The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1903-06-03
! MUSICAL CORNER!! !
Conducted e. a. Violin Maker a
by THOMPSON, and Teacher .
Anecdotes of Michael Schnapps.

Michael Schnapps is well known in
the fiddle trade and the profession, too,
as ravenous fiddle ogre who buys and
sells everything that bears the fiddle
shape from double bass to a dancing
masters pocket kit. His house is one
vast warehouse of fiddles. Riddles on
the walls fiddles on the staircases, and
fiddles hanging like stalactites from the
ceiling. To lin the tyros resort when
they first begin to scrape. He will set
them up for 10 shillngs and swoop them
up afterwards, step by step, to 10 or 20
guineas and to ten times that amount if
they are rich and green enough to con-
tinue the experiment. Schnapps i'm
ports fiddles in the rough under the
designation of toys, most of which are
productions of his peasant countrymen
bordering on the Black Forest, and with
these he supplies the English toy shops,
stationers' shops and provinces. He is
further a master of the matchmaking
craft himself, and so consumate an adept
at repairing that nothing short of con-
Stunning fire can defeat his art. When
Pinker of Norwich had his cremona
smashed all to atoms in railway col
lision, Schnapps rushed down to the
scene of the accident, bought the lot of
splintered fragments for a couple of
pounds, and in fortnight had restored
the magnificent Stradivarious to its
originalintegrity and cleared $50 guineas
by its sale. But Schnapps is humbug
at bottom-an everlasting copyist and
manufacturer of dead masters-Italian,
German and French. He has sold more
Amatas in his time than Amata ever
made. He knows the secret of the old
varnish he has hidden stores of old
wood stored away-planks of cherry and
ash-centuries old, and worm-eaten
sounding boards of old harpsicords, re-
serves of old, fine-grained pine, boarded
for ages for matchmaking. He has a
miniature printing press, and a font OF
lean-laced type, and a stock of the old
ribbed paper torn from old foios, and of
course has always on hand a collection
of the most wonderful old instruments
at the most wonderful prices for the pro-
fessional man or the connoisseur. "You
want to Ply a pfeede?" says Schnapps.
II sell you de pest pfeedle; dat ish de
pest for de money; vat you sac gif for
him?' "Well, can give you as far as
10 guineas," says the customer "Ten
guineas is goot for Won goot pfeedle, bote
besser is 20, 80 or so guineas or Won
hunder. Look you: bote 10 guineas is
good you sail, see?"
Schnapps is all simplicity and candor
in his dealings. The probability is how
ever that his 10 guinea fiddle would be
fairly purchased at ) and that you
might have beer treated to the same
article at 80 or 40 guineas instead of 10.
l once ask Schnapps if he knew
wherein lay the excellence of the old
Italian masters instruments.
"Mine Colt, if don't, who tie teifil
does?"
Then he went on to tell me that it
did not lie in any popularity of the
model though there was something in
that. nor in the wood of the back though
there was something in that, nor in the
regulur grain which formed the belly
though there was something in that,
nor in the position of the grain run
ing parallel with the strings though
there was something in that, nor in the
sides, nor in the fingerboard, or lining,
or waist, neck or bridge though there
was something in all OF them, nor in the
putting of them together, though there
was much in that.
"Where does it lie then, Mr.. Sch
napps?"
"Ah de henker hang if | know"
"Has age much to do with it think
your"
Not mosche. Dere ish goot feedles
and pad feedles POO years old and der
ish good feedles of pad models and pad
feedles of goot models and beautiful
made as you sal see."
This is the sum total of information
to be gotten out of Schnapps on that
mysterious subject On other matters I