HARDWOOD RECORD 



■nhieli will seem rather odd to people who 

 know that the sounding-boards of pianos, 

 violins, guitars, mandolins, harps, etc., are 

 made of that wood. The explanation is that 

 the soundboard of a pipe organ is not really 

 a sonnding or resonant board at all, but sim- 

 ply the superstructure upon which all the 

 pipes are placed. Birch or maple may be 

 chosen because of their strength, as the sound- 

 board bears the brunt of the weight of the 

 pipes. The soundboard is so named because 

 it contains grooves that carry the wind to the 

 pipes from the windchest, providing the 

 proper valve is opened. 



The windchest in any organ is a large-sized 

 affair, and is of birch or maple like the 

 soundboard. The windchest in an organ of 

 medium size recently examined was sixteen 

 feet high, twelve feet across the front and 

 six feet from front to back, with a thick- 

 ness of about one inch, so that this one por- 

 tion of an organ alone consumes considerable 

 hardwood. The bellows is also usualiy of 

 hardwood. 



Valves, when not of metal, are usually of 

 some soft timber. The wood used for stops 

 is immaterial, but in exceptionally fine in- 

 struments the value of the stop as a part of 

 the decorative scheme is recognized, and 

 carved or pearl-inlaid teak or boxwood and 

 other ornamental woods may be employed. 

 The black keys in the several keyboards or 

 "manuals" are ebony. Much more of this 

 wood is used than in pianos, for the number 

 of manuals ranges from one to five or more. 

 The reed organ is no longer as popular as 

 formerly. In farmers' homes, where it once 

 held an undisputed position, it is being super- 

 seded by the piano, as the farmer grows pros- 

 perous and better informed as to "city 

 ways ' ' ; while in the small church it is yield- 

 ing place to the pipe organ. There may still 

 be perhaps one organ manufactured to every 

 five pianos, but certainly the proportion is 

 not any greater. 



It is a mistake to suppose that reed organs 

 are cheaply constructed. While this may be 

 said of some, the average organ is well made 

 — must be so, in order to compete at all with 

 the piano, which is so rapidly displacing it. 

 Eeed organs are seen in handsome cases 

 of mahogany, walnut or oak, and there is 

 a good deal of solid work about the finer 

 instruments, on account of the cases con- 

 taining so many small pieces that it would 

 be more expensive to veneer than to put in 

 solid. The cheaper ones are solid oak, walnut 

 of the less expensive grades, or walnut finish, 

 probably on a poplar base. Gum is much 

 used for cases by some makers. The variety 

 utilized takes on a reddish-brown finish and 

 has a grain' similar to that of mahogany. 

 The late W. W. KimbaU of the piano house 

 of that name, had great faith in gum as a 

 timber for reed organ eases, and ordered a 

 large part of the interior decorating in Kim- 

 ball Hall, the company's Chicago office build- 

 ing, done in this wood. His faith is shared 

 by Curtis N. Kimball, now president of the 

 concern, who showed the writer about the 



oflSces and spoke highly of its use in some of 

 their organs. 



The interior mechanism of the reed organ 

 is mostly of poplar and pine. The sound- 

 board is of spruce. It is above the reeds and 

 contains air-cavities that have much to do 

 with the tone quality of various notes. Bel- 

 lows are generally of poplar, several ply, to 

 give strength and prevent warping. The 

 action of the reed organ is very simple and 

 amounts to little more than this: When a 

 stop is drawn and a key depressed a valve is 

 opened, and wind passing through causes 

 the reed to vibrate. Wood action parts are 

 of poplar or pine, or botU. 



American reed organs are of three kinds 

 as to exterior appearance: The kind gener- 

 ally found in the home of the farmer or pious 

 workingman is known as the ' ' parlor ' ' organ. 

 It is distinguished by a cabinet top, which 

 has nothing whatever to do with the tone, but 

 js fitted out with shelves for music, lamps, 

 vases, etc., and a "French beveled plate 



glass mirror, ' ' to aid in the purposes of the 

 toUet, thus combining utOity with artistic (?) 

 merit. Eeed organs in general, and these 

 in particular, are elaborately carved, but ex- 

 cept in the best instruments hand work is not 

 usual. The chapel organ is the kind used 

 in churches, and its chief outward differ- 

 ence, as compared with the parlor variety, is 

 the lack of the cabinet top. The third style 

 is the piano case organ, which is practically 

 identical in appearance with the piano and 

 may have as many octaves. There is usually 

 more carving than the piano case shows, and 

 mahogany and rosewood finishes are com- 

 mon. 



Eeed organs are almost entirely of wood. 

 The chief metal part is the reeds themselves, 

 which are of brass. The reed organ of 

 Great Britain and the continent of Europe 

 is known as the harmonium, and differs from 

 the American type mainly jn the direction 

 of the wind current. 



Charles Klauber. 



'BilVs Coup d'Etat. 



Last fall when Bill Badcr was night watch- 

 man at the Ducktown lumber mill, and car- 

 ried on his vocation mth a lantern, he showed 

 that he had inherited some presence of mind 

 from his ancestors. 



yard to say unpleasant things to said thun- 

 der; also to see that it didn't vibrate some 

 of the property and shake it down. But be- 

 fore he had .iourneyed very far several bolts 

 of lightning and plenty of rain landed on the 

 estate. One bolt hit the dry kiln, in which 

 was stored some hardwood flooring, interior 

 finish enough to fit out an Orthodox church 

 and a carload of oak planks. 



This surprised Bill a good deal, and for a 

 minute he was undecided whether to call for 

 the fire department or the tinners: If the 



BILL BADER GOING TO THE FIRE. 



It was one midnight early in September. 

 Bill was feeding his countenance from a bas- 

 ket of victuals his second wife had put up, 

 and was using the engine room as a buffet. 

 While he was busy masticating a thunder 

 storm came up from the horizon and made a 

 dreadful din and commotion, souring the 

 cream as he was about to pour it into his 

 coffee. 



This naturally made him feel mean and, 

 picking up his lantern, he went out into the 



stuff was burning it should be the former; 

 if the roof of the kiln were leaking and spoil- 

 ing the seasoned material, the latter. As he 



