Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-11-12
FACTS ABOUT TnE sANlo.
How u Came tn Ne Developed from
calabash To IT. Present fern.


The swell negro minstrel was tuning
up banjo Of the most gorgeous descrip-
ton, elieiting a plaintive tinkle-tinkle
from the strings with the finger and
thumb Of one hand. while with the other
he manipulated the finger board from
fret to fret, and now and then screwed
one of the little ivory keys trihe
tighter. Ii was in his handsomely fur
nished apartment nj an uptown hotel
that he sat, humming snatches OF a new
popular song in an undertone while he
toyed with the instrument caressingly-
as well he might for it was a beauty. pre-
sented to him, doubtless, as a tribute to
his skill as professional troubadour by
some admirers.
The circular rim inclosing the head
itself disk Of shecpskin SO fine as to be
almost transparcnt-waso OF gold overland
upon wood, with brackets all around of
the same precious metal to hold the drum
taut; the finger board was deliberately in
laid and ornamented, and nothing seemed
omitted that could possibly add TO the
cost Of the tintinnabulatory contrivance.
For burnt cork art in these days is ex-
hibiting persistent tendency toward the
decorative. Counterfeit darkies, to graf
ify the stated public taste, must WELD the
tambourine and bones in Monte Cristo
dresses Of black satin and jewels, while
i little Lord Fauntleroy reclines gracefully
at the front of the stage, smuggling his
curls of best quality tow in the footlights,
with other things TO correspond.
"The banjo is decidedly better I'M
strument than it was fifteen years ago"
said the troubadour, sweeping the strings
To tuneful chords while he talked with
the writer. who was making him visit.
And the reason of it has chiefly to do
with the head and the strings. The
brackets are better made and more OF
them are used. so that the sheepskin is
kept tighter stretched. In the primitive
banjo as few as four brackets were en-
ployed, while this one, you see, has thirty.
Tap the drum with your knuckles and
observe how firm and resonant 1t is.
Now, too, the strings are made thinner
and more carefully twisted. How are
they manufactured? Why, of sleeps
intestines cut into fine strips and twisted
together. II is very skilled process.
Poor strings may not be composed of
more than four or live strands of gut
whereas first rate ones have from fifteen
to eighteen. After they have been
twisted. they are polished off with pumice
stone and other things, so that they are
inadequate round and the twisting cannot
be seen. though in the cheap ones il re-
, mains visible. Banjo strings are all inn
, ported: they are manufactured in Ger
many and Italy. Most people suppose
, that the shells attached to fish hooks are
of the same material, but | happen Ia
, know that they are in reality made OF
, the bodies of silk worms taken in an i'm.
, mature state and stretched out. Seems
a wonderful, doesn't IL"
q "lIow about the headsg'
"They are made of ordinary sheepskin
, carefully cured, stretched and scraped "a
, the proper thinness Sometimes hide
: is split into two layers for the purpose
J: the part next the hair being the more
. desirable Banjo heads are made in this
: country, as, indeed, the banjos them
a selves are also. The best instrument,
" come from Philadelphia, though they arr
: made in great numbers also in Chicago
Boston and New York One other i'm
4 portant improvement on the ban 10 in lat
i ter years has been the addition to tn,
h fingerboard Of raised frets, which d,
4 much better than the marks that wer,
Il meant to serve the same use formerly
"a Altogether -tum-tiddle-ti-tun
n this is "A wonderful case of evolution
n from the original African drummer.
% you refer the banjo to an African
a origin. them"
, without doubt The original banj
q was a calabash with strings of some sor
II across it. Ii you travelled in Africa 70
,r would find this same primitive instru
ment still in use at savage festivities, a
10 1t has doubtless been for ages. The n,
re- groes brought TO this country as slave
r. fetched the idea with them. and a Ger
"a fury ago, or even much less, gourds CT
81 IN half were employed for the purpos
" by the blacks in the south. Nobod
10 knows exactly how the first steps in Oh
I. development of the banjo were taken, bt
L. it il recognized that it owes its preser
IN form To the application--tu m-ti-tum -
n the guitar principles to it. In all hkel
n hood the negroes themselves made I'll
n first improvements upon IL, taking SUI
r.. gestions from the guitar. and white foil
N. took it up afterward. Anyway, 1t Is |
al perfect an instrument now as il will ev,
ia he. Musicians say that 1t isn't really
az musical instrument at all, but only a ba
ar haric thing, to be classed with the ton
he tom. However, don't agree with that
Washington Star.