaT 
 by the costly but needful labor and power are mini- 
 mized. 
 
 The exterior of the building is necessarily plain; it is so con- 
 structed as to cause the complete lighting of the interior by nu- 
 merous large windows, the flood of light reaching the 
 very centre of every floor. Due consideration is also v ^^ a \f 0 n d 
 given to ventilation without draught, so that there is 
 as little dust as possible. 
 
 Starting at the third floor, we see here dry colors in the dust- 
 tight, wheeled bins which have been brought over from the dry- 
 
 25 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 color grinding department. There are also such stationary bins 
 as may be necessary and convenient. 
 
 The dry material is first passed to the drying 
 theSrj machines, so that all absorbed moisture may be driven 
 for the al out anc * co ^ or P ro perly warmed for mixing. It is 
 Mixer then transferred to accurate scales, carefully weighed, 
 and quietly but quickly placed in the mixers, with the 
 oil or other vehicle added in carefully weighed quantities; all of 
 this work is attended to by a clerk in charge. 
 
 This preparation and mixing of the colors for the mills is the 
 principal operation on this floor. Kvery appliance in 
 
 for Mixiu CS the way of trucks » turn-tables, etc. for the rapid move- 
 ment of material may be seen; also the necessary oil, 
 
 varnish and japan tanks with their gauges and scales. 
 
 On the second floor we see nothing but mills — big mills and lit - 
 
 Mills ^ e lm ^ s ' a ^ shapes and sizes — designed especially for the 
 
 work required of them, one pigment working better in 
 
 one kind of a mill than in another; and here let it be said that the 
 
 color is not ground once or twice or any specified number of 
 times: the great secret of the success of this estab- 
 
 Grindhr° f lisliment is * that the color must be ground until it has 
 reached the required degree of fineness, whether the 
 
 number of times it is passed through the mill be one or 
 
 twenty. 
 
 A feature that will impress the careful observer is the entire 
 absence of iron mills — that is, mills with metallic grind- 
 ing surfaces. It w T as long ago decided here that these were unfit 
 for grinding colors when purity of tone was essential. In a com- 
 partment entirely separate may be seen the mills for grinding 
 
 the coach colors. The fresco or distemper colors which 
 Frescoco'k) 1 !- are ground in water, and the tube colors for artists' and 
 Artists' color decorators' uses, also have special compartments allotted 
 
 for their preparation. 
 When the paint has been finally passed by the inspector, it is 
 conveyed by elevators to the floor directly below, employed for 
 
 packing, storage and shipping. Much of the finished 
 plckuf P amt * s packed at once into cans or other packages. 
 
 That which is not packed immediately is deposited in 
 carefully protected storage-tanks. The packing, sealing and 
 labeling of all small cans are done by neat-handed girls, and 
 many devices are utilized to secure speed, economize space and 
 minimize labor. 
 
 26 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 This packing floor is at such elevation as to be 
 level with the floors of cars or wagons; railway-tracks Vacuities 
 pass by the two ends of the building, and all along 
 one side teams may load. 
 
 Below this floor is a good high basement, in which is stored 
 all of the output that is packed for stock; here the pro- 
 duction of the winter is accumulated, ready for the de- stock 1 " 
 mands of the spring trade. 
 
 On the first floor at one time may be seen large orders in prep- 
 aration for the branch houses in New York, Cincinnati and New 
 Orleans; to these branch houses shipments are made in car-load 
 lots. 
 
 This mill house is 75 x 150 feet in area, and it is devoted solely 
 to the preparation of colors. The height from floor to Descri ti 
 ceiling is quite unusual, insuring good distribution of escn i£ 10 * 
 light. The construction is on the modern slow-burn- mui House, 
 ing plan, which also insures freedom from dust. The 
 elevators are run at high speed, so that the movement of material 
 and product is made with quietness, accuracy and dispatch. It 
 is noticed that there is no retrograde movement in the handling 
 of the material, and this is a very important matter in the saving 
 of labor. 
 
 In an annex is the powerful engine required for this 
 building; also the dynamo for supplying the electric ^aifd & 
 lights used after nightfall on the short winter days x r Dynamo, 
 when the business requires the department to be run 
 longer than the usual ten hours. 
 
 We will now enter a much older, though equally substantial, 
 building of the same size as the one just left; this is 
 used principally for the preparation of white paints. paints 
 The white lead manufacturing departments have already 
 been visited, and are described on pages 10 and 11. 
 
