Waco evening news. (Waco, Tex.) 1888-1889, 1888-10-19
A MOTH EATEN PIANO.
a TUNER TELLS QUEER STORIES
ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT.

| A Common Error Among Nop-Profes-
ciai Hcat-Out Of Tune.
"A moth eaten pianol Who ever heard Of
such n thingr'
Such was the exclamation the other day
Of well known young lady amateur pianist
Of this city to piano tuner, who had been
sent to her house by dealer of whom she
had purchased a costly instrument three
months before, and which, much to her
amazement, had developed series Of
wheezy, rafting responses to her touch on
several keys. The tuner had tried the
piano, and promptly gave her the surprising
information that the moths had been eating
it; whereupon her exclamation of incre-
iulity and amazement.
"a moth eaten pianol Who ever heard of
such thingf'
81 hear Of it nearly every day." replied the
tuner, land surprise at moth eaten piano is
nothing new to me. There is nothing moths
like better than to revel in the interior of a
piano Soft cloth, as you should know, is
used to no small degree in the delicate NC
chanism Of piano. 1t is placed wherever
there is liability Of contact between any Of
the numerous movable portions of the instru-
ment, in order to avoid the rattling noises
that would result from such contact. 1t is
on this cloth that moths love to feed, and the
ravenous pests are not long in eating it away
from some important spot and bringing
about the result the cloth was put there to
prevent Let us see if this is not the case
with your piano"
THE MISCHIEF MAKERS.
The tuner opened the instrument, uncov-
cred its maze of strings and pins and its rows
Of delicate hammers. Several piles of snowy
dust revealed the presence Of the destructive
moths They had eaten the cloth away in
places
"Ahl" said the tdf,er, 81 thought sol The
damage is easily repaired; and now that you
know tho moths are here. they can be
quickly and easily exterminated The best
way to keep moths out of piano is to dust
it thoroughly inside with a large feather
duster not less than once week. Your in
strument is somewhat out Of tune, ! see,
madam"
"Impossiblel" exclaimed the owner Of the
instrument. at has been in use but three
months, ard good piano should certainly
remain in tune year"
"A common error among non-professonal
piano players" replied the tuner st is
really surprising to note the ignorance that
prevails in regard to this popular instrument
The principal object of the best piano makers
is to have their instruments stand in tupe
we'll. Unless tley succeed in that, the quail
| ity of tone or beauty of finish they impart
to them will be of only superficial value
But even pianos bearing the names of ia
nous makers are disappointing in this most
important respect. There are good reasons
| for it. Look, for a moment, at the way the
musical part Of piano is made. The steel
pins that hold the wireV are driven into
| solid block Of wood, and in order that this
| wood may retain q firm hold Of the pins,
and yet admit Of them being tuned by the
tuners hammer, not only are great care and
skill necessary in the fitting Of them, but it
is absolutely requisite that the wood forming
the pin block should be Of the very best sea-
| soned material. Outdoor seasoning is the
only method by which this wood may be
perfectly cured, no matter what the kiln
driers say to the contrary. Outdoor season
ing requires long time and the keeping on
hand of immense stocks by the manufact-
urer, representing an investment Of thou
sands and thousands Of dollars. There are
not many manufacturers who can afford to
keep SO much capital lying idle, and they are
obliged, even if they preferred to do other.
wise, to use the kiln dried wood in their
pianos.
| HEAT FROM A FURNACE.
"To the coming into use Of kiln drying Is
due the great increase in the number Of
pianomakers during the past few years. The
artificial heat in parlors, especially If it IL
hot air from furnace, acts disastrously
upon this kiln dried pin board, and no piano
| containing one can be made to stay in tune
after three years use, because the wood
shrinks gradually, and the pins move in the
block from every hard blow on the wires.
As to the action Of furnace heat on pianos, it
Injuries even those Of the best makers 1t
warps the keys, loosens the hold of the great
number Of screws used in the wood, and
causes the keys to stick or rattle. thus sadly
affecting the action Of the instrument A
piano should be kept away from the direct
influence Of furnace heat as much as possible.
'In spite Of all the efforts Of the makers, !
do not believe there is one piano in a hundred
that, with ordinary parlor use, will stand in
tune more than two months An unskilled
musical ear, it is true, will fail to detect any
important discord in piano for six months,
or perhaps longer, but no cultivated ear can
tolerate the discordant notes that the best
piano will insist upon giving out after two
months Of use. When you think that the
steel wires and iron frames are alternately
contracting and expanding under the
variations Of the surrounding atmosphere,
| giving q constant movement Of tho wires
and O consequent change in the pitch anc
tone Of the instrument the impossibility Of
| piano maintaining perfect tone for any
length of time must be at once apparent; and
| II you will but reflect on the surprising fact
that the tension of the strings of piano