The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-11-17
MUSIC BOXES.
The Places and Process, of Their Manufacture
LATE 1MrRovEMENTs.-ExTE OF THE
TRADE.
From the SCIENTIFIC Amerlcau.

tanS factories elsewhere. The greater par
OF those made in Sainte Croix are sold IN
der the name of Geneva boxes, trusting tc
the name to give greater prestige, as Sainte
Croix is seldom visited by travellers, al
though fully .equalling Geneva in the manu-
facture. Sainre Croix is also noted for the
} manufacture of fine gold and silver
watches, and many of them are sold in
Geneva under the name of Geneva watches
An erroneous impression exists that Gen
eva music boxes are much superior to all
others; but the truth is that both good and
bad are made in Geneva, and the same
may be said of Sainte Croix; but fact in
| favor OF the latter place ls that the cost of
living being less than in Geneva, wages in
Sainte Croix are in proportion, and equal
| ly excellent Instruments can be manufact-
ured there at less cost.
The most important factory at Sainte
| Croix is that of G. Paillard 81 Co., who
| make q many boxes as all the other manu-
| facturers combined, and of superior quail
| ty. la this factory there are now employ
| ed about 900 expert artisans, aided by all
modern improvements, in epecial tools and
machinery. Were it not for the advantages
they derive from a division of labor-the
firm employing separate set of workmen
excl usively in the production of each part
of tbs mechanism-it would be impossible
to have these Instruments made 30 perfect
y at prices SO moderate; for the prices can
not justly be termed high when the i'm
intricate work is taken into consideration.
One great expense in this business is the
changing of airs in the boxes, discarding
such as nave become tiresome, and substi-
tutlng the latest and most popular as fast
as they appear. However, the standard aifs,
which are always popular, such as "Home,
Sweet Home, "The Last Rose of Summer"
etc, are always retained. They now send
these Instruments throughout the entire
world, their greatest markets ranking in
the following order England, the United
States, France, Germany, Russia. The in
struments play the favorite airs of each
country to which they are sent.
A musical box consists of brass roller
With projecting points q steel comb, the
teeth of which give the sounds; spring,
to give the revolving motion to the cylin-
ders, and tlywheel or fan, to regulate the
revolving motion. The rough parts, in
Guiding the bed plate, the blank roller,
the handspring, the comb tempered but
not tuned), the running gear, etc., are
made in large machine chops and furnished
TO all the box manufacturers. The music
has first to be arranged for the BOX by
thorough musical artists. The cylinder is
then given to person, generally 4 woman,
who, with the cid of the music and a very
ingenious machine, marks the places on |
the cylinder where the points are to be |
inserted. Another person then drills all |
the little holes, and eti!i another inserts the |
molten cement, placed On q lathe and re- |
volved very quickly. The cement adheres |
to the inside surface, holding the points, |
and is then allowed to cool, leaving hole |
in the centre for the axis. On another ma
chine the points are filed down, 30 as to be |
of equal length. During this time the |
comb is given out to be tuned, the tuner |
having first to file the teeth, to give the I
proper tiexibility. The tone is lowered by |
filing near the base, and sharpened by |
filing near the point. The cylinder is then
set on the bed plate, and, opposite, the
COMB must be screwed TO the bad plate. |
This last operation demands great accu-
racy, 60 that the point of the cylinder and |
the teeth of the comb will exactly meet.
the instrument is now placed on another
machine, which divides the bars in the
same way as the original machine for
marking, ana q person, usually woman,
will then, according to the music, bend the
points of the cylinder slightly forward in
erder to secure more strength, but more
especially to make the chords drop stimuli
taneously, and cause the runs or roulades
to be played evenly. All the parts are
then polished, and the box is finally given
to man who regulates the dampe-s and
revlses all the parts. There are also some
htteeH or twenty minor parts, which would
require too much technicality to explain to
the general reader. Size increases both
volume and richness of tone. A cylinder
eight, ten OF twelve airs well, but of course,
Will play six or eight airs better aud with
more sweetness and harmony than a great
or number. The reason of this is that
more points on cylinder and more teeth |
on comb can be used for fewer airs. If a |
box plays twelve airs the teeth in the |
COMB will be twice as far apart as if it |
played only six airs. The space between |
the teeth increases with the number of
airs. If the diameter of the cylinder be
Increased. the airs will, of course, be pro- |
loDged. The man ufacture of large and |
small musical boxes does not differ very |
materially in method.
At the beginning of the present century
the best boxes played only one or two airs |
and boxes which then sold for S25 now sell |
for So. The bells, drums and cast .nets have
oeen made for musical boxes for the past
forty years, but originally were placed un-
derneath and hidden from view; they are
now placed in sight, and produce a very
pretty effect. The celestial voices, which
require bellows aad reeds, were fret placed