MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS— THE ORGAN. 



645 



firms. But in the abstract the organs produced by the leading 

 makers approximate in most respects, all aiming after the same 

 artistic results. The most elaborate and costly organs, however, 

 come from the workshops of Mason & Hamlin, who deserve spe- 

 cial recognition for their untiring efforts to elevate the instru- 

 ment in artistic char- 

 acter and status. The 

 present head of the 

 firm, Mr. Edward Ma- 

 son, is a grandson of 

 Dr. Lowell Mason, 

 and a native of Bos- 

 ton, where he was 

 born in 1858. The 

 founders of the busi- 

 ness have all passed 

 away. 



There are many 

 other excellent organ- 

 makers in the United 

 States, some of whom 

 are better known in 

 Europe than in this 

 country, strange as it 

 may seem. The num- 

 ber of organs export- 

 ed annually is very 

 large, and of these 

 the West contributes 

 a goodly share. 



The manufacture 

 of reeds, keys, and 

 many other parts of 

 the instrument be- 

 came specialized as in 

 the case of the piano, 

 but not to such an ex 



tent The Munroe Reed Company was the most important of 

 these specialists, the others being largely associated with the 

 kindred industry of piano-making. 



Improvement in the organ since 1850 has been expressed in 

 the development of tone and case structure, as remarked, while 

 the chief patents taken out have been for mechanical contrivances 

 to cheapen production. Modern parlor organs represent consid- 

 erable intelligence and accumulated effort in their scope and char- 

 acter, many of the examples produced coming close to the smaller 



Fig. 



26. — Improved Model, with Two Manuals and Pedals 

 (capable of fine artistic effects). 



