Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-04-15
THE CREMONA SECRET.
THE LONG HIDDEN MYSTERY OF
srRADVARius DISCOVERED
Breaking TO Pieces . $500 violin-Ths
Whole Secret Concealed In the Wood
Of Which tho Instrument
Was Made.
New York telegram

New fofk ic.cgran-!
The Cincinnati Courier, which is the Of.
fetal organ Of the College Of Music in tina,
city has recently published an interesting
statement IS to the discovery o. tbs long
lost secret Of making the C-eIn9aa violin
The statement is 10 tie effect that the secret
OF the sweetnas and power OF the Cretnona
lies in the wood OF which the violin Is made,
and that two violins have been made in
Cincinnati which in every respect are fully
eaua, u best specimens Of the work Of
Amati StraiiyaTius or any other OF the ceie-
brsted makers
! representative Of The Telegram who is
much interested IN the violin clipped tia ar
ticle from the Cincinnati PAPER and forwarded
il, with q short note, t. a violin coanoisseur
Of this city who prides himself upon as
valuable collection OF rare instruments as
can Le founi in the country 4 few DAYS
later the connoisssur wrote to this CORE
spondenr, requesting him to call and spend
an evening with him at his residence, near
Madison square
The article had Ieen carefully read and
conSidered by the enthusiastic collector
at is true statement in the maia,' said
be: but sioulI like 20 make an addition
10 it that mas prove intsre ting no: only to
have speculatsi upon it.
You know the professor of the violin in
the Cincinnati: College OF Musicl Well,
some years age he was head master OF the
violin school of the Lsipsic con servatory.
He had been long time among the enthu IL
astic searchers after the lost secret, and had
studied the various instrument, in his own
co.lec ton AMI in those of hi, friends with
the ASST luity Of monomaniac. One day he
made a proposition TO one OF his friends that
for the moment was astounding II was
that they should take Straiiyari,.s
to pieces After long deliberation and
ct the expense Of many tears and
heart pangs the two friends broke
up thu sweet-toned treasure whose
wonIrous voice would never glad len
mortal ear again; and the sweet sec ct was
theirs. 1t lay SIMPLY in the wood Of which
the instrument was made. 1t was tfat Of q
balsam pine that grew in Italy in former
days but had disappeared. On removing to
Cincinnati the professor fell in with an in
strument maker who had made a study OF
our American woods, aud who. on examin-
ing the jagged pieces OF the ruined S,radi-
varius, said at once: Why, this is American
wood; if not, We have something 50 nearly
like il that there is no difference between the
two This is Identical in weight texture,
and grain, with cur ba!sam pine, which
grows in abundance 70 the north Of US
We'll, 1t was not long before n requisitiou
was made upon the lani of tie north for a
subsection OF balSam pine tree. It was
carefully and tenierly sawn into slabs, and
these were cured with an earne { attention
that had never been bestowed upon pine
slabs befors-at least in this country Two
violins wers made in the lost style, and,
after having been tested, they were played
upon by the professor, in presence Of num-
Der OF the most critical connoisseurs in Gin.
cinnati, who had ample opportunity to COM
pare them with Ccemonas. The compari-
son resulted in the unanimous verdict of the
critics that the AmeTiran-made instruments
wero fully as -weet AMI pure in tone as the
Cremolss. but inferior in power This in
fer.ority, however, all believed, would b,
noticeable no longer when ths new ia,tru-
ments were a1vantassi by tiIno and use
The beautiful violin which The professor
persuaded hi, friend to destro- had a
market value OF So 3d. Bus what Is that
to the va!.s OF the discovery, which h. %
nobly n.lei his freai 70 maker
Up 20 this point tie writer had interjected
no remark to interrupt the flow OF bis
friends interesting talk.
"Blt,' said hs, "had no other efforts in the
same direction beau made 70 discover the
sscretg1
-Doz,ns,n said the c1nnois.eur. but there
has leen 40 sacrifice made. Il Is not every
violin l;ver who vii, destroy $500 hand
ful OF delight Just TO crafty frienl'=
fancy.