The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-02-22
Aoueer Story.

Harry P. Cain. the leader of the G. r.
L. Serenading Club, and q violinist Of
some note, has recently come into pos
session of q rare treasure. Il is nothing
less than q violin made Of wood that
grew before the flood. Some forty years
ago workmen engaged in digging mill
race through the farm owned by Daniel
Bulla, northeast of J. R. Preston's resi-
dence, discovered at n depth of six or
eight feet below the surface the trunk Of
tree in good state Of preservation.
1t was lying across the line of the race,
and they had to cut out q piece Of it sew
eral feet long before they counld go on
with their work. Geologists say that
the country around Richmond was once
covered with water in which huge ice
bergs fioated. or that immense glaciers
like those of the Swiss Alps traversed it.
The course Of the ice from north to
south can still be traced by grooves on
the bedrock. The gravel that under
lies the soil is supposed to be the debris
that was carried down by the ice. Traces
of organic matter, such rs wood and
grasses, lying on the hard-pan below the
gravel, indicate that there was vege-
tation older than the gravel banks, and
some profess to believe that the frozen
H8lCI IQ8l CONCIcl lllc Aan4 ~ NkAal tAAAAO
was part Of the flood mentioned in the
Bible. Whether it was or not, it GER
tainly occurred. many thousand years
ago, and the tree, which the stratifica-
ton Of the gravel showed TO have been
deposited when 1t was, must have rested
there ages ago. It was coniferous, but
none Of the woodchoppers 10 whom it
was shown, and none Of the persons who
have seen 1t since. have been able to tell
what variety it was. The nearest kins-
man to Il that now grows in our forests
is the red cedar. The wood was care
fully laid away, and was shown rs .
curiosity. One day Edward Parks, \
collector. who has supplied the cabinets
and museums of Richmond with some
of their finest specimens, heard Of 1t,
and went to see it. Before he came
back be had induced its owner to part
with It. Mr.. Parks is an enthusiastic
musician, rs well as q collector and anna
teur geologist. and the idea occurred to
him that the wood possessed all the re-
quisites for making fine violin. 1t was
light and porous. the grain was coarse,
and the cells were large. Putting it un-
der his arm, he went around to A. B.
Clark, who was engaged in repairing .
Cremona that was captured In the siege
of Mexico by Prof. Barnes's father.
Clark was delighted. It was the very
thing. He made models of the old
Cremona, and in the course Of three
months had given the finishing touches
to the new violin. The belly was Of the
old antediluvian wood. and the back and
neck of wavy maple, cut in Pennsylvania
fifty years ago, and RATED down the Ohio
to Cincinnad. and carried on TO Dayton
for an old cabinet maker who was never
able to use it. The figure of the old in
strument was followed exactly. and
when the new one was finished it was
an exact fac simile Of those built by
Stradivarius. When the bow was drawn
across it the two connoissuers went into
ecstasies of delight The glue was barely
set and the vxrnish was still green, but
when they played the room was filed
with the richest, sweetest melody.
There was an absence of the thick, raw
quality that marks new violin. The
notes came out sharp and clear, and
when the lower strings were set vibrat-
ing they gave ont rich, mellow music,
that reminded them of the violins Of
Amati and Guarnerius- - Richmond Va J
Palladium.