Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-10-14
necessary, and the remains were inferred the
same day.
MIR. 7. MUNsON,s PIANO FACTORY.

4u ~ u W
Among the many articles upon the Indus
try of Burlington, which have occupied
our columns, one of the oldest, and most in
teresting branches of manufacture conducted
here has escaped mention. We allude to
the Piano factory of Mr.. JEHrEL MUNsoN.
and at some risk of shocking the modesty of
the proprietor by thus dragging his name
before the public, we proceed DIETER late
than never) to supply our omission. An en-
tire generation has passed, since Mr.. Munson
commenced the manufacture of Piano Fortes,
in a small shop on Muddy Brook in the
Eastern part of the town. In the course of
time he removed into the village, and he has
continued the business until the present
time. His mandatory in one sense has not
increased, Mr.. Munson remaining las at first,
the proprietor, foreman, and all hands, of
the establishment. But in the resources Of
his factory, in the variety and ingenuity of
the tools employed and in the excellence and
reputation of the article manufactured, it
has steldily increased, until now, when in
the opinion of good judges, Mr.. Munson's
pianos fully rival the best of the same size
and class, of the most noted manufacturers
in the country.
Many of the Pianos of Mr.. Munson's ear
lier make are still in service. They were al
ways remarkable for sweetness of tone, and
for uncommon durability. To these quail
tiles, he has added in later years, brilliancy
and power of tone, and an increased delicacy
and certainty of the movement. Constantly ex-
perimenting, sa tisfed with little or nothing
short of perfection, and allowing nothing to
20 from under his hands while he saw how
he could make 1t e:ter, of course constant
improvement has been the result. He has
perfected an improvement on the movement
which he believes, and we are not the ones to
gainsay his opinion, to be a decided improve
emnton the movements now in vogue. He
introduces also in his hammers, an improve
ment, the secret of which is known only to
himself, which increases all the good quail
tiles of the hammer, in a marked degree. He
makes every part of the instrument himself,
Except that of late years, he occasionally
buys the bare case of the instrument from
some other makers) and giving his own con-
scienticus finish to every part, the whole
when done, bears the same relation to the
work Of many of the wholesale city
manufacturers (whose pianos are hurried
out by piece work, and so may be bad or
may be good las it happens) that a handsome
dress coat Of WARDS does to the 'slop work
of a Chatham Street clothing store. We had
the pleasure, a few days since, of examining
the last triumph of Mr.. Munson's skill. 1t
was a beautiful rosewood six and three quar-
tiers octayes instrument, made for a Boston
lady, who was once a Burlington girl.
The brilliancy, power and sweetness Of
tone were surprising probably no instru-
ment of Mr.. Munson's manufacture ever sur
passed i it IN those respects-the d~elicacy OF
the movement was remarkable, allowing the
most rapid trills and repetitions of a single
note, with perfect precision, and the whole
appearance and finish showed a thoroughness
and good taste which left nothing to be de-
sired. We congratulate the fortunate owner
Of 50 fine an Instrument on her acquisition.
The piano trade of the country is a uery
extensive one, and the number of pianos
bought and sold in this place and vicinity,
IN the year, would surprise any one, not IA
miliar with the facts. Of course a large
portion of the demand has been, and will
continue to be, supplied by the well known
city houses. We believe that Mr.. Munson
has never found any difficulty in dlsposing
of his pianos as fast as he makes them but
ifsuch pianos as we have been describing can
be made in Burlington, we do not see WHY
much more extensive business might not be
built up here in the manufacture of them.
And we should be glad If the public appre-
citation and demand for Mr.. Munson's pianos
would compel him to very largely extend his
operations.