Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-11-27
TALE OF AN OLD VIOLIN.
Shrewd Tricks Plnyed by Swfndlers
On n Host of Pawn

From the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post.
about a month ago." said a Washington
pawnbroker, "a seedy man. middle-aged,
came in here with a violin. Besides seedy,
he was as rummy-looking u chap as I've
done business with for a long while. He
seemed to be soaked and sozzled in whis-
ky. The violin which he put on the coun-
ter was in IN old. battered leather case.
1 opened the case, took out the violin, and
thrummed on the strings a bit. Now. L
don't know much about vioiins. There are
not many. people living who know much
about V1ollnS. L suppose since I've been
doing a pawnbroking business that I've
handled close on to a thousand viOlins of
o 9h eee s % OF au anIinsr thar opt T T don'f MAKE a1e s aGn
pretense that | understand their value.
This one was in tune, and when l picked
on the strings it sounded pretty fair.
How much do you want on it?' l asked
the rummy-looking man.
Name me Il figure he replied.
oh, well. a couple of dollars I re-
The man looked at me mournfully.
It's a genuine Jacobus Steiner he said,
and it's nearly 200 year old. I've had it
myself for twenty years. 1 started out
with a theatrical company as orchestral
leader, and the company busted in Balti-
more a few days ago. I'm broke. The
violin is worth $500 at least. l want so
on It,
do know that you're not taking? How
alp
He didn't make any reply to this. but
case, screwed up the bow, and started to
play. Now. while [ don't profess to have
the inner knowledge about the value of
violins. L do know good violin music when
l hear it. and the mans playing was SIM
ply beautiful. He didn't play coon song
music. but he played tn real thing. He
played all over the thing. from the neck
to the bridge of ii, and the chords he got
out of it had me going for fair. His music
sounded just as much like the playing of
this man Ysaye. whom 1 heard at the
Columbia last winter. as any violin play
ing that L ever heard. Thinks l to my
self. This duck is a tip-top musician who
has let the booze get the best of him.
A tip-top musician wouldn't play on a
bum fiddle. Therefore this instrument he's
playing on must be all right. After he
gets over this jamboree he'll come along
and take it out, anyhow. for / suppose he
really does make his living playing the
violin
He played on for about ten minutes, I'M
til finally had to signal to him to stop.
for Il crowd began to assemble in front OF
the shop. and I'VE got no license to run a
~ guess his Instruments all right
said to him.. L will give you SEQ on it..
T The need sS pretty BAD. he said. blu,
I'll try to make out with $50
so 1 gave him a ticket and $50. and he
THE next day a friend of mine who
plays the violin in one of the Washington
theater orcheStraS was passing by here. ane
l called him and showed him the violir
and asked him what he thought of it. He
looked it over, and handed ii back to me
Its worth about a dollar and a half.
said he.
1T certainly did knock me out.
You must be mixed said to him
That's a genuine Jacobus Steiner
He grinued.
90 can get all 1 want of 'em up at a New
Jersey Single factory for $50 a gross HI
said.
We'll. I had two or three other violir
players that l knew drop in TO look at thu
instrument, and they all told me the sam,
thing. They said it was simply a common
ornery, everyday fiddle-not a violin at all
but simply a fiddle.
Last week l took 4 run over to New
York, and | made a tour of the pawnshop
of friends of mine over there. I told one o
'em about how / had been done on the tid
went back and pulled out IL violin case.
opened it up, and revealed an old-lookini
violin.
- got done the same way he said.
coughed up $50 on this. It's worth 81, Tr
reliably informed
Il described my man to him, and it wa
the same man. AT three other New Yor
pawnshops l heard the same story. TIL
man had got all Inc way from so TO $40 o
bum fddles. He's a good player. and
sharp besides, and he's making a bushes
of doing the money lenders. The beauty @
his game is that he can't be pinched for i
about forty times the value of his good:
and there's nothing criminal about tn
dodge. But I'd like to meet him on a dar
night all the same