The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-09-11
FREAKS IN MUSIC BOXES.
Some ofsthe Queer shapes they Come

All sorts of freaks in music boxes are
in fashion just now. Alta dinner party
you pick up glass water bottle to hell
yourself from it, and, to your surprise
it beigns to play pretty tune. 1t keeps
on playing with mysterious harmony
while you fill your tumbler and until
you set it down again. aaWhat looked
like ice in the bottom of it is conceal
ment for bit of machinery that produc-
es two tunes. The price of the article,
music and all, is only 50. SO.
After dinner your host offers you CT
gar. Yousschoose one and strike a match
on corrugated surface attached to the
cup from which you took the weed. At
once sweet music begins to be heard,
the striking of the match having released
the spring that starts it. This, piece OF
mechanism is wound up by a few turns
of the ash receiver, which makes a part
of the smoking apparatus described.
The price asked for such a contrlvance
at the shop is 81. so.
In the dressing room provided by your
entertainer on this same occasion you
may have found toilet set in a box on
the bureau When the box was opened
very likely it began to play tune, the
music machinery being concealed in the
lower part of the receptacle.
At the conclusion OF the dinner a fruit
plate is set down before you. Harmonl-
Gus sounds proceeding from 1T excite
your wonder, and your hostess explains
that the pretty piece of china is loaded
with melody by winding it up. 1t plays
for five minutes and has two tunes. Cne
can get such plates for SO each.
If the hostess has occasion to summon
servant by means of a call bell the in
strument responds with tune. No
winding is needed IN this case, the push
ing down of the button at the top supply
ing the power to run the mechanism for
half a minute or so. This contrivance
costs So.
On the sideboard is water pitcher
which resem bles the water bottle, hav-
ing within it concealed music box
Adjourning to the drawing room you
venture to look inside of photograph
album on the centre table. On being
opened it. begins to play. On the man
telpiece is miniature Swiss chalet in the
front of which appears the face OF an
eight-day clock Every hour the time
piece plays tune, instead OF striking, a
hidden music box being run by the time
keeping machinery. It has six tunes,
BY the way, clocks are made nowadays
which go 400 days without winding But
their mechanism is exceedingly delicate,
and any jar is likely to put it out OF or
der.
However, your attention is Withdrawn
from the timepiece by your host, who
offers you pinch of snuff from gold
snuffbox. No, you do not take snuff.
1t is just as well, for the snuffbox is not
real one. Your host touches a spring
and the lid of the box flies open, out
pops little bird in bright feathers,
which MARBLES most beautifully for two
or three minutes Then it pops back
again, the lid shutting upon it and con-
cealing it from view; The continuance
is quite complicated one, the mechan-
ism being as elaborate as that of a watch,
1t is run by spring and clockwork
with little bellows and whistle. You
cannot buy one for less than $3.50.
The bird in this case is very small-not
more than an inch long But you can
get full-sized artificial songster in a
gilded cage which will carol to your
hearts content for the trouble of wind
ing it up. You can have a canary, a
robin, or nightingale, as you choose.
For 500 you can purchase such a bird,
with a porcelain vase and imitation
flowers, among which the feathered warb-
Ter perches. The mechanism OF clock
work, bellows and whistle is the same.
Two songsters of this kind render melo-
dious the diningroom attached to Phil
Days gam bling house at Long Branch.
Music boxes have become wonderfully
cheap of late years. Nearly all OF them
are made in Switzerland. Although
As per cent. duty is charged on them,
you can buy one with single tune for
as little as 40 cents. For 81, 45 you can
get one with three tunes. These are OF
the cylindrical pattern, somewhat resem-
1,J;,, ,o,c Of y,,.aScad meat on QIItSi0a an
pearance. Children have them for play
things in the nursery. Their melody is
produced by the continual turning of a
little crank. For 2.60 one can purchase
rectangular box with four tunes, which
goes by means of spring, just like
big one A very pretty box with eight
tunes can be bought for S15.
The small cost of labor in Switzerland
renders it possible reproduce these boxes
at such prices. OF course the most es-
sential parts of the mechanism are the
roller and the steel comb. The little pins
projecting from the surface of the roller
catch the teeth of the comb and make
the music. Necessarily the adjustment
of the pins on the roller is a slow and
careful process. They have to be put in
one by one by hand. Women do this
work, the distances OF the pins being
gagged by mechanical continuance.
The comb is cut out by machinery and
filed down by hand to the tone required.
BY the automatic shifting of the roller it
is made to serve for several tunes. But
not more than eight tunes are put ordi-
narily on one cylinder The fewer the
tunes the better the tone of the instru-
ment, the comb being finer When there
are many tunes wider spaces must be
left between the teeth of the comb for
the pins to pass through which are not
intended to contribute to the music.
One style of music box is made with
two combs for the reason just mentioned.
This is called sublime harmony" The
volume of sound produced by it is much
greater. Such box with ten tunes costs
$50. Other styles are called respectively
the "piccolo," the "tremolo," the "gui-
tar,n and the mandolin" according to
the instruments which they are supposed
to initiate. The comb of the "picolo'
has an.octave of short and very fine teeth,
giving very high and almost shrill notes,
like the little Instrument it counterfeits.
These notes, high above the staff, pro-
duce abeautiful effect.
The tremolo" has a quaver in every
note like the singing of a third rate
tenor. This is very pleasing to some
| neonIe. though not to good Judges of