Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org

THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW 33 Remarkable Exhibit of Wire and Its Varied Uses Culmination of the Great Educational Campaign Carried on by the American Steel & Wire Co., Found in a Large Section of the Comprehensive Display of the United States Steel Corporation at the Panama-Pacific Exposition— The Close Relation of Wire Products to the Music Trade Superbly Illustrated

(Special to The Review.) nate conflicting vibrations from all essential parts. what, one may ask, has wire to do with a pipe SAN FRANCISCO, CAI.., February 20.—Never in Finally, the display winds up with the three grades organ. Well, the exhibit shows that nearly any the history of expositions in any part of the world of piano string wire made by the company, in all kind of an organ uses a lot of wire; while in the has an exhibit been shown so absolutely unique and sizes : the Perfected, Crown and Star. wonderful modern electrical instrument, such as complete in an educational way or of such com- The improved pedal trap made by Widney & tiie remarkable Wurlitzer Unit Orchestra, used pelling interest to the members of the music trade Widney, Chicago, largely of wire, is also displayed and exhibited in the demonstration hall, some 500 industry and the musical public as that of the in the music section ot the exhibit, as are a group miles of wire are used to distribute the electrical products of the United *States Steel Corporation, occupying the entire south end of the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy at the Panama-Pacific Ex- position in this city. One of the most amazing sections of the exhibit is that devoted to ihe multitudinous uses of the varied wire products of the corporation, from the crudest form of fence wire on the farm through a thousand and one industries of various char- acters, and finally to the highest refinement of the art, the wire products used in the construction of musical instruments. The section devoted to wire and its uses in various forms is so arranged that the observer is not oppressed with the sense that he is simply gazing at coils or uiles of material in which he has no direct interest, nut the application of wire prod- Palace of Mines and Metallurgy, Panama- Pacific Exposition Where Exhibit Is Made. ucts to his own individual needs, whether he be a of bass piano strings wound by John A. Schaff. impulses, at the will of the player, from the keys farmer, manufacturer or a consumer without any One of the most complete sectional exhibits in to the intricate arrangement of pipes and attach- special line of business, is brought home to him by connection with the display of wire products for ments. Round wires, and llat wires, thick wires and means of gigantic piece art work as it were, where- piano use is that of a complete tuner's kit made hairlike copper filaments, single, or bound in thick in the raw product and its use are directly con- from tuning hammer to tiny wires for action re- cables, or spread in a broad web, are stretched out nected. A large part of the space is backed by pair work, of various classes of standard wire, in sight of the spectator from the console, through a great cyclorama, the first section of which rep- screw-drivers, drills, gauges, wrenches, all parts 1 arums controlling devices, to the sound-producing resents a farm and before which is shown the of the outfit having wire as its basis. This tuner's many varied wire and other metal products used by parts of the instrument. agriculturists, such as plain and barbed wire for The display begins with the Kinetic blower for fences, various by-products and so on. organs with wire used at innumerable points in its construction, for electric connection, relay and Next come; the use of wire and kindred prod- other work, associated with the construction and ucts in mining, its use for conveyor cables, etc., operation of pipe organs and similar instrument;. and then on to the manufacturing field, which nat- Toward the rear of the case is shown the con- urally represents the largest section of the exhibit. sole of a modern electrically-operated pipe organ, The final and rmst interesting point—'because it so arranged that a view of its interior may be ob- is considered even by wire makers themselves as tained from the rear of the case. the highest development of their art—is reached A most interesting exhibit of action parts, tuning when the visitor comes to that section of the ex- pins, etc., is that furnished by the American Mu- hibit devoted to the use of wire products in the sical Supply Co., Jersey City, N. J., and which manufacture of musical instruments. Here is sheds new light on the manifold uses of wire in found a great glass case twenty-five feet long, ten the making of piano supplies of various sorts. feet wide and eight feet high devoted exclusively Another interesting section of the display is to illustrations of the use of wire in grand and that devoted to the use of wire products in the upright pianos, organs and accessories and even construction of the harp, a feature of which is the harp. For this purpose there is arranged in a case a complete half section of a Steinway grand the display of a full sized harp, tilted so that the piano showing in a most interesting and •enlighten- entire action may be seen through the bottom. This ing manner the use of round and flat wire, screw display has aroused particular curiosity for the number of those familiar with the construction stock, etc., in its construction. A. little further on Frank E. Morton. one sees a complete section of a Julius Bauer & of harp actions is vary limited. kit was assembled by the I'iano Parts Manufactur- In connection with the exhibit and as a climax Co. upright for illustrating the uses of wire prod- ing Co., of Chicago, and in a comparatively small thereto there has beon constructed the demonstra- ucts in that type of piano. Further on is found space offers one of the most comprehensive exhibits tion hall of the United States Steel Corporation, a "Carola Board" ai ranged at the factory of the of the utility of wire to be found in the display. wherein recitals will be given four times daily. Cable Company, Chicago, and showing laid out In the piano, wire, as an essential, but minor fac- on a flat surface measuring four by seven feet the The Wurlitzer Unit Orchestra has been installed, tor, is taken more or less as a matter of course, but and the organist will be Henry Spiller, formerly scores of round and flat wire parts that go into the layman little imagines the scientific investigation, organist of the Garden City Cathedral, Garden the making of the Carola Inner-Player. the minute attention to details, required to produce City, N. Y. The Welte-Mignon in connection piano strings of real excellence. Moreover, as Following this, next the recital hall entrance, is with the Steinway grand, the harps and other brought out in the display, it is not only in the the frame and string arrangement of one of the instruments will also be featured at the recital by strings that wire is essential to piano construction, new model Julius Bauer grands, showing not only artists of recognized standard. It is explained by though these probably show the material in its high- the use of wire in the strings, but also (an inter- those in charge of the exhibit that the recitals est perfection. Wire i>f surpassing strength is re- esting feature to musicians and piano men) how are in no way to be considered as musical func- tions in any sense, but simply and purely as dem- onstrations of .he completed product in the manu- facture of which wire so largely enters. The ex- position visitor sees the wire in the coil, its de- velopment into various forms, its utilization in the manufactured product, and finally through the recitals the people are enabled to listen to the completed result. That section of the exhibit relating to acoustics was prepared entirely under the direction of Frank E. Morton, acoustic engineer of the Amer- Half Section of Steinway Grand Similar to That Shown at Exposition. ican Steel & Wire Co., and every way represents the plate has been cut away to increase the effect- quired for the pins, and great quantities, large and the most complete, comprehensive and interesting iveness w.f the strings and sound-board, and elimi- small, are used in many parts of the action. But (Continued on page 34.)