Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-07-11
VIOLIN STRINGS.

Out bne quality OF Its harmOnleS de-
ponds as much upon its strings as upon
its body. The manufacture of these
threads of catgut. from which a mas
ter OF the art is able to draw such ex-
quisite strains, is an important indus
try. It is not carried on in this coun-
try to any extent-at all events, the
finer qualities of strings are not made
here, because American sheep do not
have the right sort of intestines- Cat
gut. contrary to the popular notion. is
not derived from the back-fence tab5y,
but from lambs.
A manufacturing center for violin
strings is the town of Markneukirchen,
in Saxony. The business there is q
very old one, and is believed to have
been started originally by immigrat-
ing Protestant Bohemians during or
soon after the Thirty Years war. The
processes employed have always been
kept secret, being handed down from
father to son, generation after genera
ton. However, the methods in gem
eral way are sufficiently well known
for purposes of description. In 1777
union of string-makers was founded,
and law was passed forbidding any
one not member of this organization
from plying the craft. penalties of fine
and imprisonment being established.
The secret held most important was
the composition of the I've mixture en-
ployed to bleach the strings. In old
days likewise every maker of violins
had his own peculiar varnish. He was
perpetually seeking to discover the
philosophers stone of his trade-name-
1y, a varnish such as that used by
Stradivarius. Guarnerius and Amati,
which should impart to his instruments
an imperishable beauty. while reveal
ing the satin-like finish of the wood
beneath. But since the days of those
celebrated and unequaled manufac-
turers of fiddles the production of such
a varnish has been lost art.
The facts are summed up by Oscar
Gottschalk, United States consular
agent at Markneukirchen, in COM
munication just received by the state
department at Washington. He says
that the makers of the strings at
Markneukirchen formerly got their
raw material in Germany. But in 1910
the whole town was burned up, and
one manufacturer went away in search
of a livelihood, finally reaching Copen-
hagen. Noticing large focks of sheep
in Denmark, he bought some of the
CUTS and made strings of them, which
were found to be of better quality
than the home brand. This discovery
resulted in large importations of the
article into Markneukirchen, and at
about the same time the first strings
were exported thence to the United
States. Since then the industry has
depended largely upon American
buyers.
The supply of material for the finest
strings has at no time equaled the de-
mand and half the world has been
ransacked for sheep-gut possessing the
requisite qualities. In 1861 another
enterprising citizen of Markneukirchen
crossed Russia-at that time a ven
ture of no small peri1-and bought
quantities of the intestines of the
steppe sheep of that country. These
were found to be superior to anything
previously obtained, and to the pres
ent day manufacturers at Mark
neukirchen get the bulk of their
sheep-gut from Russia, amounting an
nualy to about two hundred thousand
dollars worth. Other material is i'm
ported from England, Denmark,
Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, Java and
Palestine. Unfortunately, the Russian
gut has deteriorated since the flock
owners have crossed the breeds of the
steppe sheep and the Spanish sheep for
the sake of improving the wool.
The qualities desired in catgut for
violin strings are a symmetrically
cylindrical form combined with trans
parent whiteness. Ordinarily the pur-
chaser contracts with the breeder for
all of his gut for at least one year. He
has his own cleaning establishment
annexed to the slaughter-house. and in
person supervises the processes. Inn
mediately after the animal is killed all
grease and foreign matter must be
removed from the intestines, else the
latter will become discolored. Then
they are wound on frames and left to
dry in the open air. The gut for
musical string must be from lamb
born in spring and slaughtered not
later than October or November of the
same year; those from older sheep can
be used only for bass strings or for
minor purposes. The best quality is
termed summer gut" being from a
lamb killed in summer. It is chiefly
employed to make E strings, which
are the most important Spring gut"
is second quality; though lacking
tenacity, it is good enough for G, D and
A strings.
The dried intestines, when they reach
the manufacturer, are placed in earthen
watts containing lye. After soaking for
twenty-four hours they are unraveled.
Again they are put in I've, being sub
jected to repeated baths in this sub
stance. Meanwhile they are manipu-
lated again and again for cleansing,
the external membranes being re-
moved, so as to leave only the fbrous
material. They are bleached in a
sulphur bath and exposed to the
sun. The next process is to rub
each string with pumice stone,
to remove any inequalities and to
bring it down to the requisite dame
ter A polish is applied by frequent
wiping with olive oil. Before ship
ment, the strings are dried, cut, rolled
and assorted according to color. They
will retain their quality for an in
ically-sealed boxes.
The best violin strings are of Italian
manufacture. The demand for them
is so large that ten times as many
Italian strings are sold as Italy is able
to produce. Markneukirchen turns out
large quantities of so-called Italian
strings. Special care is taken to make
them equal to the best. They are mt