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THE MUSIC TRADE KEV1EW.
Gerstner. A felt tire is not a bad idea. It
emphasizes a sort of union between the
bicycle and the piano.
* *
T
HE Metropolitan Museum of Art was
thrown open to the public for the season
last Saturday morning. On the preceding-
evening the annual spring reception and
thirtieth semi-annual exhibition was held.
A number of well-known people attended
the reception and expressed pleasure and
delight with the many objects which have
been added to the museum.
To the department of musical instru-
ments about 460 additions have been made
from the Crosbey-Brown collection. There
is one of the earliest pianos, a Bartholo-
maeus Christophori of 1720; a very old up-
right harpsichord, a vina or sort of stringed
instrument from India, and a "Ben" Frank-
lin harmonica, a foot-power instrument,
which produces sound by the touch of the
moistened fingers to revolving glass bowls.
Large additions have recently been made
to the departments devoted to sculpture
and painting. The Museum is well worthy
a visit from all interested in the Arts.
* *
*
It will be interesting news to felt manu-
facturers to learn that a Brooklyn man has
invented what he thinks is an improvement
in bicycle tires—interesting because his tire
is of felt, which, he says cannot be injured
in the least by puncturing. The inventor
is August Gerstner, who has this to say of
his new ideas in tires: "My invention re-
lates to an improvement in wheel tires in
which a flexible outer casing or tread is
supported by a filling of elastic material.
"The filling which I propose to employ
is felt, like that commonly employed in
piano actions, and is preferably made in
one continuous bar, having a cross section
in the form of a vertical section of the frus-
trum of a cone. This section is made of
such area w th respect to the size of the
casing as to require the compression of its
corners, in order to surround it by the cas-
ing. Thus compression at the corners be-
comes an important factor in the shape of
the tire and in the firmness with which it
resists lateral pressure, while admitting of
a very lively pressure in a radial direction.
"The particular means of securing the
casing around the filling is one of many
well-known means which may be employed,
and the casing itself may be of any well-
known or approved material, such as rub-
ber, leather or canvas.
"The tire, as thus constructed, is light
and resilient, and no harm comes to it from
receiving punctures from nails, pins or
other sharp-pointed articles, which at the
present time give such great annoyance."
Karl Fink should keep his eye on Mr.
Sir Arthur Sullivan has just confessed
that he does not always work with the
rapidity ascribed to him.
"When the
fever is on me, and the subject excites my
fancy, I can turn out four numbers in a '
day. On the other hand, I have spent a
week over a single song, setting it over and
over again until I felt the melody inter-
preted the story of the words. I have
thrown in the fire dozens of tunes that
might have been used as 'pot-boilers' and
sold to the music shops on the strength of
the popularity of my name. But into the
flames they went, and they never can rise
up against me. There was a song, 'The
Merryman and the Maid,' that gave me in-
finite trouble. I really believe I spent a
fortnight over that blessed jingle, and must
have set and reset it a dozen times before
I was content."
One of the institutions of Wall street is
known as the "banjo man." He is a young-
man of unobtrusive manners, who makes a
living by selling banjos to the bulls and
bears. The instruments in which he deals
are of pretty fair tone and quality, and his
own account of them, as I understood it,
was that they are manufactured by an
amateur maker, a friend of his. Whether
this is the case, or whether they come from
a wholesale establishment, is immaterial.
The foundation of his success as a salesman
consists in his own skill at playing the in-
strument. He will come into an office with
a banjo in his hand, and if the brokers and
their customers are i:> the humor to hear
him he will sit down and play like an
angel. In fact, to hear him perform at
once raises the spirit of imitation in the
breasts of those who listen to the wonder-
ful strains he evolves from the instrument.
It looks extremely easy, too, and it is a
poor day for our friend when he does not
manage to sell the instrument he has been
playing on to one of the party, although he
frequently succeeds in obtaining one or
more additional orders.
Few songs of recent years have achieved
such a popularity as that of "Tommy At-
kins," which was introduced by Mr. Hadyn
Coffin into the successful opera, "A Gaiety
Girl." The song, although not in the work
of Mr. Edward Jones, was incorporated
with the opera, and now forms part of it.
It is being sung in every part of the globe,
and it will undoubtedly be regarded as t i e
national anthem of the British army. Yet,
strange to say, this song, which during the
first year of its existence brought to the
publishers an income of some $30,000, or a
little over $500 a week, was purchased by
them for $6.
*
There is in the possession of H. Kleher
& Bro., the well-known dealers in musical
instruments,'an old-fashioned piano which
was formerly in the Booth family in Balti-
more. It is believed that on this instru-
ment J. Wilkes Booth frequently played.
The piano was recently obtained from Mrs.
F. H. Gallagher, of 1814 Middle street,
Sharpsburg. She is a Baltimore woman,
formerly well acquainted with the Booths,
and during the Civil War a member of a
family whose sympathies were with the
South.
The instrument is of the old square fash-
ion, the frame being of rosewood in good
preservation.
The makers were Boswell
& Co., Baltimore. This firm is not now in
existence, but Henry Kleber, who is a vet-
eran in the trade, remembers that there
was such a company of piano manufactur-
ers a quarter of a century ago.
The instrument is probably forty years
old. Its tone is strange to those acquainted
only with modern pianos. It has a jingling
sound, but is in good tune. The heavier
strings are of the twisted fashion. The
Klebers are willing to give the instrument
to the Carnegie Museum or other institu-
tion, where it might be prized. While in
their store it has been the object of great
curiosity.
Mrs.Gallagher gives the following story
of the piano:
"About three years before the war the
Booths lived on Front street, Baltimore,
near the old shot tower, in one of the most
memorable districts of the city.
There
was only one girl in the family. Her name
was Asa, and she was practicing on the
piano at that time. The Booths were quite
wealthy, and as the instrument, even at
that time, was somewhat out of date, they
decided to replace it with a new one.
My mother, Mrs. Jones, of Baltimore, pur-
chased the piano for me. I had just com-
menced to take lessons. In those days it
was believed that a beginner could make as
much progress on a second-hand piano as
on a new one. I do not believe that theory
holds now.
"The instrument is well preserved, with
the exception of the keys, which are much
worn. I hated to part with it, but as our
rooms here are much too small for a square
piano, and our daughter is rapidly develop-
ing into a good musician, I decided to dis-
pose of it for an upright piano."
The German Emperor wishes it distinct-
ly understood that he takes music seriously.
To demonstrate the fact that he has not
taken up the muse as a passing hobby he
frequently assumes the role of conductor—
that most arduous part of practical mu-
sicianship. When recently serenaded by
a band of the Uhlan Regiment during his
dinner, he rose from the table and put the
musicians right about their time, which he
declared to be too slow. Since that occa-
sion he has announced his intention of
writing a pamphlet on "How to Conduct
an Orchestra." Even the al fresco bands of
music that play about Berlin are not safe
from their Kaiser's critical ear, as he re-
peatedly sends the imperial servants out to
them with .requests that they tune their in-
struments and play in time.