 From the drying pans or kilns the finished product is taken 
 by cars over an elevated track directly to the third floor of the 
 building we are now visiting. On this floor the white lead re- 
 ceives a certain quantity of oil, and is chased and mulled so as to 
 induce the saponification that gives to white lead its superior 
 body; this treatment leaves it like putty. The mass is 
 then chuted to the mixers on the second floor, where a ophite* 
 further quantity of oil is incorporated and the proper Lead 
 consistency for grinding obtained. The mills are on 
 the first floor, and are fed directly from the mixers; two systems 
 
 27 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 of grinding are used — the new or roller mill and the old or flat 
 circular stone mill. 
 
 The ground lead is discharged from the mills directly upon 
 the rotating, hollow metal discs of cooling machines, which are 
 cooiin chilled by a constant flow of cold water through them; 
 process. this cooling is essential to the good-keeping qualities 
 of the lead. Proper grinding of the lead continues the 
 chemical action between the oil and the pigment which commenced 
 with the first treatment; chemical action is always accompanied 
 chemical heat, and if continued for too long a time in the 
 
 Action case °f white lead and oil, the product is considerably 
 damaged; it is frequently the case that the ground lead 
 is discharged directly from the mills to the packages and then 
 „ lumps are liable to form or the paint turn to a bad color. All of 
 this is avoided here by drawing the heat off and thus checking 
 chemical action. 
 
 Fiom the coolers the lead goes to storage-tubs of five to ten 
 tons' capacity each, in which it is allowed to season or " age." 
 
 All the white lead from this factory has a beautiful silky text- 
 Features ure ' anc ^ * s n °t cxcc ^ ec ^ °y an Y niade in the qualities of 
 of the extreme whiteness, opacity, fineness and spreading 
 wMteiead. powerj in fact, any that equals it is an accidental 
 rather than a regular product. More attention is here 
 given to supplying the particular requirements of different con- 
 sumers that! in any other establishment; many corroders will 
 grind their lead in but one way; the boast of this place is that 
 all proper requirements are provided for. 
 
 A very stiff lead, almost like cheese in consistency, is known 
 as "A" lead, and is especially acceptable to those who have been 
 accustomed to old English lead. 
 
 The " I. S." is a stiff lead, softer than the "A," but particu- 
 larly adapted for fine inside flat work, where absolute freedom 
 from gloss is a requisite. 
 
 A still thinner or oily lead, intended for general outside work, 
 is known as " O" lead. 
 
 The special requirements of those manufacturers who use white 
 lead in large quantities have been carefully studied and provided 
 for. 
 
 lead and * n Edition to the grinding of pure white lead and 
 
 zinc Paints. zmc paints, a mixture of zinc and white lead, in- 
 tended for the "Town and Country" paints, is pre- 
 pared in this building. 
 
 28 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 The paint for the ready-mixed department is carried to it in 
 iron cars, so arranged as to discharge directly into the ready-mixed 
 paint mixers. 
 
 Before entering the ready-mixed paint department, a general 
 inspection of the processes of receiving, storing and distributing the 
 oil, and a trip to the oil- treatment house, should be made. The oil is 
 received in barrels or tanks in car-load lots; if in bar- 
 rels, the entire load is run on a long skid over a trough, Treatment 
 bungs are drawn and the sixty barrels are drained at House, 
 one time into the trough, which, by the necessary pipes, 
 discharges into the receiving or storage tanks; these tanks are 
 made of boiler iron and placed at such points as may be conve- 
 nient. When the oil is delivered by car- tanks, it is discharged 
 directly into the receivers by gravity. The storage- tanks are all 
 connected with a general pipe system, by means of which, and the 
 aid of the ubiquitous air-pressure, the oil is distributed to any desired 
 pointo The pipe system is extended under one of the main streets 
 to the oil-treatment house, situated in an isolated position beyond 
 the boiler-house, and nearly one thousand feet from the point 
 where the oil is received. The oil treating-house is necessarily of 
 fire-proof construction; in it all the oil used in " Town and Coun- 
 try" paint is clarified and made more elastic and durable by 
 boiling and other processes. For simply boiling the oil there are 
 five hooded kettles, in which i , 700 gallons may be treated at once. 
 
