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How They Are Made Abroad mad Way They Can Not He Manufactured Here The violin, it is said, is the only mu sical instrument that possesses a soul. But the quality of its harmonies de pends as much upon its strings as upon its body. The manufacture of these threads of catgut, from which a mas ter of the art is able to draw such ex quisite strama, is so important indus try. It is not carried on in this coun try to any extent—at all events, the finer qualities of strings are not made here, because American sheep do not have the right sort of intestines. Cat gut, contrary to the popular notion, is not derived from the back-fence tabby, but from lambs. A manufacturing center for violin strings is the town of Markneukirchen, in Saxony. The business there is a very old one, and is believed to have been started originally by immigrat ing Protestant Bohemians during or soon after the Thirty Years’ war. The processes employed have always been kept secret, being handed down from father to son, generation after genera tion. However, the methods in a gen eral way are sufficiently well known for purposes of description. In 1777 a union of string-makers was founded, and a flaw was passed forbidding any one not a member of this organization from plying the craft, penalties of fine and imprisonment being established. ‘The secret held most important was the composition of the lye mixture em ployed to bleach the string. In old days likewise every maker of violins had his own peculiar varnish. He was perpetually seeking to discover the Philosopher's stone of his trade—name ly, a varnish such as that used by Stradivarius, Guarnerius and Amati, which should impart to his instruments an imperishable beauty, while reveal ing the satin-like finish of the wood beneath. But since the days of those celebrated and unequaled manufac turers of fiddles the production of such a varnish has been a lost art. The fects are summed up by Oscar Gottschalk, United States consular agent at Marknenkirchen, in a com munication just received by the state department at Washington. He says that the makers of the strings at Marknenkirchen formerly got their raw material in Germany. But in 1810 the whole town was burned up, and one manufacturer went away in search of shvelihned, finally reaching Copen hagen. Noticing large flocks of sheep in Denmark, he bought some of the gute and made strings of them, which were found to be of better quality than the home brand. This discovery resulted in large importations of the article Into Marknenkirchen, and at about the same time the first strings were exported thence to the United States. Since then the industry has depended largely upon American buyers. The supply of material for the finest strings has at no time equaled the de mand and half the world has been ransacked for sheep-gut, possessing the requisite qualities. In 1861 another enterprising citizen of Markneukirchen crossed Russia—at that time a ven ture of no small péril—and bought “uantities of the intestines of the steppe sheep of that country. These were found to be superior to anything previously obtained, and to the prese nt day manufacturers at Mark neukirchen get the bulk of their sheep gut from Russia, mounting an oualy to about two hundred thousand dollars' worth. Other material is im ported from England, Denmark, Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, Java and Palestine. Unfortunately, the Russian gut has deteriorated since the flock owners have crossed the breeds of the steppe sheep and the Spanish sheep for the sake of improving the wool. ‘The qualities desired to catgut for violin strings are a symmetrically cylindrical form combined with a trans parent whiteness. Ordinarily the pur chaser contracts with the breeder for all of his gut for at least one year. He has his own cleaning establishment annexed to the slaughter-house, and in person supervises the processes. Im mediately after the anira] is killed all grease and foreign matter must be removed from the intestines, alae the latter will become discolored. Then they are wound on flames and left to t dey in the open air. The gut for a musical string must be from a lamb] born in spring and slaughtered pot. later than October or November of the same year; those from older sheep can be used only for bass strings or for minor purposes. The best quality is termed ‘‘summer gut, being from a lamb killed in summer. It is chiefly employed to make E strings, which are the most important Spring put” in second quality; though lacking tenacity, it is good enough for G, D and A strings. The dried intestines, when they reach the manufacturer, are placed in earthen vats containing lye. After soaking for twenty-four hours they are unraveled. Again they are put to lye, being sub jected to repeated baths in this sub stance. Meanwhile they are manipu lated again and again for cleansing, the external membranes being re moved, aims to leave only the fibrous material They are bleached in a sulphur bath and exposed to the tin. The next process is to rub each string with pumice stone, to remove any inequalities and to bring it down to the requisite diame ter. A polish is applied by frequent wiping with olign oil. Before ship ment, the strings are dried, cut, rolled and ansorted according to color. They will retain their quality for an in definite period is inclosed in herimetr ically-sealed boxes. The best violin strings are of Italian manufacture. The demand for them is no large that ten times as many Italian strings are sold an Italy is able to produce, Markneukirchen turns out, large quantities of so-called Italian strings. Special care is taken to make them equal to the beat. They are pul p in Italian fashion, and sometimes are disposed of as ‘Padua’ strings— Padua being the Malian city where cousical strings are chiefly made. An expert string-maker In Germany earns from three dollars and fifty-seven centa to five dollars a week. As has been stated, only musical stringa of interior qualities are made In the United States. The intestine of the American sheep is not suitable inys teria], because from the spring rain it is too weak, and from the summer sheep it has a wart-like growth every three or four feet, which units it for use. The climate of thin country is also too hot, catning the gut to for tent before it has been through the requisite number of the Latha Ex perts from Markneukirchen have come to the United States for the purpose of practicing their craft here, but for the reasons mentioned they have not suc ceeded very well.—St. Louis Republic, 218,00 Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, July § to 8, good to return until Sept. 1. ‘Walon Pasiic,
Newspaper Details
Lawrence Journal World
Lawrence, Kansas, US
Wed, Jul 10, 1895
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Matthias T.
DE 09 Sep 2026
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