HARDWOOD RECORD 



before they do any damage 

 ditional pound of cure. 



worth tlie tra- 



Grate bars should fit a furnace close enough 

 to prevent the fuel from dropping through, 

 but not close enough to bind when they ex- 

 pand with the heat of firing. The writer saw 

 a boiler front pushed out a half inch from 

 having to force a set of new bars in a place 

 that was just half an inch too short for 



them; also unless there is room for expan- 

 sion sideways as well the bars are apt to give 



trouble. 



A manhole guard or dog is a small item 

 in cost, and it is a good idea to have an 

 extra one or more around the boiler room. 

 One can never tell when they will be needed, 

 and they are needed badly when one of them 

 breaks. H. C. Haner, 



Hilo, Hawaii. 



Stringed Instruments and 

 Woodwinds." 



f€ 



The violin is the most popular of small 

 instruments, and forms one of the great trin- 

 ity of solo instruments, the piano and the 

 pipe organ making up the number. The 

 power which this little instrument possesses 

 for delighting the ear and moving the emo- 

 tions is astonishing in view of the fact that 

 it is not complex as to materials and man- 

 ner of manufacture. Violins are not made to 



any considerable extent in the United States, 

 being mostly imported from Europe. 



The chief center of violin manufacture at 

 the present time is a small section of Ger- 

 many and Austria in the vicinity of Mark- 

 neukirchen, which is a great market for small 

 musical instruments. Violins, violoncellos 

 and double basses are there manufactured by 



peasant labor, employees working in their 

 own homes and accepting wages which rele- 

 gate them to pauperdom, and place the inde- 

 pendent American workman out of the run- 

 ning. 



There is no essential difference between the 

 \-iolin, cello and double bass as regards the 

 materials employed, all being instruments 

 of the same kind but varying as to size and 

 compass. Violin bodies are made up of two 

 woods — spruce for the front and maple for 

 the back and sides. Maple is chosen for its 

 strength; spruce for the entire body would 

 not do; it would provide too weak a struc- 

 ture and, what is worse, would produce a 

 flabby tone. Its resonance, however, makes 

 it invaluable for the upper side of the body, 

 and we are told it was used by the great 

 Italian makers of the seventeenth and eight- 

 eenth century. Violin bodies are "bellied," 

 that is, raised above the sides or "ribs," 

 and there is considerable variation among 

 different models in respect to this feature, 

 inasmuch as opinions differ as to what de- 

 gree of elevation produces the best tone. The 

 front and the back consist of a single piece 

 each, while the ribs are composed of six 

 pieces. 



The varnishing is an item of great import- 

 ance in the making of a violin. It is the 

 condition of the varnish, as compared with 

 that of other violins, that gives to old in- 

 struments — the Stradivarius, Guarnerius, etc. 

 — their enormous commercial value. The var- 

 nish adds to the resonance; but this is a 

 matter of interest to the varnish maker, not 

 the lumberman. 



The bridge is of maple, as also are the 

 "necks" or handles. Ebony or ebonized 

 hardwood is utilized for the fingerboard, tail- 

 piece, pegs and other trimmings. Hard rub- 

 ber appears to be the most popular material 

 for the chin-rest, but ebony is also employed 

 here. 



Bows, says a local violin authority, are 

 usually made of Brazil or Pernambuco wood, 

 and catalogues of violin houses seem to bear 

 out the statement. It is probable, neverthe- 

 less, that this is merely a name given to the 

 wood by lumber importers, who are not par- 



ticularly interested in botany. Brazil and 

 Pernambuco, as I understand it, are woods 

 used in making dyestuffs. The bow timber is 

 probably Brazilian lancewood, which would be 

 likely to have the needed characteristics of 

 elasticity and strength, and snakewood from 

 other localities is sometimes used. 



The "frog," or black piece near the han- 

 dle end, is of ebony; there is also much 

 mother-of-pearl, silver and leather used. 

 "Catgut" strings aren't catgut at all; they 

 are sheepgut; but this fact is of only pass- 

 ing interest to the lumberman. 



The mandolin is a rather complex instru- 

 ment in its relation to the cabinetmaker's 

 art. The making of the shell or curved por- 

 tion of the body is an interesting process as 

 view'ed in the mandolin and guitar depart- 

 ment of a large factory. Bosewood, mahog- 

 any and whitewood are the chief timbers em- 

 ployed. These are assembled in strips and in 

 various combinations. The strips are bent 

 by the aid of appliances especially manu- 

 factured for the purpose. Alternating strips 

 of rosewood and whitewood, or mahogany and 



THE M.w .l.\, A < I 



MENT KKu.M Till-; l'.\ ItlNETM-VKERS' 

 STANDPOINT. 



whitewood, make a beautiful shell. Another 

 very handsome type is made of strips of rose- 

 wood or mahogany inlaid with otlier very 

 thin wood. Mandolin tops are of spruce, 

 often with expensive wood inlays around the 

 edges and a tortoise shell shield, or 

 celluloid imitation, below the sound-hole. It 

 is said that rosewood shells produce the best 

 tone, though the reason cannot be given. 



^ 



m 



THE FLUTE, ONE OF THE "WoODW 



