HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



moth proportions — larger than any other in 

 America, and possibly in the entire world, 

 though one in Sidney, Australia, may be its 

 equal. A large instrument in the Shadyside 

 Presbyterian Church, Pittsburg, measures 

 about sixty feet in length and thirty feet 

 from the floor, on which it rests, to the top 

 of the tallest pipe, its depth being propor- 

 tional. On the other hand, a small pipe 

 organ may be less than ten feet high, some- 

 thing like six feet, wide and four feet deep. 

 Excellent material is always employed. The 



this ease particularly so, because of its sub- 

 dued tone; the dull finish is very popular. 

 In many private houses the pipe organ, es- 

 pecially the automatic variety, frequently 

 holds the place of honor among the house- 

 hold accessories, and considerable magnifi- 

 cence in the way of carving is often shown, 

 as in the handsomest organs for churches and 

 halls. 



The Pittsburg instrument mentioned above 

 is an example of elaborate and costly carv- 

 ing. There are no less than twenty-eight 



magnificence that is attained in private 

 houses. The sides and top resemble a mantel 

 of intricate decoration, while the legs are 

 sculptured in the form of cherubs. 



At the foot of the key-desk of the pipe 

 organ, directly beneath the organist 's bench, 

 are the pedals or pedal keys, which the un- 

 initiated might think have a function similar 

 to the piano pedal, but which in reality are 

 keys to pipes that form the general bass of 

 the organ. The long keys are equivalent to 

 the white keys of the piano or organ key- 



exterior cabinet work on an organ is an inch 

 or an inch and a quarter thick throughout, 

 while pillars, cornices and mouldings may 

 attain a depth of four inches or more. There 

 is a great deal of solid material in the cabinet 

 work, but a poplar base, veneered with the 

 conventional hardwoods, is the regulation 

 thing for many parts. The veneers and solid 

 pieces may be of oak, walnut or mahogany, 

 or of other wood when the popular white 

 and gold is the decorative scheme. Oak is, 

 of course, a favored timber always, and in 



columns in the casework, and each one has 

 an elaborate capital. Some of the cornices 

 and columns are heavily carved their entire 

 length. A handsome arch surmounts the key- 

 desk, as the organist 's place is called, carved 

 eagles crown two of the pillars, while a num- 

 ber of medallions containing ecclesiastical de- 

 signs and the paneling everywhere in evi- 

 dence make what even this slight description 

 will show to be an organ of decided archi- 

 tectural beauty. A key-desk in a home in 

 Chicago may be cited as a sample of the 



board and are made of maple, oak, or some- 

 times, as in the older instruments, with maple 

 top and base of some other wood. The short, 

 "black keys" may be real black ebony, an 

 ebonized wood, or walnut. 



Some of the pipes are of wood and some 

 of metal, depending on the quality of tone 

 desired. Wooden pipes are of various kinds. 

 There is considerable spruce used, its reso- 

 nant quality making it invaluable for some 

 purposes. The so-called soundboard is never 

 of spruce, but of birch or maple, a fact 



