The Washington times., 1924-05-02
DOCTOR SURE
V|OL|NS HAVE:
CHARACTER
Need Care and If Properly
Handled Can Melt the
Hardest of Hearts.

WATERLOO, Iowa, May Q. -
Miracles Of modern surgery are no
more delicate. nor amazing to the
laymen than the repair OF rare old
violins, according to Edward L.
Goss. expert repair man and con-
aloisseur Of fine fiddles.
No one can convince Gess that
violins do not have personality.
They need care, and only when
properly, handled viii their music
be Of the kind that nelts stone
hearts, turns tears into smiles or
brings forgetfulness to those who
are trcuble-laden, declares the vet
eran violin expert.
Goss was born on a farm in
Buchanan county, Iowa, and left
there to see the world in 1880. For
3orty-two years he studied violin
making and repairing, and in that
time he came in contact with many
makers of violins. Through these
associations he gained a wide knowl-
edge of the profession and the con-
etitution OF violin tone.
VioIins in every conceivable con-
dition are brought to Goss to be
treated" and it is seldom, he said.
one is beyond repair. Missing parts
can be replaced, while splintered
bits are glued together or spliced
in such a manner that the naked
eye cannot detect the break in the
original wood.
A repaired violin often will have
d tone far superior to the original,
naid Goss, for the insertion Of new
parts, or the removal Of others,
many times benefits the violin
greatly. Defects are easily detect
ed, and their correction leads to
additional tone.
The question of quality, while
not extremely important to the
novice, is of supreme Importance
to anyone who has played violin
for any length of time. The neces-
sity of owning good instrument
becomes obvious to every violin
player before he has progressed
far in his studies.
Everyone interested in the violin
knows the qualities of the old mas
ter violins, explained Goss, and also
knows that the same qualities can
not be found in later makes. Old
Violins are so scarce 1t IS next to
, impossible to obtain one at a rea-
sonable price. Old violins are dif-
ferent from anything else in the
world, declared Goss, because they
actually improve with age, and
their value correspondingly in
creases.
Perhaps nothing under the sun
IA counterfeited and initiated as are
oe,fn Nyin Comma
with outputs of many hundreds
per day, label their product with
the mark of the genuine, and many
are purchased by folks who think
they are obtaining originals, Goss
said.
Violin players generally handle
their instruments with the care
given to a baby, but even the most
careful sometimes damage them.
Violins that have been stepped on,
one or two that have been run
over by automobiles, several that
have been partly burned and many
that have been cracked or broken
by dropping are numbered among
those that are now awaiting repair
IN Goss' shop.
Goss is the only violin repairer
in the Middle West, and some parts
Of his territory range over the
entire country and foreign coun.
tries.
u Goss started in business here In
1922, when he occupied only one
small room hardly big enough to
turn around in, but now his shop
consists of two large rooms, with
every nook and corner filled with
violins, violin cases, wood of vari-
Gus kinds, bows and many other
things connected with violin re.
pairing.
His own stock of violins is large,
and several of them are very valu.
able. Patrons call his shop a mu
scum for violin lovers.