 The stone-dressers should not pass unnoticed. In a room by 
 themselves may be seen the half dozen men who are constantly at 
 work keeping the mill stones sharpened. The proper 
 operation of grinding is not dissimilar to cutting with D st ? ne " 
 shears. The edges must be kept sharp, for when a mill 
 stone loses its ' ' dress' ' — that is, becomes smooth and glazed — it will 
 not cut the particles of material into smaller particles; it may mull 
 or crush, but it will not grind. An interesting tool for doing this 
 work is the pneumatic stone-dresser, which materially hastens the 
 operation. All of the stone- dressing for the entire plant is done 
 here, the mills being so arranged that both the bed-stone and 
 grinder may be removed. 
 
 As the manufacture of the "Town and Country" 
 ready-mixed paints is the culminating work of this Feat uresof 
 establishment, we will mention some other departments the P i ant . 
 before describing the one devoted to this manufacture. 
 
 On our way from the oil- treatment house we take a glance at 
 the stable, airy, well lighted, well ventilated, and equipped as it 
 
 29 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 stable should be for the fort}-- five magnificent animals it 
 houses. The draught horses are mostly Clydesdales, 
 weighing 1600 to 1900 lbs. each, and when doing their work 
 (without apparent effort) in front of the large and heavily-loaded 
 w agons, they well represent the substantial character of the business. 
 The printing office is a necessary adjunct; in it every la- 
 bel, price list, circular, etc. that pertains to the bu- 
 Dcpartment. smess is prepared; all of the work (including colored 
 plates) of this pamphlet was done in it. Already it has 
 established an excellent reputation for choice color- work; the inks 
 used are prepared in the color mill-house. 
 
 Another feature that impresses the visitor is the system of 
 railroad tracks ramifying the entire plant and connecting with 
 all the trunk lines entering the city; there is over half a 
 Transpor- m [\e Q f railroad tracks in the works, and these give 
 Facilities three direct connections with the main tracks of the 
 railway lines passing in proximity. Lying directly on 
 the Schuylkill River, vessels discharge brimstone and other crude 
 material from foreign sources without cost of lighterage or other 
 handling; in fact, every facility is afforded for receiving material 
 from and shipping it to all points, and for the conduct of the 
 business of the establishment upon the most favorable conditions. 
 
 Entering the "Town and Country" ready-mixed 
 Ready Mixed pg^f department, the visitor is impressed by an array of 
 Department tanks carrying their height through two floors. These 
 are the mixers, eighteen in all; they are double — that 
 is, one tank within another — and with internal machinery that beats 
 Mixers and mixes the material into a homogeneous con- 
 sistency. The pigments and vehicles are charged 
 into the tanks from the fourth floor of the building. The paste, 
 white lead and zinc white are brought up in iron cars; the liquids 
 are delivered by the air-pressure, and when material equal in 
 volume to 700 gallons is placed in each mixer, the powerful 
 machinery is set in motion, and the process of churning, beating, 
 dashing and mixing is continued for two days. Can any hand- 
 method in any way approach this in effectiveness? These 
 mixers are only for making the white base of the paint; 
 
 the coloring is done in smaller mixers. The power- 
 eoior.ing and ful tinting colors are first reduced with oil in mixers, 
 somewhat similar to the large ones described, to a very 
 thin consistency, and then added to the white base in the color- 
 ing mixers in the right proportions to produce the desired tints; 
 
 30 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 these coloring mixers make 150 to 200 gallons to each batch. 
 From these the finished paint is deposited in the storage and 
 filling tanks, whence it is filled into packages as required. 
 Before the paint is filled into a package it is strained through a 
 very fine wire sieve which removes every trace of ' ' skin' ' or 
 coarse particle. 
 
 All the work is by gravity; the operations com- Economy of 
 mence on the fourth floor and the paint is delivered th f^uS" 
 into the packages on the first. The business is con- 
 ducted so systematically that ten thousand gallons . 
 of paint may be delivered in ten hours without any pres- 
 sure or confusion. 
 
 Some of the rules governing this department are well worthy of 
 notice. The shades and tints are maintained to a uniformity by a 
 peculiar system of unchangeable standards. It is well 
 known that white lead, zinc white and colors react on ^"ufiuSr? 
 one another chemically, and slowly but surely change anu 
 their original tone. Now, to prevent a change in the color- 
 standards they are here made of absolutely non- 
 changeable, inert material, which, while having no paint abi^coior- 
 property of itself, serves to give the ' ' shader' ' his un- standards, 
 erring standard to which to shade each batch. 
 
