The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-12-18
Valuable Violin.

When Fiddler Bobo lays his rough
cheek against the warped sides of the
violin and slowly draw the bow
across the strings, there is a farawaJ
light in his blue eyes as if he con
jured up pictures of 800 years ago.
Perhaps he is thinking Of the da.
when the Stradivarius on his arm
came across the seas, packed away il
the hold of a merchantmen of the
seventeenth century; perhaps he
catches a glimpse of the many gooc
fddlers who have played the Strao
in the years that have passed since
then; perhaps he is only conjecturins
whether he will next play Turkey
in the Straw or "Old Blind Fool.
Fiddler Bobo sat in the Journa
office and while his knotted fingers
slowly caressed the cracked sides o
the Stradivarius, told its history, as
it had come down to him in legend
and story of three centuries.
L have had the Strad seventeen
years." he said. And before that il
came down from generation to gen
GRAFTON of Backesters. 1t cost me
$40. l once had agreed to sell il
for $4,000"
And yet the Stradivarius is only a
piece of wood, scanned and scratched
along it's sides, white with rosin at the
bridge, blackish-brown on the rest
of it's surface. A piece of wood worth
thousands of dollars.
Il have been a fiddler ell of my
life," said Mr.. Bobo. From the
time was fifteen years old and was
playing at country dances until to-
day: My fathers were fddlers be-
fore me, and my sons are fiddlers
too. In 1896 Frank Backester and
were knocking around in Colorado
playing together. In Durango he
went broke. He came to me and Of
fered to sell me his violin. His was
old and black, but didn't know
what kind it was. And I had good
one already. So I told him that
didn't want it, but that would let
him pawn it with me for $40. And
that'e how l got the the Strad.
1T was not long after that in
Christone that l and the Strad both
were almost drowned in a water
spout, 1t was that storm that
wrecked the town and washed the
name out of the old fiddle.
$50 in 1904 I wrote to Frank
Backester from my home in McCar-
they, Ohio, and asked him what kind
of violin this was. He told me that
it was made in 1872 in England
was brought over to this country by
a Backester and from generation to
generation had been handed down in
the Backester family. He got this
information from Frank Gray, of ST.
Louis. who patched the old violin
forty years ago. Gray told him ii
was a genuine Strad.
Now | know of but two other
Strads in existence. One was sold
by a lady in New York to musical
college fer $4,000: the other was
sold by another lady to Denver
musical college for $500. | have
heard that the Denver fiddle came
over from England at the same time
this one did.
Il nearly parted with nay Strad
last fall year ago. A gentleman in
Philadelphi offered to buy it from
me for $4,000. I made the deal in
September and was to hand it over
to him in November. He died in
October
Mr.. Bobo is in Atlanta for the win
ter, staying with his son, Jasper
Bobo, general foreman for Jones
Bros. & Co. He is ready and will
ing to show the Stradivarius to all
who wish to see it.
He can play anything they want to
hear, from a sailors horn-pipe to
grand opera.
IF there's any fiddler in Atlanta
thinks he can beat me, let him come
on said Mr.. Bobo. 4 don't know a
note, but I've been playing at fld-
dlers' conventions for fifty years and
| reckon can shake a little music