The morning call., 1892-05-18
The CARE OF A PIANO.
Points About Keeping the Instrumel
i'm Good Condition.

Points About Keeping the Instrument
in Good Condition.
" Tie care Of piano must be begun the
moment the piann enters your house." a
piano-maker said. and 70 be effective !.
calls for the employment of some good COM
nonsense. II it be an upright piano. do
not stand it close to the wall, unless you
prefer to have the tone mufied. 1t viii
sound best across the corner Of a room.
Keep piano IN the winter in the coolest
part of the room, not exposed. Of course,
TO frost or dampness. The hot sun, partlc-
ulaTly when shining on the piano through
glass, Will sometimes blister the yarnsh.
Neither is it good to keep the instrument
in a dark part Of the room. as the ivory keys
are more likely to grow yellow and there is
also greater danger OF moths
Nine times out of ten the buZZing or
singing noises that are so frequently heard
are outside of the piano. Il may be the
mica in the stove, or a hanging lamp near
by, OF an easel on the piano, or a score OF
other things whose keynOteS Yibrate IN
sympathy with the tones of the instrument.
In the horizontal piano small particles, such
as pins. beads, etc, frequently ind their
way into the sounding board and cause
great annoyance
The most serious injuries that befall
pianos are usually the result of temper
ature; either it Is too dry or too damp.
j.
but the extremes or hot air or moisture do
more harm than all the tuners alive From
careful observation ii is sale to say that 80
per cent Of the piano in cold ATTITUDES have
after tile first year, one or more cracks in
their sounding boards. II your house is
heated by stoves put the instrument In a
room without a stOve-in one that is heated
from an adjoining room. If you have steam
or furnace or any OF the other modern
methods of heating, your piano VIII do
better If kept IN a room that Is not quite
warm enough for comfort
You know the sounding bOard-the life
OF piau0-iS forced into the case when il
is made so tightly that it buiges up in the
center. The wood is supposed to be as dry
Is possible. but OF course ii contains some
moisture and gathers q lot more on damp
days and in handling. Now, when you
put piano in an OveTheated dry room all
this moisture is dried out, and the board
gets habby, and finally cracks. Even if it
does not crack the tone loses its resonance
and grows thin and tinny, and the felt cloth
and leather used in the action dry up, the
whole mechanism rattles. and the piano Is
blamed.
How can you preventit? Easily enough.
Keep a growing plant in the room, and as
long as Your plant thrves your piano ought
10, OF else there is something wrong with
1t. just try ii, and see how much more
water you will have 10 pour on the flower
IN the room where your piano IS than on the
plants in any other room.
Every one has observed. after purchasing
new piano, that il soon takes on a dull
smoky appearance. To remove this, use
fine sponge, tepid water and CASTLE soap.
Go over the case little at time. The
water alone, without the soap, will usually
be all that is needed. A chamOis skin. as
dry as can be wruDg out Of water, should
be used to dry the surface after using the
sponge. For old pianos a polish of raw
linseed oil two parts, alcohol and best
vinegar (one part EACH may be applied with
good results if care be taken to use a very
little at a time and TO thoroughly rub that
LITTLE o+f-Navy Xorly Sun