Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
Popularity of the American Harp. mechanism fora disabled part; the plac- nobles, the fact should be kept clearly in
A MAGAZINE WRITER PAYS LYON & HEALY A
WELL-DESERVED COMPLIMENT.
A great and well-deserved tribute is
paid the harp of American manufacture
and Lyon & Healy in the Chautauquan,
by Forrest Crissey. He declares it is due
to Yankee ingenuity that the harp has
been rescued from oblivion, its imperfec-
tions corrected, and defects long regarded
as fundamental to harp construction have
been eliminated, thus liberating the in-
strument from the shackles which have
fettered it in the race for modern favor.
"Practically all important steps in
bringing the harp to its present high de-
gree of perfection are the fruits of Ameri-
can inventive genius," says Mr. Crissey,
" and it is a matter of national pride that
the royal orchestras of the Old World,
with few exceptions, have been compelled
to send to the great harp factory of Lyon
& Healy in Chicago for their instruments
of this character. This harp is universal-
ly recognized to contain features so dis-
tinctive and important as to mark an era
in the history of the instrument, making
possible its general iise in private and ama-
teur circles as in a professional way.
Those modern improvements, which are of
genuine historic moment and upon which
the . harp must depend for the future
eclipse of its former greatness and popu-
larity, are principally these: construction
upon a system of interchangeable parts,
making possible the immediate and con-
venient substitution of a new piece of
ing of each pedal rod inside a special tube,
thereby overcoming a general and trouble-
some tendency to rattling; the use of a
novel disk-screw for the sharpening and
flatting forks, by which each is easily ad-
justed independent of its octaves. The
best modern harps also have enlarged
soundboards, by which the volume of tone
is greatly increased and its quality im-
proved. The liability of the harp to de-
rangement of its intricate parts has long
been a terror to the performers upon this
instrument and has done much to prevent
its popularity, But this objection has
been effectually silenced, along with many
others, by the triumph of ' Yankee' in-
genuity.
"By a mechanism delicate as that of a
watch, the modern harp has been made
proof against these ' demons of discord '
so dreaded by the owners of less improved
instruments. . . . Other improvements
have so greatly lengthened the life of the
harp that the best instruments are good for
an active service of one hundred years.
These improvements have eliminated
from the profession of harp-playing an
element of great precariousness which pre-
vented many from entering it. The in-
strument is likely to increase in value in-
stead of to collapse at a moment best cal-
culated to inflict serious disaster of a pe-
cuniary and professional character upon
the artist by preventing the latter from
"filling profitable engagements."
In reviewing this splendid history of the
harp, and tracing its legal lines of descent
from the hands of kings, priests and
mind that in the height of its imperial
favor, the instrument did not approach in
quality, power, scope, and sweetness, the
product of the new-world factory; that the
improved modern harp is the most superb
representative of its long and regal line,
and that the makers of instruments lavish
upon this the highest quality of hand
workmanship at their command.
Packard Popularity.
The Ft. Wayne Organ Co. continue to
report the greatest activity in both piano
and organ departments of their business.
They are working their full force twelve
hours a day, and this in midsummer is a
convincing demonstration of the big de-
mand for their wares—it moreover
indicates a tremendous trade during the
fall season. Anyone acquainted with the
Packard pianos and organs will not be
surprised at their popularity.
Music Dealer in Trouble Again.
Newton, Kan., Aug. 8, 1898.
Frank Miller, the Halstead music dealer,
who attempted assault upon a little girl of
that city, is again in trouble. After his
crime he escaped from his tarring and
feathering experience and kidnapped his
little child at Wichita. His divorced wife
recovered the child through the courts,
and now Miller has taken it a second time,
a severe penitentiary offense. He is sup-
posed to be hiding somewhere in the
county.
Music on Your Own Terms
THE GRAPHOPHONE requires no skilled performer to play
it, and yet it will furnish any kind of music desired.
It is vastly
superior to other so-called talking machines, because on the
GRAPHOPHONE one can easily make records of his own music, song
or story, to be instantly reproduced.
Its performances are not
confined to the reproduction of specially prepared and stereotyped
subjects.
It is fascinating and marvelous as an entertainer
Music dealers will find the GRAPHOPHONE a great attraction in their
stores, and more than that, a most profitable addition to their stock.
Liberal terms offered to dealers; can be learned on application. .
Graphophones are Retailed at $10 and up*
Manufactured under the patents of Bell, Tainter, Edison and MacDonald.
Our establishment is manufacturing head-
quarters of the world for Talking Machines and Talking Machine Supplies.
Write for Catalogue M
Columbia Phonograph Company,
NEW YORK, 1155, 1157, 1159 Broadway.
PARIS, 34 Boulevard des Italiens.
CHICAGO, 211 State Street.
ST. LOUIS, 720-722 Olive Street.
Dept.
PHILADELPHIA, 1032 Chestnut Street.
WASHINGTON, 919 Pennsylvania Avenue.
BALTIMORE, 110 East Baltimore Street.
BUFFALO, 313 Main Street.