 After the shader has done his work and passed the paint, 
 a practical painter samples the batch, paints it out, and 
 notes carefully its bod}^ working and drying. It can- T^pe'ctfon* 1 
 not be packed until he pronounces it correct in these 
 particulars, when the packers may have it. From the pack- 
 ing tanks it is drawn off into a gauged receptacle holding ten 
 gallons. This measure is on a truck scale; when the measure 
 is full to the proper mark it is weighed by a weigh clerk, who 
 compares the weight with the table of weights. If it vary 
 more than one per cent, from the average weight, it is rejected 
 and must be remanipulated. If found correct, it is filled into 
 the desired packages. 
 
 It is well to note right here that much of the manufacture 
 is packed in one-gallon cans. Much is said about 1 1 trade' ' 
 gallons and "commercial" gallons. Now, the United 
 States standard gallon is 231 cubic inches. Some Measure* 
 manufacturers lay great stress on the alleged fact 
 that their one-gallon cans hold 231 cubic inches; but even so: that 
 does not permit 231 cubic inches of paint to be put in them; in 
 other words, a can cannot be entirely filled. If the ' ' Town and 
 
 31 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 Country" one-gallon cans be measured, it will be found that their 
 capacity is nearly 240 cubic inches, and that 231 cubic inches of 
 paint are packed into them. 
 
 A practice, rapidly dying out, we believe, is to sell what are 
 called "trade" gallons. These hold less than seven pints. A 
 can to hold one gallon should be not less than six and 
 Measure* 1 eleven-sixteenth inches in diameter, and six and three- 
 quarter inches in height. Height is frequently used 
 to deceive the unwary, as many so-called gallon cans are seven 
 inches high, but only six in diameter, and such a can will not hold 
 quite seven pints. 
 
 We have seen the manufacture of "Town and Country" ready- 
 mixed paints from the crudest material to the finished product 
 ready for use, and have learned much of the chemistry of the 
 subject in plain, matter-of-fact language. A little more may be 
 said in the way of practical chemistry, and then some practical 
 suggestions will be given. 
 
 As the perishing of paint is almost entirely due to the destruc- 
 perishin of ** on °^ * ne vemc ^ e > an( l as ne arly all the pigments which 
 Paint Dest fulfil the immediate or first requirements in paint- 
 
 ~iaking are more or less chemically active and aid in 
 the destruction of the vehicle, scientific paint-making requires 
 that the vehicle be rendered as inert as possible to the action of 
 the pigment; and further, in ready-mixed paint-making it is very 
 why Town essential that chemical action should not take place 
 and country between the components of the paint while it is in the 
 Paint does package in the store-house waiting for the buyer. In 
 not change. Town and Country paints this chemical action is pre- 
 vented by keeping the paint in a state of emulsion. The water of 
 emulsion must evaporate before the drying action can take place. 
 As this water evaporates, the surface of the paint gradually as- 
 sumes that smooth and even condition which produces the hard, 
 glossy, durable surface for which these paints are so renowned. 
 Unfortunately, this plan of paint-making permits the unscrupu- 
 lous manufacturer to palm off water for paint when the quantity 
 introduced is more than sufficient for its proper use. Such a paint, 
 however, will not be used by the practical painter or by any one 
 who is a fair judge of paints. A good test of this paint is 
 weight; taking the pale tints, which must contain the maximum 
 of zinc and lead base. When properly made, the emulsified paint 
 weighs 13 to 15 pounds per gallon; the water paints will weigh 
 bu 4 q to 11. This rule will not apply to those dark colors which 
 
 32 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 do not permit the use of any white in their preparation. These may 
 be made of pigment and oil only, and weigh but 9 pounds. 
 
 In the Town and Country paints the oily vehicle is simply the 
 purest linseed oil that is made, very carefully treated to make it 
 durable, kept by emulsion in an inert condition until used, and 
 rendered fluid for working under the brush by the addition of 
 naphtha, which more than any other vehicle has the property of 
 thinning a paint, and therefore may be used in smallest proportion; 
 furthermore, every atom of this evaporates on drying, so that the 
 pure pigment and durable oil only are left on the surface. 
 
 The reader who has followed these pages to this point is with- 
 out doubt convinced that it would be difficult to find a paint su- 
 perior to that produced in this establishment, and doubtless he 
 believes that the proper place for mixing the paints — as it is for 
 grinding them — is the factory. 
 
