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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
492
AHLSTROM PIANOS.
E S T A B L I S H E D 1875-
AN ANCIENT VIOLIN WITH A ROMANTIC
HISTORY.
R e l i a b l e Ag^cntS ' W a n t e d for these incomparable instruments, which
possess many valuable improvements not found in pianos of any other make
Specially adapted as leaders, and sold exclusively as First Grade Instruments.
C. A. AHLSTROM,
MANUFACTURER.
Nos. 112, 114 & 116 East 3d Street,
Traveling Expenses,
and
Strict Factory Economy
Enable us to give
The Most for the money.
Running
Full Time and Full Capacity.
AMES O'CAROLTN, who resides at 1,628 Second
avenue, this city, claims the possession of the
one Stradivarius violin on this continent. As
tenderly and lovingly as a young mother takes her first
born baby from its cot, O'Carolin last night caressed
the violin he produced from its case, and gave an idea
of the exquisite tone that a professional violinist could
produce. -Looking through the fret-work at the bridge
New York.
you can read on the wood underneath, engraved in in- 503-7 West 21st Street,
distinct and obscure characters, the following : "An-
tonius Stradivarius, Cremonensis Faciebat Anno, I73 1 -"
Antonius Stradivarius died in 1737.
In 1804, O'Carolin's grandfather was skipper of a
yessel that traded between Lough Foyle in London-
derry and the northern French seaports. It was sus-
pected by the British Government that he was a priva-
teer in the French service, and on one occasion his
vessel was chased by an English cruiser. When the
Irish skipper found he could not escape on the run,
unarmed as he was, he turned bravely and faced the
music. His formidable opponent sank his frail craft
after an unequal fight of half an hour, and the Derry
ship went down with the Irish flag and the French tri-
color flying at her masthead, raised in defiance in the
moment of defeat. O'Carolin was rescued from the
waters by the crew of a French fishing sloop, and in
October of that year he found himself after many
wanderings in Cremona. He had always been an ama-
teur musician, and one day he discovered in the store of
a dealer of musical instruments in that quaint old town
this alleged genuine Stradivarius, and he purchased it—
its value then being about $200. It has since been in
the possession of the O'Carolin family in Ireland until
five years ago, when, on the death of an elder brother,
it was sent to its present possessor in this country.
The last authenticated Stradivarius was purchased
recently by a Mr. Hall, an English musical dilettante, 1. Wonderful in Ton© quality.
Rich, deep, bell like and pure.
for $10,000, according to an English journal.—N. Y.
Sunday Hews.
2. Wonderful in strength of frame.
J
H. N. CORNETT & CO.
THE WONDERFUL
A. B. CHASE
PIANOS.
THE MUSIC OF OLD.
INTERESTING JOTTINGS BY HATTIE WEBBER.
W
HILE the best hymns of the heathen worshipers
are only mythological pictures, the Christian
psalms, written by the great singer of Israel
have passed into the devotions of the Christian church.
The muses were supposed to inspire the writers of
songs and poems, and were the objects of their worship
and praise.
Some of the musical instruments which we now use
are similar to those of ancient times. Hermes, on his
way to Apollo, caught a tortoise, killed the animal, took
out the flesh, and adapted reeds and strings to the
shell, thus forming the lyre.
Han is said to have invented the flute and recent
writers have traced the origin of the violin to the Indian
Rarannastro, invented by Raranna, a king of Ceylon,
and played by the Buddhist monks who beg from door
to door.
Songs were kept alive during the dark ages more by
tradition than by written words, and the religious ele-
ment was preserved in the churches.
LYON, POTTER tc Co., Chicago, 111., now represent
the Erard harp in that city.
Strongest possible combination of woods glutd
and bolted together.
3. Wonderful in improving by age and use.
Pianos sold five years ago are said 10 be better
in tone than when they were sold.
4. Wonderful in selling qualities.
Tone, action, style, finish, patented improve-
ments all taking.
5. Wonderful in popularity.
Even our strongest competitors all praise them.
6. Wonderful in phenomenal success.
Only 5 years since the first A. B. CHASE
pianos were made, and now they are taking
the lead everywhere.
7. Wonderful in character of its agents.
The very best men in the trade seek the agency
for these instruments. No others need apply.
For terms and territory, address:
THE A. B. CHASE CO.,
NORWALK, OHIO.
JAMESTOWN, W. Y.
THREE THOUSAND POUNDS FOR THREE
LOGS OF MAHOGANY.
W
E stumbled across an old volume the other day
—'• The Library of Entertaining Knowledge,"
published by Charles Knight in 1829. Part I,
treating of " Vegetable Substances: Timber Trees," be-
sides containing much valuable information for sylvi-
culturists and others, is full of interesting facts connect-
ed with the discovery and introduction into this
country of the various kinds of wood used in commerce.
The introduction into notice of mahogany appears to
have been slow; the first mention of it was that it was
used in the repair of Sir Walter Raleigh's ships at Trini-
dad in 1597. " Its finely variegated tints were admired;
but in that age the dream of El Dorado caused matters
of more value to be neglected. The first that was
brought to England," says the writer, " was about the
beginning of last century, a few planks having been
sent to Dr. Gibbons, of London, by a brother, who was
a West India captain. The doctor was erecting a house
in King street. Covent Garden, and gave the planks to
the workmen, who rejected it as being too hard. The
doctor's cabinet maker, named Wollaston. was employ-
ed to make a candle-box of it, and as he was sawing up
the plank he also complained of the hardness of the
timber. But when the candle-box was finished, it out-
shone all the doctor's other furniture, and became an
object of curiosity and exhibition. The wood was then
taken into favor. Dr. Gibbons had a bureau made of
it, and the Duchess of Buckingham another; and the
despised mahogany now became a prominent article of
luxury, and at the same time raised the fortunes of the
cabinet-maker by whom it had been at first so little
regarded."
A single log of mahogany imported at Liverpool
some years after this weighed nearly seven tons, and
was, in the first instance, sold for ^378 ; resold for
^525 ; and would, the account goes on to say, have
been worth ^1,000 had the dealers been certain of its
quality.
Speaking of the various uses to which the wood
eventually came to be applied, the writer says :
" Mahogany is of universal use for furniture, from
the common tables of a village inn to the splendid cab-
inets of a regal palace. But the general adoption of
this wood renders a nice selection necessary. The ex-
tensive manufacture of pianofortes has much increased
the demand for mahogany. This musical instrument,
as made in England, is superior to that of any other
part of Europe, and English pianofortes are largely ex-
ported. The beauty of the case forms a point of great
importance to the manufacturer. This circumstance
adds nothing, of course, to the intrinsic value of the
instrument, but it is of consequence to the maker, in
giving an adventitious quality to the article in which
he deals. Spanish mahogany is decidedly the most
beautiful, but occasionally, yet not very often, the
Honduras wood is of singular brilliancy, and it is then
eagerly sought for to be employed in the most expen-
sive cabinet work. A short time ago Messrs. Broad-
wood, who have long been distinguished as makers of
pianofortes, gave the enormous sum of three thousand
pounds for three logs of mahogany. These logs, the
produce of one tree, were each about fifteen feet long
and thirty-eight inches wide. They were cut into
veneers of eight to an inch. The wood, of which we
have seen a specimen, was peculiarly beautiful, cap-
able of receiving the highest polish, and, when polished,
reflecting the light in the most varied manner, like the
surface of a crystal, and from the many forms of the
fibres offering a different figure in whatever direction
it was viewed."—London P., O., and Music Trades
Journal.
185*1 ®