The examiner., 1882-02-04
Organs and Organ Grinders.

A New York manufacturer of hand
 organs has been giving some informa
 ton to reporter. "Yes," he said, il
 reply to a. question, ''the organs yor
 see ln the streets are generally rented
 and do not belong to the people who
 play them. There are five or six large
 places in the city where any number o1
 organs can be rented, besides number
 of smaller places, where only one o1
 two organs are kept for hire. There is
 one place in Mott street and two in
 Mulberry street, both within a block ot police headquarters. There is another
 Tn Crosby street, and still another, the
 largest place of the kind, in Bleeckel
 street. In the Bleecker street place
 fifteen or eighteen organs are kept, and
 on fair day they are generally all in
 use. No, the people who keep these
 places do not buy their organs from us.
 They are generally old organ grinders
 themselves, and know about what an
 instrument is worth. They watch their
 chances till they find man with an
 organ who is in need of money and lend
 him BIO or s15, taking his instrument for security. Nine times out of ten the
 borrower is not able to repay the loan, and the capitalist keeps the organ. | When he gets enough instruments to start in business he rents them out by the day. The rent he gets depends very much upon the organ and the number and character of the tunes it plays. The customer has something to do with 1t, too. For instance, if man has possession of a good corner, where he can take in two and three dollars a day, he has to pay higher rent for an organ than a man who goes wherever he can find 8 chance. An organ in good condition, playing ten popular tune7, will sometimes rent for as much as one dollar 8 day. From this the rent comes down as low as ten cents a day. A regular professional organ grinder who is known can generally rent an instrument without any trouble. But new hand who is not known has to give security for the safe return of the instrument Women have fancy for sick organs, and they generally rent for about twenty-five cents day.'
 "Sick organs ?''
 "That is some of the slang of the trade. The squeaky little music boxes you often see melancholy-looking women playing on the street corners we call sick organs. They are not out of tune, or even worn out, as they seem to be, but are often quite new. They are made with e-away tunes to excite sympathy. A woman with one of these sick organs, Q half-starved baby and a sorrowful countenanco is sure to make a good living"
 "How many organs arc there in the city? It is impossible to say. We have made nearly 2,00O here in this fac tory, but they go all over the country, though they were nearly all made for New York men. The organ-grinders have regular routes, many of them just like theatrical company. But there is this difference, instead of going East and West, they travel North and South, so as to be in the North in the summer and the South in the winter. They do 1t is slow work. But they play all a hoase, and are sure of making their organ grinder can make in the city merchant can make He may take in $5 and strikes a streak of luck. On the OIhSI udIO AS HdT uOb SSb AdIl A OO1ldI, work as hard as he will.
 "The cost? Itall depends. Do you see that big fellow in the corner? That IS saloon organ and belongs in Hous- ton street. They got tired of the old tunes and want new set. I made that organ five years ago and got S2 200 for it. Prices have come down about ten per cent. since then, and could make the same organ now for trife less than $2,O00. It is just as good to-day as when it was made. In the ordinary barrel organs we charge $4 8 tune for putting in new tunes. And we have had great deal of changing to do in the last year, getting rid of the 'J'ina- fore airs. There was 8 great run on them at one time, but they are no use now and have to come out. A common organ weighs about twenty-five pounds, aud is worth, to make, from $lGO to $135, according to the number of tunes it plays. A parlor organ, with rom twenty five to forty-six keys, costs from $l50 to $200. What we call side show organ," to initiate brass band, has sixty keys, thirty-fve brass trum- pets, large and small drums and tri- angles, and generally plays nine tunes. It is worth $2, 500"
 A