The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-15
ORGANS AND ORGAN MAKING IN AMERICA Largest In World In Kansas
 City Convention Hall STRUGGLE IN EARLY DAYS Some Religious Scots Will Even Yet Not Allow Organs Nor Bells in
 Their churches-Some
 Notable Organs.
STRUGGLE IN EARLY DAYS
BY FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN.

BY FREDERIC ]. HASkIN.
 The recent installation of giant plee organ in the college of the city of New York is another proof of American pro- gross, not only in love of music, but in ability to construct the ine4 IS on which the music is renderee gan, one of the largest in the NC .s 4OOO pipes, the longest one being 32 feet and the shortest three-quarters of an inch. When completed the organ will have.a 92-foot reed lombard which will enable the organist to give a Wagner music drama with all the essential tone color ing The cost was $26,900.
 The organ builders of America have made great progress in the past half cen tury, and may now lay claim to tho largest, most expensive and most com plete organs in the world. With all this they have succeeded in producing as per fectly toned instruments as those of Eu- rope The largest organ in the world is in Convention hall at Kansas City, and was built by an American organ-n1aker. IL has 10000 pipes, the two largest of which are s2 feet long. They are so large that Shetland pony can stand in either of them. The smallest pipe is so micro scopic that its sound is but the softest sigh. There are 18o miles of wire in the instrument, and over 5000 feet of lumber. It contains 1900 magnets, has 140 stops, weighs 125 tons and cost $67,OO0 This or gan was the one used at the St. Louis nd c+a fn tanic voice as called forth by some of the greatest organists of the world. Organ makers unhesitatingly declare that it will be many year before this great organ ,s excelled. Its 10000 pipes and it's 14O stops enable it to initiate almost every sound that falls upon the human ear. It has the electro-pneumatic action, the idea fol- lowed being much the same that is found in the electro-pneumatio switching appa- ratus used by railroads, and it requires two 124a horse power motors and one two horse power motor to operate it. When it was moved from St. Louis to Kansas City 10 freight cars were required to haul It.
 The next largest organ in the world is
 
 tralia. It contains 5000 pipes and 12S stops It occupies 16,OOO square feet of floor space. Prior to the building of the big worlds fair organ for St. Louis the Sidney organ was the largest in the world, and had held that distinction for many years. Next in size, and it is said without a peer in the whole world in toue is the one in the Chicago audi torium. This organ has over 7OOO pipes.
 hot to have very fine organ. the Jamestown exposition had a fine one, and the other worlds fairs nod ample equipment in this line. Perhaps the n,.Ssu church organ in the world is the one in the Nor mon temple in Salt Lake City. It is said to be more perfectly adjusted to the acoustics of the auditorium than IS any organ to be found anywhere. One of the most interesting organs ever built was one constructed by a Virginian named Myers It was an elaborate pipe orsah' but all of the pipes were made or paper It did service in church at Dayton, va, for several years and was afterwards soid to a school. The quality Of It's tone was favorably commented upon, yet the build or had not had a great deal of experience in such work, having been nothing more thsH A country music teacher. The pa thetic part of 1t was that he died or tu- herculosis but few weeks after ms or gan was installed, and that on It hls requiem was played.
 Church organs had a long fight Tor footing in America. In little old St. Johns church Portsmouth N. H., stands 10 this day the famous old Brattle or gan. This organ was imported by Thom as Brattle, treasurer of Harvard univer- sty, about the year 1708. He intended 1t for the Brattle square congregation, but they refused to accept it. It was after ward given or sold to Kings chapel, and finally landed in St. Johns. It played a requiem to Queen Anne, who gave the pipes and had Haydn select them, and at the age of 84 it sounded a drge for George Washington. Seventy-seven years after the Brattle square congregation had rejected the Brattle organ it decided that it could no longer resist the march of progress and ordered rather expensive organ from Europe. In due time it ar- rived in Boston harbor. Even at that late date the arrival caused much dissent in the congr egatlon, and one wealthy mem- per offered to pay every cont 1t had cost, and to give in addition like amount to the poor of Boston, if they would dump 1t overheard in the harbor But the offer was refused and the organ installed.
 There are still quite number of le- ligious sects in the United States who do not believe in Instrumental music in the churches The Qualkers do not believe in it. The Dunkards and the Mennonitos, numbering nearly 100,000 communicanls each, are as much opposed to it as ever