Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-04-24
THE OLDEST PIANO.
An Interesting Relic in an Ola Houso
in the Ancient Town of salem.

An Interesting Rciic III "A
in the Ancient Town OF >aiem'
For at least century and half the
town of Salem has stood. a veritabie
..old curiosity shop to the American
peopie. Its weird conditions took root
and domicile mitch earlier, but were not
valued at par until tine had given the
sure appreciation. 1t is doubtless sup
posed at present that research has OBJ
tanned its final victory. and that ''old
Salem is before the public in complete
undress.
The present research leads into an
old Salem dwelling, not all ''anelent =
house. nor a structure yelled in any ro-
mantle mystery, but a genuine museum
of rare commercial trophies of the old
time trading ventures when Salem and
Salem ships were known wherever Yam
kee enterprise could find wharf, a
landing. or a market. There may be q
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 yet
not long enough in lang syne to admit
il into the category of ancient houses.
1t is not more than a century old, and a
century in Salem gives nothing re
spectacle age.
One of the most interesting 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
now fit for use. The ..inyentor OF the
first American piano, which was brought
out in Salem according to more than
one chronicler, 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
ordered all of its essential points. This
venerable instrument is a surprising
revelation to those who ponder on the
"strides" made in the manufacture OF
| piano-fortes in this country. This mu-
steal relic of Eye olden time is pretty
convincing bit of testimony to the fact
that there has been no astonishing i'm
| provements in pianos for a hundred
wears. The essentials of the modern
splendid piano are all in that old instru-
ment, and its notes are still surprising
w excellent, while the faction" is al
most marvel of mechanical achieve.
ment, when the remoteness of the pro
duction is taken into account. The
case is a costly one, fillets of rare inlaid
work profusely diversity the beautiful
rosewood and mahogany, while the
keys, though varying slightly from the
present pattern are about as good al
those now standard. In. size this
instrument is in no wise to be compared
with the modern piano. 1t is so dimin
utive that its real excellence is OBJ
scured. 1t is &c inches long, %! inches
wide, and % inches high. Its legs, 81,
4 in number, are as slim and of the shape
L
legs are square, tapering TO the bottom,
slightly beaded. Four of the legs are
on the front of thepiano. At each end
underneath the piano proper. are small
music closets with doors opening to the
front, while still nearer the player ant
underneath are shelves with gracefully
rounded corners. just above the leg.
handsome brass rosettes are set upor
the body Of the Instrument. There ar,
two pedals, one being used to prolons
the notes, and the other serving Idou
BILE purpose : One of its uses is toin
crease the volume of sound somewha
by lifting a section of the top of thu
piano or lid near the front The otheI
use of this pedatis to produce an inlita
ton of the firing of cannon, in this cas-
slam-bang operation, as the playe1
suddenly lifts the section of the top re
ferred to and us suddenly lets it fall
Boston Herald.