St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1883-07-21
Tarisio and the Cremonas.

At the beginning of this century, hid
den away in old Italian converts anc
wayside inns, lay the masterpieces 0.
the Amati, Stradivarius, Guarnerius anc
Bergonzi, almost unknown and little
valued. But Tarisio's eye was getting
cultivated. He was learning to knows
fiddle when he saw it. .sYour yiolino.
signior, requires mending?'' says the
itinerant peddler, as he salutes some
monk or padre known to be connected
with the sacristy or choir of Pisa, Flor.
ence, Milan. 81 can mend it, Out
comes the Stradivarius, with loose bar
or a split rib, and sounding abomina-
bly,. ..Dio mio!'' says Tarisio. % and all
the blessed saints, but your violino is in
!, bad way. My respected father is
prayed to try one that have. in perfect
and beautiful accord and repair, and
permit me to mend this Worn-out ma
chine And Tarisio, whipping shin.
ing, clean instrument out of his bag,
hands it to the monk, who eyes it
and is for trying it. He tries it;
it goes soft and sweet, though
not loud and wheeling. like
& the battered old Strad. Tarisio clutches
his treasure. The next day back comes
the peddler to the cloister, is shown up
to the padre, whom he finds scraping
away on his loan fiddle. But he
exclaims, "you have lent me a beauti-
full violino and in perfect order, = - : All!
it the father would accept from me a
small favor says the. cunning Tarisio.
s.:And4What is that?n ito. keep the
Violino that suits him so well, and will
take i'll exchange the old machine which
is worn out, but with my skill l shall
still make something of it!n A glass Of
good wine or a lemonade or black cof-
fee clinches the bargain. Off goes Ia
risio, having parted with character
less German fddle---sweet and easyggo-
ing and looking nice" and worth
now about. f5-in perfect order, no
sdoubt-and having secured one of those
gems OF Cremona which now run. into
the G20O. Violin-collecting became the
passion of Torisio's life. The story
has been told by Mr.. Charles Reade,
and all the fiddle world knows
how Tarisio came to Paris with
q batch of old instruments, and
was taken up by Chanot and Vuillaume,
through whose hands passed nearly
every one Of those chefs d'Uatvre recov-
cred by Tarisio in his wanderings, which
are now SO eagerly contended for by En-
glish and American millionaires, when
ever they happen to get into the mar
ket. l have heard of a mania for snuff
9boxes--it was old Lablaehe's hobby.
There are your china nlaniacs, and your
picture maniacs, and YOU. old-print
connoisseurs who only look at the mar
GIN, and your old book hunters who only
glance at the title-page and edition, and
your coin-collectors, and your gem-col-
lectors, who are always being taken in.
/ but for downright fanaticism and s.gone-
cooniness,n if I may invent the word,
commend me to your violin maniac. He
who once comes under that spell goes
down to the grave with a disordered
mind. Ihave sometimes attributed the
confusion of my own ideas to this
Hasgeis, III The Geastlenaa,s's INagasine
-,s----- ------ Sgss
- A writer in Gardening illustrated
uses thin gutta-percha in his grating
operations. Pieces about two inches
square are put in hot water and placed
around the graft. He likes it better
than the common mixture for the pnr'
nose. .-zEsRsyfz go lszYga FFE9s