THE BOSTON ORGAN CLUB NEVISLETTER Vol. 6, No. 1, Whole No. 51 January 1970 MIXTURES - The two-manual 1870 Erben organ mentioned on page 1 of the December Newsletter was rescued by 1~chael E. Roy, a high school student who resides in Auburn, Malne. Mr. Roy is a young organ enthusiast who plans to renovate the instrument and add a few stops. The three-manual 1869 Erben in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Concep­ tion, Portland, Haine, described in the Newsletter for September, 1967, has been removed while the interior of the Cathedral is being renovated. The organ is to be rebuilt by a local "builder," and the century-old slider chests recently received the "chain saw treatment .n 1970 is the centennial year of the splendid three-manual E. & G. G. Hook organ in the Unitarian Church, Woburn, Mass. This spring, the Newsletter will publish the original contract and other material contemporary with 'the building of the organ, which was "openedtt on January 4, 1871. At 7 p.m., Sunday, May 3, Miss Irene Dorner, organist of the church and Hr. Richard Hedgebeth will present the first recital celebrating the anniversary, which is under the direction of the cordial custodian of the organ, }~. Charles Smith of Woburn. The amount of baloney regarding organs found in non-organ publications would surely fill every market in Boston for a decade. This example is from a 1969 International Business Machines Corporation brochure: The great organ in the historic cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, France now incorporates IBM relays to help enhance the majestic sounds which flood from its 6,ooo pipes. The organ1s formidable array of stops and pedalboards not only demands skilled accomplishment to play, but until modernization, called for strenu­ ous physical effort by the organist. Im-r wire contact relays make playing this great organ much less difficult now. By adding a control console containing a battery of 3, 000 IBM relays, it was possible to increase the number of organ stops from 104 to 130, while decreasing the effort involved in manipulation. The mechanism enables the organist to switch combinations of stops auto­ matically while playing. The relays permit pre-selection and stop storing, enabling the grand organ to smoothly shift complex tones from reed-like quality to full-throated crescendo. Up to fifty different stop combinations are possible during the rendition of a single organ pe:dormance. The French technicians supervising the organ modernization project studied a variety of switching control products before selecting the IB~1 wire contact relay. It was chosen principally because of proven high reliability and compact, space-saving design. · Our apologies Mr. Fonterieau - that there should be such a console in Parisl Recent old tracker organs found: J. H. & C. S. Odell 2-13, Opus 361, 1899, in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Episcopal, Newburgh, N.Y.; Geo. Jardine & Son 2-25, Opus 1046, 1890, rebuilt by M. P. Moller as Opus 1625, c.l913, with detached Pedal towers, in st. Francis of Assisi R·.c. Church, Newburgh, N.Y.; Reuben Midmer & Son J.-7, c.l903, in Tomkins Memorial Church, Tomkins Cove, N.Y.; and J. H. & c. s. Odell 2m, Opus 249, 1888, in the Church of the Holy Communion, Episcopal, NorV~ood, N.J. The Ne·wsletter is published monthly by The Boston Organ Club, 33 Bowdoin Street, Roston, Massachusetts, 02114. Editor: E. A. Boadway, 335 Court Street, Keene, New Hampshire, 03431; telephone Area 603, 357-0999 (weekends). Meetings are usually held on the last Sunday afternoon of each month. ~;Iembership: $5.00 per year. January 1970 Page 2 STEER & TURNER - THE VfESTFIELD YEARS, 1867-1880 -- An account by E. A. Boadway, taken principally from newspapers of the period. ~ VI Another disaster came to the firm, and the Times and Newsletter for Wednesday, March 27, 1878, describes the scope of the fire and the size of the building: Destructive Fire. The fire king is wielding his sceptre with a mighty power of late in this town, and seems bent on measuring swords with the water king. On Wednesday evening of last week, Steer & TUrner's organ factory was lapped up by the hun­ gry flames, despite the concentrated power of Nontgomery water dextrously handled by our efficient firemen. It took the best of skill and management on the part of the fire department to save adjoining property. It seemed inevitable at one time that Meadow street must fall a victim to the devouring element. The effective work done and the property saved on this occasion, furnished another convincing proof of the value and potency of the water works, skillfully manipulated by experienced men, such as compose our