Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-01-29
THE JEWSHARP.
A FEW FACTS OF INTEREST TO THE
AVERAGE SMALL SOY.
A Man Who Works Exclusively at the
Manufacture OF the Y0unssters' Do
light-How Really Fine Instru-
ments Arc Mado.
New York Mail and Express.l


-Isuppose that the ma ority Of people do
not consider jewsharp as worthy Of being
| classified as musical instrument But
| then their experience has probably been
limited, and the only jewsharps they have
| ever heard are the penny jewsharps that
the boys on the street corners twang for
their Amusement"
The speaker was gentleman who has q
little shop over on the west side. and is
| engaged exclusively in the manufacture Of
jewsharps
Il only make harps Of the best quality"
he continued, ~ard have been engaged in
the business for over forty years, thirty-five
OF which l have spent in this country. My
father and brother were in the bu ,iness be-
fore me, and are now at work at the old
trade in Belfast, Ireland. I make 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 I
know OF only one other manufacturer in this
city who makes the same kind of harps, you
will see that the demand for them is not
enormous. do most of my work on orders
from music and toy stores down town, and
these keep me busy most Of the time.
PRICE AND QUALITY.
How many do l make a yeari Well,
that's rather a 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. Isuppose l could fin
ish on an average six or eight irst-class in
struments in day. and perhaps twice or
three times as many of the less expensive
ones The lowest price which l charge for
harpis 10 cents and the highest e. The
latter are made with German silver frames,
IT.
however, does not have anything to do with
tn, musical tone of the instrument, and it is
usually made of iron. which is afterward
timed have all my frames cast and
timed at a foundry and then finish them
up here"
linen it Is not SO easy to make q fine
toned jewsharpar
Certainly not 1t requires great deal
of experience to be able to make . harp
that will produce a true musical tone The
making and fitting Of the tongue are the
hardest work. have my little portable
forge here, and manufacture the steel
tongues myself the edge Of the tongue
must be made perfectly straight and fled
in particular manner, so as to produce the
smoothest vibrations, and then the inner
edge 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
melody can be reproduced accurately by
the performers, and a skillful player can
get more music out Of one of these little in.
struments than you would imagine. l can
not play we'll myself, or would show you
some Of the effects which might be pro-
duced.n
TONE AND VOLUME,
Are the harps tunsi to any particular
pitch, so as to be usei with other instru-
mentsi'
mo, 1 do not take the trouble to pitch
them unless they ara ordered that way. Il
is easy enough, however. to do this by
shortening or lsnsthenins the stem at the
en1 Of the tongue until the tone corresponds
with the note required. Some people can
play two harps at the same time, and when
a pair is ordered for that purpose 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 instrument
is made with polished iron frame. little
heavier than the cheap grades, which are
usually only sold for toys The additional
weight Of the frames gives more soiidity to
its tones Tbs penny harps are made by
unskilled workmen, and are Of very little
value as musical Instruments"
Most of the harp5 are made for out-of-
town trade. and a large number are sent
west every year. Fur the last two years
business has been very dull. and it seems as
il jewsharp playing was waning in popular.
ity. In Ireland and Scotland the instru-
/. yaar.riar aSpacia1lv n