 The change of the present day to paints ready mixed, or en- 
 tirely prepared for use, is in conformity with the gen- 
 eral advancement of the age: it is not revolutionary or ^R^d^ 
 extraordinary; it is simply a step in a natural evolu- Mixed points" 
 tion or progression. As the grinding of dry paints by 
 hand with slab and muller was succeeded by the employment of 
 steam machinery, so the mixing of paste paints by means of a 
 stick into a condition for use has been superseded also, in its 
 turn, by the use of mechanism specially designed. It is merely a 
 repetition of the story we see everywhere around us: manual labor 
 with its drudgery, want of uniformity, and want of completeness 
 giving place to the perfection of scientific appliances. 
 
 Not only does the use of ready-mixed paints constitute a gain 
 to the painter in convenience and economy, saving 
 drudgery, waste and time, but, what is of even greater ^Pa^^t 
 importance (especially to the property owner), there is antagonistic 
 also a material gain — when standard brands, such as to the work 
 the Town and Country, are purchased — in the quality ofthePr a°- 
 of the paints obtained. Under the old method of paint- tical Painter - 
 mixing it is impossible to incorporate with the pigment more than 
 a certain quantity of oil without interfering with its working qual- 
 ities. Oil, however, is really the life of paint; it is mainly from 
 the oil that paint obtains its preservative virtue, and it may be 
 laid down as an axiom that the more oil (consistent with the re- 
 tention of proper working qualities), and the better the oil, the 
 better the paint. This is one reason why the Town and Country 
 paints are found so superior in durability to white lead mixed 
 
 33 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 in the ordinary way, and it partially explains the gain in quality 
 referred to above. The method of the preparation of these paints 
 causes the incorporation of a much larger percentage of oil than 
 has been possible by previous methods. When we add to this 
 the fact that the process employed gives also a rich gloss or finish 
 unobtainable in any other way, which, besides adding greatly to 
 beauty of appearance, enables the paints to resist more effectually 
 the action of the elements, the superiority of the new system over 
 the old will be apparent. 
 
 The advantages of a paint ready for use ( ready for use except- 
 ing the addition of more oil for raw surfaces) are now so well 
 if no r ai recognized that nothing need be said in their favor. 
 th!n°g, there Much condemnation of ready-mixed paints is heard be- 
 
 wouidnot be cause so many are inferior and rive such unsatisfactory 
 ■ny Counter- -n.A j • i , J 
 
 feit. results. But no one condemns real money because 
 
 there is counterfeit money, and no one condemns white 
 lead or painters' colors because much that is sold is counterfeit. 
 We know that good and pure may be had, and when once we are 
 made acquainted with the reliability or lack of it in different 
 brands, we are no longer imposed upon. So with paints ready for 
 use. Some are good, many are bad. When we learn to discrim- 
 inate between the good and bad, and use only the former, we shall 
 recognize fully their value, their superiority for exterior work to 
 any hand-mixed paint. 
 
 At one time skilled painters feared that giving up the control 
 of mixing the paints they used might prove detrimental to their 
 business; but so many have admitted the groundlessness of such 
 fear by their regular use of high-grade mixed paints that this sub- 
 ject need no longer be considered. 
 
 The manufacturers of "Town and Country" paint prefer that 
 other paint be used by any one who will not employ a competent 
 painter, because unskilled painters cannot do good 
 painters use work, and their lack of skill and experience leads to 
 Refd" G Mixed con demnation of the paint used by them. Very 
 PaTnts. lx few competent painters, and none who have intelligent- 
 ly tested it, will deny the superiority of the "Town 
 and Country" paint for exterior painting when compared with 
 the best shop- or hand-mixed material. They recognize its ad- 
 vantages, just as they recognize the advantage of buying white 
 lead and colors already ground, instead of buying the dry pig- 
 ment and vehicle separately and grinding them together in the 
 shop; no one could do that now and earn his salt. 
 
 34 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 While it is an unquestioned fact that but few painters — and 
 only those of great capacity and experience — can produce shades 
 of color of such beauty and richness as are furnished, ready for 
 use, in the "Town and Country" paints, and, while it is also 
 true that painters, whatever their training, cannot produce paints 
 of similar quality by the means at their command, still, the object 
 of the manufacturers is not to do away with, but rather to sup- 
 plement, the painter's work. There is no antagonism possible or 
 intended. The manufacturers of " Town and Country" paints, 
 so far from endeavoring to lessen the use of experienced labor, 
 most strongly urge and recommend its constant employment. 
 They recognize that the greater the skill of the workman the 
 better the results obtained from their material, and the better 
 these results the more advantageous it is for the reputation of 
 their paints, and, consequently, for their interests. 
 
