Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-03-26
RAE OLDEST PIANO.
An Interesting Relic In an, Old Man.,o
In the Ancient Town Of Salem.

An Interesting Relic In an Old Man.,,,
in the Ancient Town Of Salem.
For at least a century and a half tho
town of Salem has stood, a vcritab]e
.old curiosity shop" TO the American
people. Its weird traditions took roo,
and domicile much earlier, but were
not valued at par until time had given
the sure appreciation. 1t is doubtless
supposed at present that research has
| obtained it's final victory, and that ..old
Salem is before the public in complete
undress.
The present research leads into an
old Salem dwelling, not an "ancicntN
house, nor Il structure yelled in any ro.
| mantle mystery, but genuine museum
of rare commercial trophies of the old.
time trading ventures when Salem and
Salem ships were known wherever
Yankee enterprise could find a wharf,
| a landing or q market. There may be
| a good many such houses in Salem. AT
| any rate this is one of them. On its
| exterior it is a massive, unpretentious
old mansion, built SO long ago that the
work was done 'pon HONOR and vet
not long enough in lang sync to admit
it into the category of ancient houses.
1t is not more than a century old, and
a century in Salem gives nothinga
! respectable age.
One ofthe notwithstanding articles in
| the house, which is the old Rogers
home, is the old piano, which is quite
likely the oldest musical instrument of
the kind in the United States, which is
49, ca T>L, SEn-,r%o,.tS ~c a..
first American piano, which was
brought out in Salem according to more
than one c%hronicler, would not have
cared to have the fact generally known
that he spent hour after hour at different
times studying the Rogers piano and
that he copied all of its essential points.
This venerable instrument is a surpris-
ing revelation to those who ponder on
the ..strides" made in the manufacture
of piano-fortes in this country. This
musical relic of 'sye olden time" is
a pretty convincing bit of testimony to
the fact that there have been no aston
ishing improvements in pianos for a
| hundred years. The essentials of the
modern splendid piano are I'LL in that
old instrument, and its notes arc still
surprisingly excellent. while the
''action' is almost a marvel of mcchan-
ical achievement, when the rcmotcness
of the production is taken into account. |
The case is a costly one, fillcts of rare
inlaid work profusely diversifying3
the beautiful rosewood and mahogany,
while tho keys, though varying slightly /
from the present pattern, are about asa
good as those now standard. In sized
this instrument is in no wise to be CONF
pared with the modern piano. 1t is sol
diminutivc that its real excellence isl
obscured. 1t is &c inches long, 23M
inches wide and 80 inches high. Its3
legs, six in number, are as slim and
of the shape rs those ola stand or smallN
table. The legs are square, tapcring%
10 the bottom, Slightly beaded. Foura
of the legs are on the front of the
piano. At each end, underneath the
piano proper, are small music closets
with doors opening to the front, while5
still nearer the player and underneath
are shelves with gracefully rounded
corners. just above the legs hand
some brass rosettes are set upon thej
body of the instrument. There areI
two pedals, n being used to prolong1
the notes. and the other serving III
double purpose. One of it's uses is toJ
increase the volume of sound somewhat
by lifting q section of the top of thcI
piano or lid near the front. The other
use Of this pedal is to produce an imi-
tation of the firing of cannon, in thisl
case a slam-bang operation, as the play-l
er suddenly lifts the section of the topi
referred to and us suddenly lets it fall.
Boston Herald.