Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-23
THE JEWSHARP.
Aeew FACTS OF INTEREST TO THE
AVERAGE SMALL BOY.
A Man Who Works Exclusively at the
Manufacture of the YoungSteTs' De-
Mght-How Really Fine Instru-
ments Are Made.
New York Mail and ExrreSSl


Tsuppose that the majority of people do
not consider a jewsharp as worthy OF being
classified as a 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 a gentleman who has
little shop over on the west side. and is
engaged exclusively in the manufacture of
jewsharpS
Il only make harps OF the best quality
40 continued "and have been engaged in
the business for over forty years, thirty-fve
OF which have spent in this country. My
father and brother were in the business be-
fore me, and are now at work at the old
trade in Belfast, Ireland. make every one
OF my instruments by hand, and never have
an assistant, because the art Is one OF which
only q very few possess the secret As
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 | make a yearl 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. suppose l could I'm
ish on an average six or eight tirSt-class in
strumentS In a day. and perhaps twice or
thrse times as many Of the less expensive
ones The lowest price which | charge for
a harp is Is cents and the highest 81 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 it is
usually made of iron, which is afterward
timed have all my frames cast aud
timed at foundry and then finish them
up here"
Then it is not so easy to make fine
toned jewsharpT
Certainly not 1t requires great deal
of experience to be able to make a harp
that will produce a true musical tone The
making aud fitting Of the tongue are the
hardest work. have my little portable
forge here, and manufacture the steel
tongues myself The eige Of the tongue
must be made perfectly straight and filed
in q particular manner, so as to produce the
smoothest vibrations, and then the inner
edge OF the frame must be made to corrs-
spond with the edges Of the tongue The
without coming in contact with it sthe bet
ter -ill 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. / can
not play wall myself, or | would show you
some of the effects wh.cs might be pro-
duced-"
TONE AND VOLUME.
Are the harps tuned to any particular
pitch, so as to be used with other instru-
mentsF
mo, / do not take the trouble to pitch
them unless they are ordered that way. 1t
is easy enough, however, TO do this by
shortening or lsngthsning 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
havs 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 very fine instrument
IL made with polished iron frame, a little
heavier than the cheap grsdes, which are
usually only sold for toys The additional
weight OF the frames gives more solidity TO
its tones The penny harps are made by
unskilled workmen, and are of very little
value as musical instruments"
Most Of the harps are made for out-of-
town trade, and a large number are sent
west every year For the last two years
business has been very dull. and it seems as
il iewsharp playing was waning in popular
ity. In Ireland and Scotland the instru-
ment is very popular, especially among the
Scotch, who take about two-thirds of all the
iswsharps made in Belfast The finer class
OF goods are usually made wit silver-tippsd
stsms, but this does not make any difference
in the tone, the richness and volume OF
which depended entirely on the workman
ship and the delicacy with which the tongue
is sd justed to the frame. The only uuls
about q jewsharp is that it is not q very
durable instrument, for after a years use
the tone usually becomes dull and loses the
ciearness of its vibrations. II can easily be
retained, however, by refitting the tongue,
and large number Of instruments are re-
ceived every year 20 be repaired