The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1903-07-16

London, from father to daughter Mr..
Wedlake was a famous British artif-
1cer of church organs. He had a large
factory Of his own. His daughter de-
sired to learn his handicraft. He de-
sired to have her do so. She could not
be apprenticed regularly because, being
woman, the, sky would have fallen
had she been articled like boy. But,
being woman, she also had an eye,
an ear, touch and an adaptability to
the work Of organ building that not
one boy in thousand possesses. There
was no law to prevent her learning the
business as rank outsider. Her IA
Their was man liberal far beyond his
time on the woman question. He him
self taught her and took fine pride in
her progress.
Like boy, size went into the factory
and learned the trade from the ground
up. 1t is delicate, beautiful work,
thoroughly healthful, artistic enough to
be inspiring and satisfying.
Since she learned her trade Miss
Wedlake has beer constantly busy. She
has the woman's natural Quickness Of
eye, and long practice has made her
accuracy absolutely unerring. Her
work is chiefly the construction Of bel
lows and the ornamentation Of pipes.
The blocks Of wood for the bellows
come already prepared. Then Miss
Wedlake feathers and gussets them to-
gether. Pieces Of white kid are cut
exactly to fit and carefully adjusted to
the wood by hand. There must be no
looseness Of execution here, for 1t
would ruin all. In one Of the large
churches Of London-St. Jude's, South
Kensington-Miss Wedlake did all the
leathering Of the main bellows. In con-
nection with organ bellows work Miss
Wedlakes father invented and patent
ed an ingenious piece Of mechanism,
which won him the medal at an ex-
position, but his daughter did the work
Of making the thing. She herself is
inventive and has patented, among
other devices, a stove that can be
taken apart and cleaned and put to-
gether again by the most ignorant Of
women.
After she has constructed the bel
lows Of her organ Miss Wedlake pro-
ceeds to decorate the pipes. In this de-
partment she rises to the artistic. She
devises first scheme Of ornamentation
suited to the subject. The theme Is
usually Of an ecclesiastical or Biblical
nature. Then she lays the figures deft-
~ upon the pipes. Miss Wedlake's &C
complishments, however, by no means
stop at bellows making and adjusting
and pipe ornamentation. She can take
to pieces any organ in the world, clean
and repair 1t and set it up again bit by
bit Then she finishes by tuning it.
There is another department in organ
construction which requires the most
sensitive touch, ear and nerves that be-
long to human being. This is the
'voicing" of the organ. Here, too,
woman has excelled. Some years ago
there was in England family Of or
gan builders named Abbey. A daugh-
skilled Of the race in the family trade.
This lady, Miss Abbey, chose France
as the field Of her laDors. She went
thither and settled and began building
at once organs and business. So
skfllful was she that In this particular
task Of voicing an organ she became
the marvel Of the Frenchmen who
were in the same field.
An expert authority sets forth the
following qualifications for the organ
maker: "A delicate and sensitive mu-
steal ear, physique sufficiently strong to
lift the less heavy pipes, some simple,
cheap tools and about as much skill in
their use as Is required in very modest
wood carving are the equipment neces-
sary to start with in an organ builders
factory. The most difficult and highly
paid branch of this industry is reed
voicing not the reeds Of harmoniums.
but of real organs. This is tedious to
learn and takes years to master thor
oughly." MARY EDITH DAY.