Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-10-05
A MOTH EATEN PIANO.
A TUNER TELLS QUEER STORIES
ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT.

The Damage Sometimes Done by Moths.
A Common Error Among Non-Profes-
sional Piano Players-Effects of Artif-
cial Heat-Out of Tune.
IA moth eaten pianoi Who ever heard of
such thingF
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, rattling 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-
dulity and amazement.
"a moth eaten piano Who ever heard of
such thingp
81 hear of it nearly every day. replied the
tuner, "and surprise at a moth eaten piano is
nothing new to me. There is nothing moths
piano Soft cloth, as you should know, is
used to no small degree in the delicate me-
| chanism of a 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 il
places
Abr said the tuner, Il thought sol Tht
damage is easily repaired; and now that yor
know the moths are here, they can bt
quickly and easily eIterminated The bes
way to keep moths out of a piano is to dus
it thoroughly inside with large feathe,
duster not less than once week Your in
strument is somewhat out of tune, | see
madam
''ImpossibleI" exclaimed the owner of tn
instrument. at has been in use but thre
months, and good piano should certainl!
remain in tune year"
"A common error among non-professiona
piano players" replied the tuner at i
really surprising to note the ignorance tina
prevails in regard to this popular instrument
The principal object of the best piano maker
Is to have their instruments stand in tun
we'll Unless they succeed in that, the qua
ity of tone or beauty of finish they impair
to them will be of only superficial value
But even pianos bearing the names of fa
= nous makers are disappointing in this mos
7 important respect. There are good reason
! for it. Look, for moment, at the way tn
musical part of piano is made. The stet
pins that hold the wires are driven into
solid block of wood, and in order that thi
wood may retain a firm hold of the pin
and yet admit of them being tuned by tt
tuners hammer, not only are great care an
, skill necessary in the fitting of them, but
is absolutely requisite that the wood formin
the pin block should be of the very best Sc;
soned material. Outdoor seasoning is Il
only method by which this wood may
perfectly cured, no matter what the XII
driers say to the contrary. Outdoor seasoI
ing requires long time and the keeping c
hand of immense stocks by the nianufac
urer, representing an investment OF tho
sands and thousands of dollars. There a
not many manufacturers who can afford
keep so much capital lying idle, and they a
obliged, even if they preferred to do othe
4. wise. to use the kiln dried wood in the
pianos.
: HEAT FROM A FURNACE
''To the coming into use of kiln drying
due the great increase in the number
:, ,; - = . SOW -, IT,