522 ^^^<^ CaUiope. [November, 



Several years ago, Mr. Stoddard, a mechanic of Worcester, conceiv- 

 ed the idea that the bells, by the vibration of whose thin edges the 

 ' steam whistle ' is produced, could be so arranged as to render accu- 

 rately the 'diatonic scale,' in music; and after experimenting for 

 some time he succeeded in constructing a series of bells on which 

 the seven notes of the octave could be played by steam. 



The desideratum was now to produce a valve sufficiently delicate to 

 correspond with the touch of the performer on the keyboard of an 

 organ. 



This has finally been effected, and the inventor has taken out a 

 patent, not only for the application of steam to a series of musical 

 bells, but also for a new delicate ' valve ' for the admission of the 

 steam into the bells. 



The Calliope, then, as now exhibited, consists of a long series of 

 bells, varying in size and length according to the tone to be produced 

 and running through four or five octaves. 



The steam is admitted to these bells, by means of a long series of 

 corresponding tubes, inserted in a small cylinder connected with the 

 boiler. A small wire connects the valve in each tube with a key in a 

 'finger-board,' like that of a piano-forte or organ ; and this in a 

 steamboat may be placed in the ladies' cabin, while the bells themselves 

 are in a distant part of the boat. 



A full chord of eight notes may be struck at once, as upon the or- 

 gan ; and it is needless to say that the effect of such a combination 

 of musical tones is remarkably grand and sublime. Think of a 

 steamer with one of these ' mighty musicians ' on board, plowing its 

 way up the Mississippi, and waking those vast solitudes with its 

 trumpet breathings ! 



Upon the ocean, the Calliope can be heard for ten miles, discours- 

 ing the 'Star Spangled Banner' and 'Hail Columbia,' with accuracy. 

 The action of the valves is so nice and perfect that the quickest tunes, 

 as ' Fisher's Hornpipe,' 'Money Musk,' and 'Mary's Wedding,' can 

 be performed with ease, and all the accompanying parts distinctly 

 given. 



The ' Glencoe,' between New York and Albany, has one of these 

 instruments on board, and it is said the boat has doubled her number 

 of passengers by means of it. 



