Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-13
a Twenty Cent Fiddle.

IT was one of those little iiddles That
they sell in the streets. y man standing
ON a street corner had lot of them III Il
tall. square cardboard box, and oeca-
sionaIIy he would draw a bow across tue
strings of one which lie held in his hand
Mr. ,Goslington did not hear him actual
lv play a tune upon it. but lac certainly
did evoke from il musical sounds. ana
really the little iiddes were fascinating.
As Mr.. Goslington stood short dis
tanee away looking on middle aged,
sedate looking man stepped up ana
bought a fiddle, and then Mr. Goslington
thought that if the middle aged man
could buy one lie could do so himself.
So he applied for fiddle
The vendcr reached down into that tan
cardboard box and bshed up hdie
which was wrapped in piece oil Ger
man newspaper-made in Germany the
little fiddles are. HI put the hddic INTO
a paper bag and then he reached down
again into the tall cardboard box ana
got out "a fiddle bow. which also he put
into the bag, and then he reached GOWN
into the tall box once more and Drought
up something about the size OF slnaii
caramel wrapped up in blue paper Il
piece of rosin this. wherewith to rub tue
bow. lie dropped this into the paper
bag. and then he twisted the bag neck
around gently and handed it over to MI.
Coslington. whereupon Mr. Goslinstoh
paid to him the price of the lot winch
vas 90 cents. That evening when ne h'u
plenty of time for such occupation Mr..
Goslington inspected his purchase.
The little hddle's body was six inches.
in length and the neck, including the
head, which had the conventional scroll,
measured five inches. making It's elitlrc
length II inches and what with those
familiar openings in the top and All 1t
was in its design and general appear
ance a regular violin in miniature.
The neck and the head were of wood,
as were the pegs that hold the strings,
but the bridge and the tailpiece were oil
tin while the body seemed to be OF
moulded pasteboard or of papier mache.
How the top aud back We're secured to
the sidepiece was not clear, but around
the wooden neck the covering material
was held together at the back with wire
tires like those used in stitching maya
zines The tin tailpiece and the neck
and pegs were painted black and the
body in the familiar violin colorS. The
only odd thing TO the eye about the
.nuinment was the bow, which, nine and
a half inches in length, was painted red.
When Mr.. Gosington had inspected It
enough he set up the bridge and tried
tuning the little fiddle. The q string
worked all right, and really ii was
pleasure to hear its truly Violinlike tone.
Then he tried the y string and that was
musical all right. too, till lie tuned it up
too high and broke the string. The n
string sounded all right, but Its peg
slipped. and so for the moment Mr.. Cos
! lington passed on to tune up the II.
string, but when he came to try that he
| found that the string peg was split
and wouldn't stand tuning up.
So Mr.. Goslington stopped work on the
| little fiddle for the time being and
he knew he could make stick by rubbing
Il little rosin on it. and the split peg he
could probably turn with pair of PIN
GERS and he could get another string
for the one he had broken, and still he
was, all things considered just a little
disappointed. But when he said as much
TO his friend Stoggleton the latter was
quite indignant
"What do you expect to get for 20
cents?' he says. "a bass viole''s
And Mr. Goslington replied that he
guessed he was right, that he had had
20 cents worth out of the fiddle already.
New York Sun.