 To obtain satisfactory results it is not only essential 
 to have the best material, but that material must be Sug ? e ug™ s 
 properly used. If work be done regardless of the con- m painf 
 ditions necessary to insure permanency, failure is 
 simply invited and must be expected. 
 
 Too much stress cannot be laid upon selecting the proper time 
 for painting. Work done in wet weather or on rain- 
 soaked wood or sappy or unseasoned wood is almost Application 
 certain to fail. Work done hurriedly or with thick, of Pa i nt . 
 heavy coats of paint is also almost certain to result in 
 disappointment. 
 
 See that your painting is done in dry weather. See that 
 ample time is given between coats for each to dry; see that no 
 more paint is used than is necessary; see that all new work has 
 three coats. Three thin coats will take less paint than two heavy 
 coats, and will wear better and longer. Above all things, see that 
 you have an experienced, capable and honest man to do your work. 
 Such a workman will probably give better results with poor 
 material than the incompetent man will with the best material. 
 
 Some manufacturers guarantee the durability of their paint, 
 and, strange as it may seem, some of the poorest Guarantee 
 paints are most strongly guaranteed. The 1 ' Town 
 and Country" paint is sold simply on a warranty of its purity and 
 composition, and this warranty will be accompanied by any reason- 
 able penalty required. The manufacturers know from a long 
 experience that properly used, and used under proper conditions, 
 nothing but the best results can be obtained, and they will not 
 
 55 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 hold themselves responsible for the ignorance or cupidity of the 
 property owner or the inexperience or dishonesty of the one ap- 
 plying the paint. 
 
 It is absolutely necessary for good results that the original 
 surface be put in good condition. It is a common error, even 
 with experienced painters, to believe that anything 
 
 andwhy ^° ^ or P rmnn &5 Dut as tne priming coat bears 
 
 Necessary. tne same relation to the succeeding coats that the 
 
 foundation of a building bears to the superstructure, 
 it is as fallacious to expect durability from a bad priming coat as 
 permanence from a building that has a poor, uncertain or bad 
 foundation. In many buildings the lumber is inferior, wet, or 
 unseasoned. In such cases the priming coat should be applied 
 when the weather is driest, and allowed to remain for some weeks 
 before applying the other coats. The oil appears to displace the 
 sap, hastening its evaporation. If the succeeding coats were 
 applied at once, the sap would be held in, and finally result in 
 peeling or scaling the paint. If the wood be well seasoned, no more 
 time need be given after its application than sufficient to dry the 
 priming coat thoroughly. 
 
 The essential properties of the priming coat are to fill the 
 pores and make a surface to which the succeeding coats will 
 Rssentiai firmly adhere. Therefore, the pigment should be one 
 propert'i.s that will carry a large quantity of oil, and still make a 
 prfmer° d workable paint, and also be chemically inactive, yet 
 
 in such mechanical condition that its particles will at- 
 tach themselves to the grain of the wood. White lead does 
 not fill all of these conditions so well as certain ochres that are 
 free from clay, but which contain free silica in a sharp but finely- 
 divided state. An ochre that will not carry three times its own 
 weight of raw oil, and at the same time be a fairly thick paint, 
 will not meet the requirements. 
 
 To meet all these conditions, Messrs. Harrison Bros. & Co. 
 ■ Town and nave prepared their "Town and Country" primer and 
 country" filler, and this has proven to be the most suitable 
 primer and article yet offered for the purpose. While this should be 
 
 applied freely, it is to be thoroughly worked into the 
 surface. If a heavy coat be applied to sap or yellow pine and al- 
 lowed to stand for several months, it will be found that the sap or 
 resin has been killed; this may then be cleaned off and the work 
 finished, with most durable result. Work will not stand, when 
 finished at once, on green, sappy, resinous or waterlogged wood. 
 
 36 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 As previously stated, not only is much of the ready-mixed 
 paint that is offered for sale worthless, but so are many 
 of the painters' colors and much of the white lead, and ^JSJJJ^Jr 
 therefore one is liable to as much imposition, unin- pure 
 tentionally or otherwise, on the part of the vender in buying the 
 ingredients separately and mixing them himself as 
 in buying them in mixed form. In fact, at this time < SSJiSS 
 ( 1 89 1 ) there is more danger from sophisticated linseed oil ° nt ^n\M 
 and oil substitutes than even from white lead and colors. 
 
