Scan 23
Musical Courier 1892-09-14: Vol 25 Iss 655, 1892
62 lines. Read by computer on 19 September 2026. Printed page 24. See the scan on archive.org.
1BOSTON TRADE.
3BOSTON OFFICE MUSICAL COURIER,
432 WEST STREET,
5BOSTON, September 10, 1892.
7IT will be rather singular if among the music trade there be not some Union veteran of the late war who will remember an incident which occurred in the old tobacco shed, No. 2, of the Richmond prisons, and associated with the prisoners taken by the Confederacy at the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861.
9The incident was not of national importance, but it is a question if any occurrence connected with the long imprisonment of the Union soldiers in this special prison pen was fraught with more interest to the unfortunate men than the reconstruction of an old violin, which meant to them many an hour of relief from ennui and discontent.
11The story is about like this:
13The corporal of the guard over these prisoners in a specially generous frame of mind brought in to them one day an old violin, or, more properly speaking, the pieces of an old violin, for they consisted of the back, rim, neck and scroll only, and intimated that if they could fix it up they might have some music.
15It so happened that these pieces came into the hands of prisoner Wm. B. Ryan, now an employee of Elias Howe, the violin dealer of Boston, who was a practical violin maker, and being without tools or material the reconstruction of this old fiddle seemed hopeless. Nevertheless it was worth working on, if for nothing more than to kill time and to interest the other fellows.
17The first consideration, of course, was some material for the belly, fingerboard, tail piece and pegs.
19The ceiling of the old tobacco shed was of pine, and there was no doubt but that it was thoroughly seasoned.
21A board from this ceiling wide enough for the top was ripped off, and, although an inch thick or thereabouts, it was the material needed, and had it been a foot thick instead it would have been just as eagerly accepted, although it was known that the labor necessary to work it with a jack knife to the proper thickness would be immense.
23Mr. Ryan was a mechanic and had a fine pocket knife in good condition, which was the only available tool to be obtained, but with this the work progressed, and it is worth a good deal to hear him relate how, day after day, the men hung about, watching with the keenest interest his every movement as he deftly shaped the top and fitted it to the rim, fashioned the tail piece, finger board and pegs.
25In the meantime, with curiosity and interest about equally blended, the corporal of the guard, who had given the pieces, watched the proceedings, and at the time when it was impossible to proceed for the want of further material utterly beyond the reach of the prisoners, showed his appreciation of their ingenuity and perseverance and aided them by procuring glue, strings and a bow. And now as the work reached completion the impatience of the poor fellows was almost pitiful.
27The glue was applied and the top placed on and tied as firmly as possible with every vestige of string that could be collected among the men. Next the finger board was treated likewise, the tail piece secured, strings and bridge placed, and now they crowded around eager for the first tone. What would it be like?
29The A string is gradually tightened; it sounded clear and strong. The E was pulled up. "All right, boys! It's going to work." Now the D and G are tuned and the bow applied for the fine tuning. And with what a yell they greeted the "Irish Washerwoman," "Money Musk," "The Devil's Dream" and similar melodies, as, thoroughly delighted with the outcome of his labors, Mr. Ryan drew from the curiously made instrument these old and familiar pieces! And how they double shuffled and jigged and reeled! Nothing was ever seen like it.
31The prisoners were transferred and finally exchanged and the violin came North with Mr. Ryan.
33It happened that it was placed upon exhibition among a collection of curios long after the war, and two veterans passing the place one of them stopped and, after looking an instant, exclaimed with much excitement:
35"I know that old fiddle! I know that old fiddle!" and sure enough he was one of the prisoners in that old tobacco shed and his memory was yet keen to all of the circumstances connected with it.
37This violin is yet in the possession of Mr. Ryan, a priceless souvenir, and he takes much pleasure in showing it and recounting its history.
39On the subject of violins some exceedingly delightful music was produced from this instrument by Mr. J. C. White, of Syracuse, who used a bow of his own construction with the hair slack enough to pass over the strings with the stick under the back, the object being to get a pressure of the bow on all strings at the same time. By so doing, and with accuracy in double stopping, the four parts of a melody were played, and by using a mute it produced a reed tone very like a cabinet organ.
41This mode of playing is by no means new, as it was said of Ole Bull that by loosening the frog of the bow and holding it with a pressure of the finger a sufficient distance from the end of the stick to give the slack necessary, would use it in a similar manner with the same effect.
43An interview was had with some of the music publishers who have recently returned from Europe regarding the feasibility of establishing branch houses abroad.
45Since the establishment of the international copyright law the American publisher has endeavored to obtain from the foreign composers the American right to their compositions.
47More especially has this been the case with the well-known composers of what is classed as popular music. They have succeeded only in a limited sense, from the fact that in almost every instance the composers—until made popular by the co-operation of a publisher, who at first took chances on a certain composition—were obscure, and had no standing as composers.
49They are therefore under obligations to this publisher to continue with him as long as all arrangements are satisfactory, and when approached by the American publisher would invariably seek the one who had made them popular for advice, which would be naturally adverse to the American publisher.
51To obviate this impediment the American publishers believe that by establishing a foreign branch they can more successfully compete with the English publisher for this class of music.
53This is all very well, and the result may be satisfactory, but the fact is that there is probably not a single composer of the class of music so eagerly sought after by the American but who is under the strongest written obligations to submit all of his compositions to his publishers first.
55This practically bars any outsider from the present number of composers.
57Another point. It is customary for the English publisher to advance a royalty of—in American money—$250 to $300 and more to the composer at the time the piece is accepted, before even the first copy has been sold, a consideration the American publisher might feel disinclined to accept.
59It was the opinion of one of the members of the largest publishing houses that the only correct course for the American publisher to pursue was to act in co-operation with the English publishers, and acquire through them the American right.
61It would have to be a matter of co-operation, for the simultaneous copyrighting in both countries is, under the present law, obligatory, and a failure to comply with this
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