The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1901-02-07

out the bare frame. and that looked
sadly out of tune. I was about heart
broken and the boys were mad be-
cause had not bought the shotgun,
so [ got no consolation from them.
But Bruner said not to mind it, as it
might be a pretty good fiddle II it
was fixed up little and he had the
necessary fxings.
ut was nearly midnight when he
landed me at home, but he was SO
anxious to try the fiddle that he told
me to go to bed and he would be back
just as soon as he couid put his team
away and get the parts that the fiddle
needed to put 1t in shape for playing.
1t was not more than half an hour
before he was back at the house again,
and a littAe later he had the old in
strument strung up and going in good
shape. was surprised at the music
he got out of it, and was very much
pleased with my bargain when he
pronounced it "a pretty fair sort of a
fiddle after ALL Hriai
Il never had a great amount of use
for violin, never playing one except
for my own amusement, but l hung
onto that old instrument through the
financial trials of many years. That
| never pawned it is due probably to
the fact that one can get practically
nothing on violin from junk dealer.
l do not suppose that it had cost the
man of whom | got it more than the
price of a meal or two at the most.
"As I say, hung onto that old
fiddle, and it remained nothing more
than fiddle until 1894 1t was sadly
out of repair at that time, the strings
were gone and it lacked key or two,
and as I looked 1t over one day I
thought I would have it fixed up and
get little amusement for myself and
annoyance for the neighbors out of It
again. With that purpose in view I
one day took it down to John Bow
man; he then had musical repair
shop on State street near VanBuren,
and asked him to fix it up as best he
could. He unwrapped it and, without
saying word to me. picked up one
of the tools on his work bench and
began cutting the top off.
What are you doing there?' I
asked, rather amazed at the treat
ment the poor old thing was receiv-
ing.
"'Do you want to sell this? he
asked in reply.
mo I said, 4 want it fixed up so
I can play it, but you don't have to
cut it to pieces to fix it. do you?'
~ don't believe you know what
You have here, but If am not mistak-
en- You have one of Matthias Neuner's
instruments. and want to see the in
scription that should be under here.
and he continued his operation until
the lid was off
"'No, the inscription is not here,
he said when the top was off. but it
is Neuner violin just the same. The
inscription is up in the neck where
it does not belong. If you want to
sell this 1 will give you $500 for it, he
added.
mo money could have bought it
then. The old fiddle that had pur-
chased long years before in a country
pawnshop for ten dollars-the first
ten dollars ever earned-had sudden
ly changed into violin of great price
"a musical treasure over which great
artists rave.
Before l left the shop Bowman
gave me the history of that violin, and
afterward found the inscription which
proved the truth of his story up on
the neck of the instrument, where. as
he said, it did not belong. Matthias
Neuner was a violin maker of Mitten-
wald, Germany, in the latter part OF
the eighteenth and the. early part of
the nineteenth century In the year
1906 he turned out but six violns, all
of special pattern. But three of
those could be accounted for, and they
were held at fancy prices by connois-
seurs in musical instruments. l had
the fourth one.
"When the inscription was finally
found it read Matthias Neuner, eig-
enacher violin maker), Mittenwald
1S06.'
"Since then have been offered 5000
for the instrument and the man who
offered $500 for it evidently knew what
it was and was trying to strike good
bargain"