 An intelligent painter, writing from a Western city of 40,000 
 population, states that nearly all the painting done there in a year 
 was with oil retailed at less than one-half the crusher's The Con . 
 price for linseed oil, and asks, Can any sensible man be sumcr in- 
 surprised at the general dissatisfaction with painting ? Quality in 
 Poor pigments and good oil are a better combination Yn^conntr'" 
 than the best pigments and sophisticated oil. In using an °p?iiu. 
 1 1 Town and Country' ' paints the consumer is assured of 
 not only the use of the best quality of oil and the best pigments, but 
 the very best combination of them known in modern paint-making. 
 
 It is absolutely impossible to give a paint in mixed form — that 
 is, of the proper consistency — for all kinds of surfaces and all sorts 
 of temperatures. When the surface is very raw or 
 absorbent, a thinner paint must be used than for a hard P beof Con- 
 or non-absorbent surface; and a paint that is of the sult^condi^ 
 right consistency for work in a temperature of 50 0 or tfcmsofsur- 
 60 9 will be found quite too thin in a temperature of 8o° Temperature 1 
 or 90 0 In "Town and Country" paint the consist- 
 ency is just right for a hard surface and moderate temperature, 
 and in general for a finishing coat. Oil or turpentine, or both, 
 must be used for the undercoats, and these are the only articles to 
 be provided in addition to the "Town and Country" paint. It 
 therefore becomes necessary that every one using "Town and 
 Country" paint assure himself that the oil or turpentine used 
 is perfectly pure and of the best quality. 
 
 It is not contended that the use of cheap oils or linseed-oil 
 substitutes is never justifiable, for there are occasions when 
 painting is for temporary purposes only, and it may be wise to 
 use material of only temporary value; but what is unjustifiable is 
 vending impure oil or oil substitutes as pure linseed oil; and it 
 seems to us that the linseed-oil manufacturer and consumer have 
 the same right to protection by law against such practice as the 
 dairyman and the butter consumer have against the sale of 
 
 37 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 oleomargarine as genuine butter. As the sale of oleomargarine 
 as such is not objected to, so there cannot be any objection to the 
 sale of substitute oils as such. 
 
 Our talk about priming has had reference to new work mainly. 
 The repainting of a surface when the old paint has thoroughly 
 perished — that is, has become like dust — is quite a 
 ofSdato? simple matter. After the surface has been thoroughly 
 surfaces. sand-papered and dusted the primer and filler maybe used 
 as for new work, or the color in which the work is to 
 be finished applied at once; but not more than two coats, the first 
 coat made very thin with raw linseed oil and some turpentine. 
 The "Town and Country" paint of usual consistency should be 
 thinned for such work with about one quart of oil and one pint of 
 turpentine to each gallon. The turpentine aids it to penetrate the 
 pores of the old paint. 
 
 When the old paint is very hard, but inclined to chip off, very 
 great care is required to produce good results, because the new 
 paint on top of the old will, by the contraction in drying, causes 
 the latter to loosen its already feeble hold, and old and new come 
 off together, The old paint will not permit the penetration of the 
 new paint through it, so as to give it a new bond to the wood or 
 original surface, and it is not sufficiently bonded to resist the con- 
 traction of the new coat in drying; thorough scraping must first 
 be resorted to. Unless the color is to be changed, it is best to give 
 such a surface but one coat, as thin as it is possible to work it and 
 cover properly. If the color is to be changed, give two coats, but 
 with an interval of several weeks, and each coat as light as it can 
 be worked. 
 
 New work should always have three coats, the first to be 
 w work °^ P r ^ mer an d filler, as previously directed. The 
 ew or * second and third coats are to be of the color selected. 
 The "Town and Country" paint for second coat is to be thinned 
 with about one quart of oil and one pint to one quart of turpentine 
 to each gallon, or half the quantity of perfectly sweet naphtha 
 may be used in place of the turpentine. Naphtha containing coal 
 oil will injure the paint, and must not be used under any circum- 
 stances. This coat must be well brushed out. For the finishing 
 coat the " Town and Country" paint is usually of proper consist- 
 ency; if too stout, add raw linseed oil only in just sufficient quan- 
 tity to make the paint work freely under the brush. 
 
 On every package of paint a few plain aaid explicit directions 
 are given. 
 
 38 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 It is obvious that the quantity of paint required will vary ac- 
 cording to the state of the surface to be painted. For — . 
 new work on lumber fairly smooth and of good quality SSSS. 
 it will be safe to estimate 275 to 300 square feet of sur- 
 face per gallon, three coats, used as above directed, about two- 
 fifths to be primer and filler. On a surface properly prepared with 
 Primer and Filler, one gallon of "Town and Country" paint will 
 cover 400 square feet or more of surface, two coats. The great 
 economy of the paint is at once apparent. 
 
