The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-11-25
TRADE In JEwsnARps.
Instruments Upon Which Experts Can Pre-
duce Any Melody.

suppose that the majority people
do not consider jewsharp as worthy of be-
ing classified as a musical instrument. But
then their experience has probably been
limited, and the only instruments they have
oyer heard are the penny jewsharps that
the boys on the street corners twang for
their amusement"
The speaker was John Andrews, who has
little shop over on the West side, and is
engaged exclusively in the manufacture of
jewsharps.
" only make harps of the best quality"
he continued, and have been engaged in
the business for over forty years, thirty-fiye
OF which have spent in this country. My
father and brother were in the business
before me, and are now at work at the old
trade in Belfast, Ireland. Imake every one
of my instruments by hand, and never have
an assistant, because the art is one of which
| only very few possess the secret As ]
know of only ons other manufacturer il
This city who makes the same kind of harps
you will SEQ that the demand for them il
not enormous. l do most of my work Oh
orders from music and toy stores down.
!own, and these keep me busy most of the
lime.
How many do make year2 Well,
,lat's rather hard question to answer, for
never keep track of them, but just work
along till get an order finished and then
tackle the next one. suppose l could
finish on an average six or eight first-class
instruments in day, and perhaps twice OF
three times as many of the less expensive
ones. The lowest price which 1 charge fol
a harp is Is cents and the highest 50. The
latter are made with German silver frames
and the tongue is of finer STEEL The frame,
however, does not have anything to do with
the musical tone of the instrument, and il
is usually made of iron, which is afterwards
timed" have all my frames cast an6
timed at foundry and then finish then
up here"
= Then it is not so easy to make fine
toned jewsharp ?"
Certainly not 1t requires n great deal
of experience to be able to make harp that
will produce q true musical tone. The
hiehiAiB oho hetihb VI tho tOhkuo uf6 tuc
hardest work. l have my little portable
forge here and manufacture the steel
tongues myself. The edge of the tongue
must be made perfectly straight and filed
in particular manner, SO as to produce the
smoothest vibrations, and then the inner
edges of the frame must be made to CORE
spond with the edges of the tongue. The
closer the frame is made to fit the tongue
without coming in contact with it, the bet
ter will be the quality of tone that can be
produced. With one of the best harps any
nobody can be reproduced accurately by
the performer, and q skillful player can get
more music out Of one of these little nstru-
ments than you would imagine. 1 cannot
play well myself, or I would show you
some of the effects which might be pro-
duced."
:" Are the harps tuned to any particular
pitch, SO as to be used with other instru-
ments 2"
No, 1 do not take the trouble to pitch
them unless they are ordered that way. II
is easy enough, however, to do this by
shortening or lengthening the stem at the
end of the tongue until the tone corresponds
with the note required. Some people can
play two harps at the same time, and when
pair is ordered for that purpose l always
have to give them the same pitch. Most of
the instruments of finer quality are made to
order, and, of course, have to make them
to suit my customers. A very fine instru-
ment is made with o polished iron frame, q
little heavier than the cheap grades, which
are usually only sold for toys. The add
tional weight of the frame gives more solidi.
ty to its tones. The penny harps are made
by unskilled workmen, and are of very little
value as musical Instruments"