Norwich bulletin., 1909-12-31
FORMER NORWICH MAN
 HAS VALUABLE VIOLIN
Bought It in Hanover Years Aso-6e-
 lieves It is a Cremona.

lIeveS it IS Cremona. Thomas Mahony of 1 Ellsworth street, Worcester, has a violin that he thinks may be a Cremona.
 MT. Mahony says that he bought the instrument some 50 years ago in a little town called Hanover, Ct, which is about three miles from Norwich, of a
 man named Lovett, who was selling out 1 his goods and was going to move to New York state.
 Mir. Mahony bought a large box from MT. Lovett which contained sword, a | copy of a New York newspaper and l this violin. The newspaper was dated a week after George Washingten's death and the columns of the paper
 were devoted almost entirely to de- | scribing the loss the country had sus- tained by the death of the father of his country. The paper MT. Mahony sold | to collector of antique manuscripts | six years ago in Worcester. Mir. Mahony examined, the violin very closely and found the following
 in scription on the inside of the vio- | lin:
 Joseph Guarnerius flius Andrae fecit Ceremonial, -Tiitulo- S. -Teresie, | 1885," According to the translation of this | inscription that MT. Mahony has it reads: Joseph Guarnerius, son of An | drew, made the Cremona violin and l dedicates it to St. Teresa in the year | 1895"
 Cremona is a town in the northern part of Italy famous on account of the violins that were made there from 1850 l to 1750. The Cremona violin is almost
 as rare as the Stradivarius. and is very l rich in tone, due mostly it is thought, on account of the wood from which it is made, and which grows in the vicinity of Cremona. The varnish that is used on the Cre-
 mona is something that the modern violin makers cannot duplicate, and it is thought by the manufacturers of vio- | lins that this is another reason for the rich mellow tone that the Cremona gives.
 MT. Mahony has been offered several large sums of money for the violin,
 but he has always refused to part with it.
 James Story of Norwich Ct, tried the violin and offered MT. Mahony $500 and his own violin in exchange for it. T only mention this" said Mir Ma hony. "in order to show that there are people who thought that the violin
 was worth something There are many other persons who have tried the violin and wanted to buy it from me, but
 am not anxious to get rid of it just at
 present"
 There are many relics in the Ma hony home that Mir. Mahony takes es- pecial pride in, one being cows horn that he found one day in Canterbury street six years ago and took home, and his son. John Mahony, polished and engraved it.
 On the horn there are engraved the coat of arms of United States, a man of war. signifying war. the old oaken bQcke1 which represents peace: a ship on\tl1e ocean, symbolical of commerce, and modern ten story building. which is supposed to show the great advance
 ment that has been made in the build ing line.
 The horn is greatly prized by Mir. Mahony on account of the workman ship on it and also because of the fact
 that his son did 1t all
 MT. Mahony is in his ssth year and has travelled extensively
 One story that he tells and one that he says really happened to him when
 he was q young man. Is that in the
 year 1867 he was walking from Hall vile, Ct.. to Westerly. R. l., at about o'clock in the morning, and he had lost his way and was thinking that he
 would rest for the night. when on the road little way from him he saw a man leaning up against a rail, crying.
 He was directed to a haunted house, from which he finally escaped after much trouble, and got to Westerly ear ly in the morning tired and all of his nerves nuset over the incident of the previous evening. He was told by the people of Westerly where he had been the night before. and was informed that it was a haunted house and that he was very lucky to get away the way he did. as there were many people that had put up at that house and were nev- CT seen again.
 This is only one of the adventures that Mir. Mahony has met with in his life. and he says that there are more quite as thrilling.
 Mir. Mahoney claims Norwich as his home. He worked for Jesse D. Moves 25 years when he was street commis- sioner and had charge of the fire horses seven years. MT. Mahoney used to live in Thames and High streets, where his children were born.