 Economic house-painting, it is thus seen, does not depend 
 upon buying the lowest-priced materials; such general- 
 ly have but little pigment or vehicle value, and are, Economic 
 therefore, relatively dearer; and they lack the element p»intiag~ 
 of durability. That paint is best which can be laid on 
 in the thinnest layers. The cheap nostrums must be 1 1 flowed 
 on" in thick layers, otherwise the surface will not be covered. 
 
 Bear in mind, the Harrison establishment is the only one in 
 which are conducted all the processes of manufacture, from the 
 crude material to the finished product. 
 
 When measuring for quantity required do not make any al- 
 lowance for window and other openings, as they will 
 not any more than equal the extra surface of frames, Measuno *- 
 mouldings and other projections. It is quite proper to take the 
 length, breadth and height of a building in full. 
 
 Positive rules for the selection of colors cannot be given. It is 
 probably one of the most difficult features in the work 
 of beautifying the home; so difficult is it that the prop- ScleC (Sfors f 
 erty-owner will frequently waive his or her natural 
 good taste to the judgment of the painter. This is well when the 
 painter is progressive, has fine taste and will continually work out 
 new color schemes, instead of (as is too frequently the case) follow- 
 ing one idea, and that usually very dull or inharmonious. The 
 great variety of colors in the "Town and Country" paints permits 
 every possible color scheme to be followed. One well-painted 
 house in a community that has had a long affliction of 
 stone color or drab creates an improvement in the gen- ptSSg 
 eral taste, leading quickly to the betterment of the en- improves 
 tire neighborhood and increases the value of property. It P v5ues y 
 is now quite common to find suburbs of cities of most 
 picturesque appearance, due entirely to the use of "Town and 
 Country' 'paint in bright and harmonious combination of the differ- 
 ent shades. As it is impossible to give satisfactorily in words a guide 
 
 39 
 
THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS. 
 
 for the selection and application of colors, some illustrations are 
 illustrations f urrnsne d as suggestions of good color effect; but print- 
 us ra ions. ^ f jj^j^ fails to do justice to the subject. The parent 
 house or any of its branches will suggest combinations on receipt of 
 architect's elevation, photograph or sketch of building, and will 
 give full directions for the placing of each color. To aid in this 
 work the proprietors have published, at great expense, 
 fnd^w' a P ort f°h° °f fifty designs on a large scale. These are 
 obtained. in the hands of their agents, of architects and of prom- 
 inent builders, and are for the use of any one intending 
 to buy or use the paint. Any one addressing the house will be in- 
 formed where a portfolio may be seen, or will be loaned one under 
 certain conditions. 
 
 Due regard must be given to the architecture of the building 
 A . ., , in both the selection and the application of the colors; 
 
 Arcn 1 tcct u re 
 
 of Building though, in general, any combination which is good of 
 considered, itself may be used, provided each element is properly 
 proportioned. 
 
 Harmonious color selections may be made from either analo- 
 gous colors or complementary colors. It has become common to 
 use the latter system, yet it is one which requires the best devel- 
 opment of the color sense, and for this reason better results are 
 generally obtained by one with natural good taste than by one 
 without who attempts to apply the theory of complementary 
 colors. Where there is a combination of the two systems, very 
 pleasing results are obtained; for instance, a gradation from an 
 olive brown to a light but w T arm yellow tint. This subject, how- 
 ever, can be covered satisfactorily by illustrations only. 
 
 " Town and Country' ' paints are intended primarily for exterior 
 house-painting, but, properly used, they make an 
 co^try 1 ^ equally good interior paint. For plastered walls they 
 where'used are exceptionally valuable, making a finish that will 
 w erc permit continued cleaning. For the plastered walls of 
 kitchens and bath-rooms they make a finish inferior in value 
 only to glazed tile. 
 
 For floors they will not dry flinty enough unless applied in 
 Floor-Paint- numerous thin coats; for such use they should be thin- 
 in s- ned w r ell with refined naphtha (benzine). For floor- 
 
 painting it is best to use Harrisons' Floor Paints, which are espe- 
 cially prepared for such purpose; these are actually hardened by 
 washing and are very resistant to ordinary wear. 
 
 For furniture-painting a different system is necessary. Paints 
 
 40 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
 3 3125 00712 2092