Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1908 — PIPE ORGAN IS BEING INSTALLED [ARTICLE]

PIPE ORGAN IS BEING INSTALLED

Instrument Which Andrew Carnegie Helps Pay for is Being Placed in Christian Church.

Not many cities the Bize of Rensselaer have churches that have great pipe Organs, and the instrument now being placed in the Christian church is the first one ever installed in this City. Within the next two weeks the great organ will be completed and as soon after that time as is possible a concert will be given and the public invited to attend. It is the intention to have a player of note, and Dr. W. Leroy Myer, leader of the choir and the prime mover in getting the organ, is now trying to arrange for the concert, but has his plans not sufficiently completed to make public. A pipe organ is a remarkable piece of mechanism, more ingenious than is indicated by its exterior 4 appearance. The visible part of the organ —the pipes, the key board, and the pedal keys—form but a small part of the mechanism. The motive power of the instrument is a water motor, situated in the basement, and which keeps the large wlndchest beneath and back of the organ filled. All the speaking pipes, and there are practically a thousand of them, are connected with this wlndchest, and all the pipes are also connected hy means of small lead pipes varying in length from one-half inch to eight feet, with the keying system of the organ. The instrument is really divided into three parts, the swell-organ, great-organ and pedal organ. It is called a tubular pneumatic instrument and is made by M. P. Roller, of Hagerstown, Md. All organs are specially' made to fit in the churches using them, and the measurements for this organ were made several months ago and the or-gan-has since then bepn built and is being installed under the direction of Mr. Lllley, who made the original measurements. The frame of the or-

gan is quarter-sawed oak, stained the same as the seats. And the exterior pipes are colored to conform to the window and color scheme of the church interior. The skill of the performer on the organ is not confined to the keying alone, but the use of the stops-forms an important feature in the playing, as when only one key is pressed the coupling from the stop can make six keys speak at the same time, and thus when all the fingers of the performer are in use sixty of the pipes can vibrate simultaneously, each with a different note, and then the pedal action is also difficult, as there are a number of different pedals and each speakes through the tubes and pipes in volume as they are tripped by the feet oI the musician. Thus by the movement of the foot the eefiest stop on the organ can be tripped and so on in serial order until the entire volume of stops are released, and then by reverse action the stops may be closed. The letwork of lead tubing can be imaginrd when it is known that one mile of tubing is used in making the connections and that the longest piece is 8 feet.

It will be remembered that Dr. Myer as choir director and chairman of the pipe organ movement, took up the matter with Andrew Carnegie, the steel king, and that that philanthropic gentleman agreed to give SI,OOO, provided the committee here would raise a similar sum. This proved quite a task, coming after the building of the church, but it was accomplished by diligent work, and the $2,000 instrument was ordered. It is not known who will become the local performer on the organ, but probably some one will have to take a course of instruction preparatory to using the instrument