The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-04
.poc1oRED" vIoLINs.
nsodsrn workrHsn urn Out Rare Old
instruments for Conneisseurs-

Modern WorkrAen urn Out Rare Old
instruments for conneisseurs-
From the Chicago Neles
-rhs case of Nahan Franko. who played
a., violin in Thomas orchestra, during the
-, summer season in Chicago. and VINO
has hsen sued for libel for charging New
York dealer in musical instruments WITH
-.,l;ng ssdoctoredn viollns, has attracted
sell.Hi5a-ahIe attention, and directed public
notice 70 the peculiar metnods OF VIOLIN
makers. .,..s, ,-;ol;rsT, q NAL,
,-.,.,n authority was asked yesterday.
- .Doctored' violinsF refectively. well,
sbereis a GOOD deal in IL, more, perhaps.
than is generally known. Many an owner
of violin who fondly believed himself to
Rl-gonzi or a Guerneri, if the truth were
tnoIn hugs deusion- His pet instru-
-,lant II its record were Investigated, would
-.-oge 70 ha the workmanship of some of
III clever imitators of the old m asters, who
Aourish in Mirecourt, in France.
Are such limitations common
~ will answer that by telling you what
know of an old dealer IN vloIns long since
5aad and whom will call Franz Echrain.
He was well known to the trade and to the
Trofession. too, for that matter, as cease
- buyer of fiddles. He bought and sold
averythiug that bore the shape OF fiddle,
from a double bass to a dancing masters
Kit To him the cahow youths resorted
wren they first began TO scrape. de would
set them up for IS and carry them up after
ward step by step to $50 or 500, and
to ren times that amount if they
we're rich enough and green enough
70 continue the process. He was genuine
bumbug at bottom, an everlasting
copyist and maker OF dead masters,
Italian. French and German. He sold
more Awaits in his day than the master
himself ever made during his career. He
knew the secret Of the old varnish. He had
hidden stores of old wood and worm-eaten
sounding-board OF defunct harpsichords and
reserves of close-grained pine boarded for
aces He bad a miniature printing press
and a font of the 1ean-faced. ong-forgetten
+vne and stock of the old-ribbed paper
torn from the fly-leaves of ANTIQUE folios.
OF course he had always on hand collec-
non of the most wonderful instruments at
the most wonderful prices for the profess
Sonal man or the connoisseur.
Have modern makers ever reachad the
skill of the old makersp
WJndoubtedly. There is an amateur
musician and a wonderfully skillful work
man in Brooklyn. Give him an old master
and he will reproduce its form, its proper
tions. and its thickness with such absolute
certainty that no difference can be detected
BY the incest mechani cal test, by sight. or
even by touch.
The old Cremana master came to the
front in 1850, and for two centuries, be-
ginning with Amati and ending with Ber>
gonzi, produced these famous instruments
which sell as high as $4,000. Modern vio-
i'm playing really dates from the invention
of Francis Lourte Of the improved violin
bow. The splendor of our playing, the
grand and beautiful phrasing of Paganini
his brilliant straccato and long-sweeping
legato are the direct consequences of the
Loutre bow in the latter part of the last
century"