Morning journal and courier., 1883-03-27
Making Fiddle Strings.
The Process Simple but Far From Easy SILK Imfta t1Ons and Foreign Strings.
 From the New York Sun.I

The Process Simple but Far From Easy SIX limitations and Foreign Strings. From the New York sun.I
 The name tseatgut, D as applied to the ani- mal-fbre strings used on musical instruments, is altogether misnomer. The cat is in no wise responsible for the string and, much as the fact is to be deplored, the manufacturers of such strings refuse to utilize cats for the supply of their material. That disposes of the last excuse for the existence of the cat Aminadab Sleek, amended to accuracy, should speak of ''they who scrape the hair of the horse upon the bowels of the lamb".not the ssbowels of the cat" Catgut is of no use to ybody but the cat hence no consideration of damage to valuable raw material need hereafter stay the hand that hurls the aveng- ing bootjack at the nocturnal serenader on the back fence. Violin, guitar and banjo strings, and in fact all sorts that come under the general head of 'tgut," are made from the entrails of lambs and cattle, from the delicate threads used for sewing racket ball covers up to the half inch thick round belts After & lamb is seven months old it's entrails are no longer fit for making strings for vio- lins consequently this branch of the manu- facture can only be carried on few months in each year. Whether it can or not is about to become matter of indifference as far as the industry in this country is concerned, for the only man who now carries it on says that he cannot,- without tariff protection, com pete with the cheap labor of Germany and France, and he is going to give it up. MT. Blumenthal, a leading importer, who has sought to build up this industry here. went before the rowing Tariff Commission to plead for duty on gut strings for musical instru- nnents, but did not succeed in having it rec commended. Some fourteen years ago there was duty of 35 per cent, but for dozen years there has not been any In that time number of Germans have come over and tried to start the manufacture. They could get their raw material cheaper here than in Europe, but the work admits of no mechani- cal aid, must be done wholly by skilled hand labor, and the men they could have hired for $3 per week in Germany or France they here had to pay $15 or $16 8 week to. That broke them. The importation of this class of strings into the United States amounts to more than $500, ,000 per annum- During the past year the home manufacture amounted only to $15, 900, and in the year before to $12,O ,OOO.
 s.Few people, ]" said Mir. Farmer, manu- facturer here, sshave any idea of the many uses to which gut strings are now put. They are used to hold up clock weights, for belt ing. for the lacing on lawn tennis and racket bats, for lacrosse scoops, for weaving fine whip covers, for sewing covers on balls, for iewslers' drills, and for a thousand things, suppose, that even do not know of. One downtown manufacturer uses from $7, GOO to $8, 900 per annum just for making lawn tennis, racket and battledere bats. Anglers leaders, or smells No, not at all, although most people have an idea that those are made Of gut. That material would never do for such purpose. It would get soft in the