The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-12-30
FINEST ORGAN
IN AMERICA
Power Of Tabernacle InStru-
ment to Be Trebled.
IMPORTANT ACTION
BY APOSTLES QUORUM
Order Twelve Thousand Dollars
Worth OF Improvements.

The tabernacle organ is TO have three
times its present power:
| At a meeting Of members Of the
apostles quorum and first presidency
of the Mormon church in the presi-
dents office last evening it was voted
to order the 900 improvements on
the grand instrument described some
| time ago. The contract goes to the
w W. Kimball company at Chicago
and viii be signed early Monday morn
| ing, and forwarded at once. The con-
tract stipulates that the work shall be
completed by April ] next.
The improvements contemplated in
clude the addition Of over 1000 new
pipes and the remOdelng u the IN
strument generally. 1t IS an announce
ment that should thrill every Salt
IlakeT. II means that when he work
| is completed, the tabernacle organ viii
be the greatest in America. 5y far.
This is the declaration IF +. w. Hedge
land, the kimban Company's expert,
who recently visited the city <Or the
purpose of inspecting the organ. Other
experts in the past twenty yeaCs have
declared that it already holds that
place, mainly because of its situation
in a building of such beWildeTing
acoustics. When there are 2,900 pipes
added to the 2,949 that now constitute
} the organ, the world may be challenged
to produce its superior.
It wiz surprise many 30 learn that
/ the church has decided upon this big
expenditure. The decision was not
reached in a minute Some weeks ago
the Kimbau concern sent Mr.. Hedge
/ land here at the instigati0n Of Pro
fessor Mcclellan and others to see in
just what condition the organ was
after thirty or forty years Of neglect.
His report was that the tabernacle
organ could be made beyond all dis
pute the most magnificent instrument
on the continent by the expenditure of
few thousand dollars. The PROPOSE
ton was taken up in church CiT-ieS and
/ II did not at first meet with Sreat
favor. 1t. was argued that thu church
could not afford so heavy an outlay al
a time when every effort IS being made
/ to clear it of debt. There were some in
the quorum of apostles AMI President
Joseph F. Smith who took al Opposite
view. As presented 9y them, the
church could not afford 10 longer
neglect the big instrument. Apostle
! John Henry Smith argued that the
organ had cost the church nearly Sl50
month for several years for repairs
and he was heartily in favor OF making
the appropriation.
Finally upon motion of Apostle
Smith, in last evenings meeting. the
contract was awarded. II VIII be
| signed by. President Snow and the i'm
/ pTOvements viii be made without
doubt. A corps of KfmbaU employees
are expected to reach here before the
10Th Of next month and push the work
through. The limit is April I, but ii is
not improbable that the work viii be
completed before that time
One great feature of che improve
ment, outside of the new pipes, viii lie
the building of the keyboard out 10 a
line parallel with the choir directors
stand. At present the OTganist $ 10
Gated practically inside the organ,
where the hum of the electric motor
and the ''pif'' Of the pipes almost shuts
out the sound of the instrument when
he is playing. He loses a whole lot of
expression under this condition. The
change in the location will be con-
ducive of superior work on his part.
( He can also watch the director, a great
advantage in playing accomplishments
[ for the choir.
Within the past few months about
! 100 pipes have been added to the
organ.