Music Trade Review

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THE
THE MAKING OF GUT STRINGS
Armour & Co. Now Making Musical Instru-
ment Strings Which Win the Favor of Lead-
ing Musicians—H. O. Gable's Important Work
CHICAGO, III., April 9.—It has been stated on fre-
quent occasions, partly in jest and partly as
proof of efficient methods, that the only thing
the great packers of this city could not turn
to profitable accourft in the handling of the va-
rious animals was the sound of the voices. As
a matter of fact, in the packing houses by-
product after by-product has followed in rapid
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
back into the United States and sold at a profit
there should be real money in making such
strings right in this country. The executives
of the company were impressed with the idea
and the first strings were turned out from the
Armour plant in July, 1912. The rapid expan-
sion of the string department at the Armour
works is the best proof of the success of the
venture.
Under federal rules all inedible products must
be removed from packing rooms and treated in
separate departments in plants such as Armour
& Co. As soon as sheep intestines are graded,
therefore, the narrows, which are about eight
yards in length, are sent to the string factory,
where they are thoroughly cleansed and chem-
ically treated, most of the work being of ne-
cessity done by hand.
After cleaning the gut is split evenly by be-
ing drawn over a small metal finger equipped
with a safety razor blade. A fine loop is then
tied at one end to facilitate handling in the
further processes, and care is taken to keep
separate the rough side, that next to the fat in
the live animal, from the smooth, or outside.
The split strands then go through a machine
which looks like a washtub, equipped with many
wringers, to remove all impurities. They are
then scraped with a rough, knife-like instru-
ment and then chemically treated to remove all
impurities. It takes from twelve to sixteen
days from the time the raw material leaves the
animal until it is ready for use in strings.
From four to sixteen of the small strands are
twisted together by special machinery under
the direction of expert workmen in order to
make one complete string for the market. The
strings are then dyed where a special color is
desired, dried for from two to six days, and
finally polished to meet the requirements of
the trade.
At the present time Armour & Co. are mak-
ing in their string factory strings for violin,
'cello, double bass, harp, banjo, ukulele, viola,
guitar, snare drum and tennis rackets. They
also make clock cords, loom gut and surgical
ligature.
H. O. Gable
succession, thereby eliminating waste to a won-
derful degree and in so far as possible keeping
down the price of meats.
In handling sheep and searching for some
means for realizing on the portions of the car-
cass usually considered waste, Armour & Co.
discovered a market for the entrails of the sheep
by supplying the rough material to European
manufacturers of gut strings. This happened
some time ago.
In January, 1912, however, H. O. Gable, a
young man in the employ of Armour & Co.,
THE DOCTOR'S OPPORTUNITY
reached the conclusion that if the sheep en-
trails could be dried, shipped to Europe and
Green—"That fellow who plays the cornet is
manufactured into strings, and then shipped ill."
Jones—"Do you think he will recover?"
.Green—"I'm afraid not. The doctor who is
attending him lives next door."—Music News.
RUNQ
T H E OLDEST AND
LARGEST MUSICAL
MERCHANDISE HOUSE
IN AMERICA
Exclusively Wholesale
351-53FOURTH AYE. NEWYORKCITY
Victor Distributor's
"Exclusively
Wholesale "
PEARL MUSICAL STRING CO.
Commercial Bide, 8th and Chertnut Street*,
Chicago
AND
STEWART
Largest Wholesale
Musical Merchandise
House in America
Buegeleisen & Jacobson
113 University Place
NEW
YORK
PATENT ON ACCORDION
Chicago Inventor Devises Accordion With Key-
board Like a Piano
WASHINGTON, D. C, April 9.—Patent No.
1,221,026 was last week granted to Raffaele Car-
bonari, Chicago, 111., for an accordion, and has
for its object to improve a device of this char-
acter in such a manner that its keyboard will
be like that of a piano and thus enable one ac-
customed to playing a piano to play the accor-
dion without previous training.
In carrying out this object there is employed
a double keyboard, one at either side of the
accordion, each made up of piano keys so ar-
ranged that the bass notes will be accessible to
the left hand and the treble notes adjacent to
the right hand of the player, with their scales
running in opposite directions.
DRUM MAKER_PASSES AWAY
Franklin Clark, formerly of Granville, Mass.,
passed away at the home of his daughter in
Hartford, Conn., last week. Mr. Clark was for-
merly connected with the firm of Noble &
Cooley, being employed in the making of drums
there. He was eighty-nine years of age.
Consult the universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.
Musical Instrument
Strings
satisfy the most exacting buyers. Try
Helmet, II Trovatore and La Melodia
Violin Strings.
Send for a wholesale Musical String
and Accessory catalogue
OLIVER DITSON GO.
BOSTON, MASS.
Manufacturers
Importer* and Jobber* ot
MUSICAL
MERCHANDISE
ESTABLISHED 1834
Cincinnati
DURRO
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Attractive Specialties
Modern Service
MUSICAL
Merchandise
51
Armour & Company
Chicago
^
Black Diamond
Strings
THE WORLD'S BEST
Superior Quality Victor
MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS
Distributor*
National Musical String Co.
1108 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, P&.
New Brunswick, N. J.
Established over half • century