Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-03-14
THE FIRST VIOLIN
Made OF Antediiuvian Wood, and Played
in Rich hmOnd, Ind.

From the Richmond (Ind.) PailadiumI
Harry P. Cain, the leader of the G.
r. L. Serenading Club, and violinist
of some note, has recently come into
possession of rare treasure. 1t is moth
ing less than violin made of wood that
grew before the food. Some forty years
ago workmen engaged In digging small
mill-race through the farm owned by
Daniel Bu1la, northeast OF j. r. Pres
tons residence, discovered, at depth OF
six or eight feet beneath the surface, the
trunk of tree in good state of preser-
walton. 1t was lying across the line OF
the race, and they had to cut out piece
of it several feet long before they could
go on with their work. Biologists say
that the country around Richmond was
once covered with water in which huge
icebergs foated, or that immense gla-
ciers like those of the Swiss Alps trav-
ersed it. The course of the ice from
north to south can still be traced by
grooves on the bedrock. The gravel that
underlies the soil is supposed to be the
debris that was carried down by the ice.
Traces of organic matter, such as wood
and grasses, lying on the hardpan below
the gravel, indicate that there was a
vegetation older than the gravel banks,
and some profess to believe that the
frozen water that covered the land at
that time was a part of the flood men
toned in the Bible. Whether it was
or not, it certainly occurred many thou
sand years ago, and the tree, which the
stratifcation of the gravel showed to
have been deposited when it was, must
have rested there ages ago. 1t was con-
ferrous, but none of the woodchoppers
to whom it was shown, and none of the
persons who have seen it since, have
been able to tell what variety it was.
The nearest kinsman to it that now
grows in our forests is the red cedar.
The wood was carefully laid away, and
was shown as a curiosity. One day
Edward Parks, collector who has sup
piled the cabinets and museums of
Richmond with some of their finest
specimens, heard of it, and went to see
it. Before he came back he had induced
its owners to part with it. Mr.. Parks is
an enthusiastic musician, as well as
collector and amateur geologist, and the
idea occurred to him that the wood pos
sessed all the requisites for making a
fine violin. It was light and porous, the
grain was coarse, and the cells were
large. Putting it under his arm, he
went around to A. B. Clark, who was
engaged in repairing Cremona that
was captured in the siege of Mexico by
Professor Barnes father. Clark was de-
lighted. 1t was the very thing. He had
models of the old Cremona, and in the
course of three months he 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 Cincinnati and
carried on to Dayton for an old cabinet
maker who was never able to use it.
The figure of the old instrument was
followed exactly, and when the new one
was finished it was an exact fac sinsile
of those built by Stradivarius. When
the bow was drawn across it the two
connoisseurs went into ecstacies of de-
light. The glue was barely set, and the
varnish was still green. but when they
played the room was filled with The rich.
est, sweetest melody. There was an alb
scence of the thick, raw quality that
marks a new violin The notes came
out sharp and clear, and when the lower
strings were set vibrating they gave out
rich, mellow music, that reminded them
of the violins of Amati and Guarnerius