Evening star., 1924-11-16
4NERlCA'S MOST BEAUTIFUL.TONED ORGAN
WILL BE INSTALLED IN NEW AUDITORIUM
100000 Msirunlen; Tn.
der Construction BY
Hagersto:Uu Firm.
Archer Gibson, Designer.
Is Famed as Player.
Ready This Winter.


ucvelo3ei Instrument tonally that has
ever been produced. is now under
construction for the WASHINGTON
Auditorium and will be installed in
that structure shorty after the first
Of the year.
The Washington Auditorium. own
a. and controlled by about 500 resi-
dents of the District who axe stock
holders, Will he officially opened and
dedicated about January 10 but it is
understood the mammoth organ will
not have been installed completely
by that time. Therefore II will be
dedicated at "A later date.
With seating capacity of G.000,
the auditorium will have the distinc-
iion OF being the largest theater in
the world. although not the largest
convention hall. Inasmuch as it is
Ideally adapted for both conventions
and theatrical performances. the di-
r"ctors decided that the auditorium
SHOULD have 4 large pipe organ.
Corhy Head. Committee.
". :. corby, owner o. a beautiful
instrument and an authority on pipe
ORGANS which by reason of their in
tricate construction t.:'e more or less
mysterious 10 the average citizen,
WAS appointed chairman of the organ
committee and a unanimous decision
was reached that no stone should be
lett unturned in obtaining an in
strumenJ that is not surpassed in
this country.
The result Of this committees tire
less labors is now made known.
Archer Gibson OF New York, uni
Nersally recognized by those who
have given the most time and spent
the most money in the development
Of the pipe organ, as q preeminent
oTganist and organ technician, was
retained TO advise the committee and
write the specificatio for the in
strument. Thus the committee would
have an organ exactly as desired
aud which Mr.. Gibson. after having
been told of the great auditorium
building agreed should be the most
artistic organ tonally that has ever
been produced. The organ not only
Will be enjoyed by Washingtonians
but by hundreds of thousands of peo-
pic visiting Washingt from all
parts OF the world. Further the
organ was to be 50 perfect that it
would a once take prominent part
in the artistic life of the National
Capital.
Expert Work Assured.
When first approached on the mat
ter of writing the specifications Mr..
Gibson declared the undertaking was
40 gigantic that he could not touch 1t
without devoting his entire time and
energy 10 the work, but after several
weeks of intensive CORE spondence
and personal visits with him Mr.. Glib
son consented to write the SpecifiCa-
tions, to inspect the construction and
the mechanics of the organ and
supervise the tuning Of it both at the
organ factory and at the auditorium
when It finally is installed. This
agreement was reached with the full
understanding Of the committee that
rvery detail in reference to the or
gan was to be always approached
first from the artistic side and that
every condition requested by Mr.. Glib
son would be carried out.
More weeks passed by. and then
one day Mr.. Gibson appeared before
the committee with his specifications.
The organ should have 100 stops
which would make 1t compare with
symphony orchestra of 100 pieces,
and in order to reproduce the playing
Of an orchestra OF that size on the
organ there would have to be 5000
pipes. The smallest was to be three
quarters of an inch long by onequar
ter of an inch in diameter and the
largest to be 80 feet long and of
diameter that man could crawl into
on his hands and knees. Then each
stop" or orchestra instrument-say
the violin-Will have its own and
complete complement of pipes, equiva-
lent to every note on the violin, and
the pipes of no one stop would be
borrowed from or compounded with
another.
Contract to Maryland Firm
The specifications were submitted
to fourteen pipe organ manufacturers
.,,l 4 rr,1 10 In c{ nf
letters from some Of them pronounce
ing the specifications the most COM
nlcte and .artisticaly correct they
have ever seen. After much study of
'ha different proposals by organ
builders the contract was awarded
10 NJ. +. Moller of Hagerstown. Md,
at n price of 100000.
MIR. Noller, on being advised Of the
award appeared before the organ
committee and said:
Gentlemen, inasmuch as YOU have
awarded tho contract to the NJ. P.
Moller Company. l have a further
proposition to make to you. The
specifications for the Washington Au-
ditorium organ are the finest I have
ever read, but as this organ is to be
located in the city of Washington,
where people from all parts of the
world are to enjoy it, and because of
my feeling that the city of Washing
ton should have the finest pipe organ
that 1t is possible to build, and by a
coincidence the completion of the
WashinGto Auditorium will also
mark the o0th anniversary Of the
founding of the Moller pipe organ indus
try, hence ! plan to make this, my gold
On jubilee organ. a monument to this
important milestone in my business life.
TO incorporate into this organ all the
science, skin and experience attained
by myself and the members of our
large organization, built up during
these many years.
Cooperation in Building.
The specification that you pre-
pared and that bid on are the finest
that have ever been presented to me,
but / am even willing that they
should be rewritten by Mr.. Gibson il
he feels that he can in any way i'm
prove upon them, even though it
might cost NE more to build the
organ, with the understanding that
the organ is not to cost the Wash
ington Auditorium Corporation any
more than the price first specified"
Accordingly the specifications were
again submitted to Mr.. Gibson with
the request that they be improved
upon, if possible. There were a few
additions and changes made, and the
specifications were again returned to
Mr.. Moller by Mr.. Gibson in person,
and again every detail was carefully
gone over. so that each would better
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