The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-16
The BIG DRUM.


The Noise IL is to Make--An Interesting Ac-
count OF II.
Boston always has an eye for massiveness. She
is not to be beaten in the vastness of her nstru-
ments even though the tone is faulty. If we
did not live in an age of wonders, one would be
inclined to look upon this description of the
Boston big drum as gross exaggeration, just
such one as Dean Swift was capable of origi-
mating. The New York Post says of it,
Among the wonders of the Peace Jubilee at
Boston, not the least remarkable is the huge
drum which has been constructed especially for
the occasion. 1t Is not claiming too much to
affirm that it is the largest instrument of the
kind ever seen in the world. 1t has been built
in accordance with the latest discoveries in the
science OF acoustics and Yankee ingenuity has
been taxed, not in vain, as will be seen, to
bring it to the highest point of perfection.
The great desderatum was to provide an in
strument which should act as complement
or sort of musical balance-wheel for the vast
ocean or forest of sound or any other
figure of sufficient amplitude, to convey
the idea of noise adequate or supplementary
to the great chorus of three thousand voices,
besides wind and other instruments To
achieve this result the leading musicians, instru-
ment makers, philosophers and patrons and de-
votees of art generally in Boston were called
into requisition. Among the persons in consul
tation it is sufficient to mention the names of
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Professor Elliott of
Harvard, Professor Gilmore, Bronson Alcott,
and r. w. Emerson. After anxious deliberation
and careful experiments, the result is embodied
in the huge drum, which, as we have stated, will
be the wonder of wonders of the grand musical
celebration of the age.
We can only give an outline of this musical
monstrosity:-It is one hundred feet long, five
hundred feet in diameter, and has an area of
about two and half acres of sheepslIin on the
sides. The sheepskins, to the number of
seventeen thousand, have been delicately but
firmly pasted together according to newly
discovered process by clever Connecticut
mechanic, which will be patented The drum
sticks are large as the masts of a first-class
clipper ship, and will be operated by ma
chinery, somewhat as follows:-A sort of derrick
or pedestal has been erected on each side of the
huge drum, with machinery on the pivot prin-
ciple for the drumsticks to work in, The lever
age of the latter will be light and the mechani-
cal resistance has been reduced to the lowest
practicable point. Only ten men with ropes
will be required to work each drumstick. These
men, Of course, will be accomplished musicians,
and will be under the control of director, who
will also be guided by Professor Gilmore, the
Grand Director.
The machinery of the ponderous drumsticks
will be almost entirely concealed from the
audience. The derricks will be furnished with
platforms or seats, which will accommodate $50
performers. The rest of the machinery will be
covered by American flags artistically arranged.
At first it was intended to accommodate the
entire orchestra upon benches and platforms
arranged on alternate tiers of the front section
OF the drum. But IL was found tlat the many
scaffoldings required would interfere with the
musical notes of the drum. 1t was also appre-
hended that the tremendous conclusion of sound
would jar the musicians, and probably unseat
them This part of the programme was there
fore reluctantly left out.
But the drum as it stands will be a monument
worthy of Boston. 1t is so large that it is cal
culated five hundred persons could be COM
fortably dined in the interior. AS for the sound,
it is expected that some of the deeper notes will
be heard Mt distance of fifty miles. Indeed bets
have been offered that with humid atmosphere,
and the wind in the right direction, the drum
will be heard in New York say at the top of
Trinity steeple, on Mount Washington, or on
Brooklyn Heights, those places being elevated
above the din of the city. 1t was contemplated
in Boston at one time to send request to the
New York authorities to suspend business, or at
least transportation, in our city for couple of
hours, in order to enable our population to par
ticipate, far possible, in the luxuries of the
Jubilee. But the transmission of the sound de-
pended upon so many contingencies of the
weather, that the project was finally abandoned.
As matters now stand, New Workers who de-
sire to hear the great drum must go to Boston,
or at least to New Haven, Hartford, or Provi-
dence, II. /.
In order to avoid dangerous effects from the
sudden bursting forth of so vast volume Of
sound, notice will be given in Boston half an
hour in advance of the playing of the drum.
The city fire and church bells will sound gene
raj alarm, as a signal for delicate women, chill
dren, and persons of weak nerves generally, to
prepare for the occasion.