fire department. The building burned was extensive and combustible to a degree hardly real~ ized by the uninitiated. It was built in 1871, and combined 200,000 feet of lumber; 61,000 feet of spruce in floors; 64,000 feet of pine timber in frame; 15,000 feet of pine in sheathing; it took 65,000 shingles to cover it; there were 153 windows in it; it contained 64,000 bricks, and cost $11,000. These figures will suffice to give some idea of the extent and magnitude of the building, as well as the great heat its burning must have produced. The loss on the building was estimated at $7500, of which $6000 was covered by insur­ ance in the following companies:- Queen's, Royal Canadian, Irving of New York, Merchants 1 of Providence, People r s of Trenton, Western of Toronto. The owners of the building are Edwin Smith, Henry Loomis, H. B. Smith, W. H. Foote, and M. B. Whitney. S. N. Lewis is a heavy loser, as he held a mortgage on all the stock, tools and machinery, which were used by Steer & Turner, amounting in value to about $9000, on which he held only $1000 insurance in the l~estchester of New York. A total of 17 hands were employed, most of whom lose all their tools. Steer & Turner have commenced work temporarily in the old American whip factory on ~.~echanic street. The other losers by the fire are H. c. Shute, fancy wood turner, who loses about $3000, and the Westfield collar box company, which loses about $200 in lumber. ~~. Shute had an insurance of $1400, divided equally between the Con­ tinental of New York and the Etna of Hartford. The total loss by the fire approximates $20,000. The firemen worked with characteristic energy, and were refreshed by hot coffee, generously and thoughtfully provided by Hrs. Foster, of the Foster house, for which the boys are heartily grateful, and they desire us to accept the diplomatic mission of bearing to the good landlady of the Canada hotel their sentiments of gratitude, and we hereby accept the pleasant mission. On April 3, the paper reported that nrt turns out that the $1000 insurance which S. N. Lewis supposed he held on the property destroyed by the recent fire, is not his at all, but Steer & Turner 1 s.n On the list of "Heavy Tax-Payerstt published on August 21, Jtrs. W. A. Johnson paid ~83 and Johnson & Son paid $109, but Steer & Turner are not listed. The end of 1878 brought yet another troublesome period for the organ builders. The Times and Newsletter of December 11 describes a "TERRIBLE CALAHITYtt -- a flood of the Great River which did $500,000 damage to half of the town and altered the bed of the river. The only mention of Steer & Turner is "··· Beyond this new river are the ruins of Steer & Turner r s organ factory, •• ·" Perhaps an examination of the city records would reveal whether or not the firm erected a new building following the March 20 fire. On December 18 the paper reports that "Steer & Turner are already moving into the old American whip factory on Mechanic January 1970 Page 3 street. 11 The following paragraph apPears in the same issue: Steer & Turner are full of the grief of misfortunes. They have been burned out clean twice, severly scorched once, besides being twice drowned out. They seem to have as many lives as a cat, and a "singed cat" at that. They lose some $6000 or $8000 by the catastrophe. They had a contract for a large organ for the Catholic church in Washington, D.C., which was to be done in March, besides other work in hand and prospective. In 1879, L. H. Everts of Philadelphia published a two-volume History of the Connecticut Valley in ~1assachusetts, and organs are mentioned on page 2sr-of Vol. II: Church Organs. Westfield enjoys distinction as a place where some of the finest and largest church organs are manufactured. Specimens of the product in this direction may be seen in many magnificent churches, and it is believed to be generally under­ stood that Westfield church organs rank with the best manufactures. Johnson & Son and Steer & Turner are engaged in this department of manufacture in which about 100 persons are employed, and a capital of $100,000 to $150,000 invested. Johnson & Son occupy a commodious manufactory on the Westfield River, in l.Jifest­ field Village, and, nearby, Steer & Turner carried on thEidr enterprise until their works were utterly swept away by the flood of Dece·mber, 1878. They are nm"'- (1879) located on Mechanics [sic] Street. On .January 22, 1879, the Times and Newsletter says: --Steer & Turner, who have encountered wind, water and fire by the wholesale, are still at it and are full of business. They now have in the works an organ for the church of the Imnaculate Conception, at 1Nashington, D.C., another for the M.E.