Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-07-30

Out liOul uuo cINc gOO. IL VIII bt u
pleasure to me to do the work, and !
also feel it my duty to save the money
which would have to be otherwise paid
out. l shall proceed to tune"
But you'll only destroy 1t. If you
feel that you must tinker away at
something, why don't you take the
lawn mower, the gas meter or that old
shotgun in the garrett"
81 do not ask you to remain in the
room during the tuning process. You
can put on your hat and take a walk,
or you can go up to your room and
read novel. When | have restored
the tone to its original volume and
sweetness will call you"
But beg of you Toto"
Mr. Bowser waved his hand to signi-
fy that nothing on the face Of the
earth could turn him aside. and as
Mrs. Bowser went up stairs with tears
in her eyes he got out his tool box and
peeled off his coat and jacket to begin
work. He met with an adventure at
the very outset. He wanted room to
work on all sides of the piano, and he
therefore got behind it TO push it out
into the middle Of the floor He waa
heaving away with his shoulder
against the case when his foot slipped
on the carpet and he went down and
rolled over with the weight of all ele-
plant. He fetched up against chair
and knocked that over, and he was
still lying on his back when Mrs. Bow
ser came half way down the stairs to
call out:
II thought the walls were falling in!
What are you doing on your back on
the foor"'
II wanted to see the underside of the
piano." he replied as lie got up.
Should find myself in need of your
assistance will call you"
AS tools for piano tuning Mr.. Bowser
had hammer. a hatchct tack puller,
n corkscrew. screwdriver and a
monkey wrench. AS he folded back
the cover he saw the inside of n piano
for the first time In his life. He had
taken only one glance when he walked
| to the foot of the stairs and called to
| Mrs. Bowser:
"No wonder there was an ur-ur-ur
when you hit some of the keys! What
d'you 'spose your first class piano tuner
| left among the wlres?"
''IIe couldn't have left any of his
tools?" she queried.
"No tools, but half dozen strips of
rcd flannel He even wove them in
among the strings. That's probably
where my missing flannel shirt went
to. He was probably some man from
wooden mill"
"Why, those strips are always put
in," protested Mrs. Bowser. 81 thinl,
the idea IL TO soften the sound"
"Well, l don't. think the idea is to
attract rats and mice. and out they
come"
When Mr.. Bowser had finished pull
Ing out the rags" he very quickly dis
covered the method of tightening ur
the strings. With one hand he fitted
the monkey wrench to turn the keys
md with the other he started a tum
tum-tum on the keys as lie had once
or twice seen n regular tuner do. He
couldn't exactly decide whether all the
strings ought to be tightened or loosen
| eu, anu ~ III tOuH q toui SN ahN
tightened half and loosened half. The
effect wasn't exuctly magical; 1t was
worse. Some of the keys piped ant
sobbed, and there were others whicl
produced sounds as of saw trying tc
eat its way into crowbar.
For the lands sake, but what ar'
you doing now?" called Mrs. BowseI
aftar tbrnp nr four niniltos
Saving a piano from wreck ant
ruin" replied Mr. Bowser as two chilli
tried to gallop up and down his spin'
at the same time.
He hadn't quite hit It. He grudg
lngly admitted the fact to himself an'
then began anew. In dim, uncertain
way he seemel TO remember something
about pitch" In connection with tun
ing. He couldn't possibly recall wheth
er II was high pitch low pitch OF hal
and half pitch. but he wasn't the maj
TO hesitate. He began humming tn
air Of "The Girl Left Behind Me
and keeping up the tum'tum ON tn
keys. After awhile he found SCUM
to agree with his hum, and he too
that for rallying point. 1t was wha
he called a so-so pitch, and after hal
an hour of keying up aud keying dow
he got three keys which appeared I
agree that some sort Of girl had bee
left behind somebody. The othe
strings were obstinate. They wante
TO play "Snlly Waters" 'The Swee
Ry and BY" or Yankee Doodle" an
every five minutes Mrs. Bowser keI
calling down TO know IL a strange ca
had got into the house or If Mr. Bow
ser had got an attack of collie. II
finally refused TO answer her, but wit
tceth shut hard aud glare In his eye
he started out TO bring those strinp
into harmony or bust the box. II
tishtencd ten, one after another unt
they set up a humming, and then |
mopped his brow aud started In to tun
tun the keys, There were ten soupt
TO bring out the goosetiebh, but scare