Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-07-28
VIOLIN MASTERS
SECRET FOUND.
Illinois Banker Discovers Lost
Process Of Stradivarius.
HAS LAB0RED MANY YEARS

Can Now Finish Instruments as Did the
Famous Cremona Master 200 Years
Ago-For Many Years Violin Makers
Have Been Searching for the Secret
Process by Which Stradivarius Var.
nished His Violins-Banker Has Not
Disclosed His Secret.
Lost for more. than 200 years, the
secret process by which Stradivarius
vanished viOlins is claimed to have
been rediscovered by Fred A. Horn, a
banker at Laomi, Ill, who in his
leisure hours manufactures instru-
ments as nearly as he can like like
those of the Italian master.
His violins are in demand in Spring
field at substantial prices, but MI. Horn
is not in the business Of making vio-
Inns. He does it only for the pleasure
It gives him. and he works at it only
as he pleases. For years he labored,
his friends say, completing violins, var
nished and unvarnished, touching his
bow string to one, and then to another,
forever listening with critical ear to
the qualities of sound.
Banker Works in Shop.
Lately he announced he believed
that at last he had found 1.-THE secret
process of the maker of Cremonas,
which other violin makers for 200
years have sought in vain. Mr.. Horn
has demonstrated the qualities of his
improved instrument to a few friends,
but has not yet submitted it to a jury
Of critics.
His workshop at Laomi is a small
comfortable shed near his home, where
slabs of wood hang from the ceiling.
After banking hours, when the spirit
moves him, Mr.. Horn enters his work
shop and builds a fire. Then he sits
down, he says, and waits for a slab to
Speak" to him. "Take me- a slab APP
peals, "and see what you can do" MI.
Horn says he hears one say.
That one he takes down and starts
the process which has produced instru-
ments of beauty, pretty as a picture"
local orchestra leaders say, which
stand comparison with the best, made
of modern fiddles.
Mr.. Horn has not disclosed the proc
ess he says he has ~rediscovered, nor
the manner by which he found it.
Varnish Secret Lost.
The search he has quietly conducted
has been the common search of many
violin makers. Different and contra
dictory theories have been advanced
from time to time to explain Cremona
varnish. It was in use only from 1850
to 1850. After that it would seem to
have vanished as completely and mys-
teriously as it appeared.
One of the many theories advanced
is that successive and superimposed
coats of oil and spirit varnish were
applied by stradivarius. Most makes
now are finished with oil varnish
alone.
Importance of the varnish is not
overeestimated by Mr.. Horn. 1t is EN-.
phasized in various books on the sub.
ject, and especially in Groves Diction.
airy of Music.
"It was the understanding of the re
lationship between perfect proportions
and a pliable protective covering thai
clings to the wood and vibrates with it
that made Stradiyarius' violins So
transcendentally superior to al
Others" says the dictionary: "What
were the component parts of the var
nish employed by Cremona's famous
luther it is impossible to say. Two
hundred years have passed since theil
application period long enough fol
the gums, resins, and dilutents to have
become oxydized beyond the reach O.
quantitive or qualitative analysis.
Besides which even the most enthu
siastic inquirer would hesitate before
the cost entailed, though the tasl
has been unsuccessfully attempted
with fragments Of instruments tina.
have been damaged beyond possibilit.
Of reconstruction. Apparently the Sc
cret must remain a secret"
OBJECTS TO QUESTIONS