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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
White fell in a faint on the floor, and was
only aroused by an ice water bath given by
his youthful attendant.
Music Pictured.
THE WONDERFUL PENDULOGRAPH FAITHFULLY
PORTRAYS IN SPIRALS THE CHORD
VIBRATIONS.
HE pendulograph is a machine which
produces writing through the motion
of the pendulum. But this is only a minor
work on the part of the marvelous instru-
ment, since the motion of the pendulum is
regulated with the vibrations of musical
notes played upon the piano or violin, and
the instrument thus becomes the means
through which music is enabled to take ab-
solute form.
There may be one or more pendulums
employed, since, as the inventor of the in-
strument observes in his description of it,
"The pendulograph is practically a system
of pendulums tuned to swing the various
ratios of the musical scale. A pen placed
by means of a universally jointed arrange-
ment between any two pendulums of this
pendulograph, or 'silent harp,' so as to be
moved by a blend of their various motions,
writes, with all the precision of gravitation,
a portrait of the chord which two corres-
ponding strings of a sounding harp or the
chord from a piano would utter to the ear.
This spiral writing is a pendulograph."
The writing produced by this means is
all spiral. By loading the glass pens, which
are used with different colored inks, these
spirals are made to appear in most brilliant
and striking contrast. The forms are as
varied as the musical combinations which
they express. Some of them are fine, inter-
locked hair-strokes that resemble the plu-
mage of birds or the fan-coral seen at the bot-
tom of the sea on tropical coasts. Others
present the most complicated concentric
circles, while others resemble flowers, and
others still the most marvelous shell forms,
with convolutions symmetrical.
An upright framework in the form of a
tripod carries two rods on which are sus-
pended two six-pound weights, forming
pendulums.
These carry the universal
jointed arrangement which moves the pens,
loaded with different colored inks. A table
attachment has fastened upon it the paper,
or cardboard, on which the writing is per-
formed, and this is moved regularly around
by a clockwork attachment in a drawer be-
neath. As the paper moves, the pen passes
over it.
The inventor of this instrument was an
English optician, who had a shop in Lon-
don a few years ago. It was improved
upon by an Irish clergyman, who wrote as
follows concerning the natural law on
which he based his mechanism: "The mo-
tions of the stars in their courses, the swing-
ing of pendulums and the vibrating of
musical instruments, are all under one great
law—the law of gravitation. If the stars
in their courses through the heavens, by a
great pen attached to them, were to leave a
line behind them written on the pages of
T
With the Salesmen,
T
HE day had been unusually warm, and
W. A. White, manager of Jacob Bros.'
warerooms on Fourteenth street, was in
remarkably good spirits, notwithstanding
the intense humidity which prevailed. Mr.
White is a clever salesman, and made some
very good sales that morning, having dis-
posed of a piano to a Jerseyman, to a resi-
dent of Hoboken and a Harlemite. He
had seated himself at his desk, where he
was enjoying a few reminiscent whiffs at
his cigar, when the boy informed him that
some one wished to see him at the tele-
phone. He applied his ear to the trans-
mitter, and this is what he heard:
"Hello! Is that Jacob Bros. 1 ware-
rooms?"
"Yes."
"Can you send six grand pianos down
here to-day?"
Six grands! thought W. A. This is a
harvest, indeed!
It is a well-known fact that Jacob Bros,
do not manufacture grands, but Mr. White
was nothing daunted; he could furnish any-
thing. So he replied:
"Yes, course I can; where are they to be
sent?"
The answer came: "Thisis the president
of the Consolidated Exchange; we have
fitted up superb new club rooms, and we
want six grands in there to-day. We know
all about the pianos; we have seen them
and they are all right."
A pleased expression stole over Mr.
White's face as he pressed the transmitter
close to the membrane of his ear. That
day was to be a record breaker. Six grands!
A Consolidated Exchange deal. Whew!
The perspiration trickled in a cold strea.n
from off his face and fell with a plunk upon
the floor, thereby destroying his patent
leather shine.
"We'll send them, of course;" then in a
louder tone, "Who are you?"
" I am president of the Consolidated
Stock Exchange."
"But will you please give me your
name?"
The answer came back: "My name is J.
Burns Brown," and just at this point Mr.
space, or if musical instruments would, in
their rapid vibration, record themselves,
and, by a fine pen attached to them, write
a picture that would remain for the delight-
ed eye after their sounds had died away
upon the delighted ear, these drawings,
great and small, would be of the nature of
pendulographs. The pendulums, silently
swinging, come in between the grand
movements of the stars and the quick vi-
brations of musical instruments, and,
though so near, compared with the stars,
and so slow, compared with musical instru-
ments, that we can easily follow their move-
ments; in fact, looking at the slow-moving
pendulums swinging the harmonies is like
looking through a microscope at vibrating
strings and seeing all the mysteries of their
motions, which are far too rapid for the
unaided eye. By attaching a pen, and mak-
ing it portray these movements, we have
the pendulograph.
Goldbeck's Piano Recital.
ONE OF THE FEATURES OF THE SILVER LAKE
ASSEMBLY.
N. Y., July 26th.—(Special
to The Journal).—Robert Goldbeck,
the composer and pianist, gave the
first of his summer recitals last evening
before an enthusiastic audience of over
three thousand people, who made the vast
auditorium ring with their hearty applause.
It was the most • successful recital ever
given in the auditorium, as heretofore the
pianos used were not sufficiently resonant
to fill the large building, and the audiences
were small because only those in the front
seats could hear. The success of Mr. Gold-
beck's recital was largely due to the Kim-
ball grand piano, which he used, and the
pure tone of which was as plainly heard in
the rear as in the front row. It is certainly
a wonderful 'instrument, and the fact of the
management securing such an instrument
and thus enabling every part of the audi-
ence to enjoy the concerts, will bring out
larger numbers than have ever before at-
tended. Mr. Goldbeck is to be congratu-
lated on the success of his first appearance,
and the management are to be congratulated
on securing such a piano as the Kimball,
without which half of the enjoyment would
be lost.—The Syracuse Daily Jotirna^New
York, July 27th.
S
ILVER LAKE,
WORK has been commenced on the new
power house for the Steger and Singer
piano factories at Columbia Heights, Chi-
cago.
S. S. STEWART'S Banjo and Guitar
Journal for August and September con-
tains many features of interest to musi-
cians. Both literary and musically it is up
to the standard. A very attractive supple-
ment in colors of a "Thoroughbred Banjo,"
which is used by A. A. Marland, the cele-
brated banjoist, accompanies this number.
GEO. H. SHARP has opened a store for the
sale of pianos and organs at Springfield,
Mass.