r concert
purposes: "It is a complete failure; you cannot play a triplet on the
Trumpet, and I consider it the most d----nable invention ever placed
inside an organ." Notwithstanding these drawbacks this action became
very fashionable after its demonstration at St. Paul's, and was used
even in small organs in preference to the Barker lever. One builder
confessed to the writer that he had suffered severe financial loss
through installing this action. After expending considerable time (and
time is money) in getting it to work right, the whole thing would be
upset when the sexton started up the heating apparatus. The writer is
acquainted with organs in New York City where these same conditions
prevail.

The writer, however, will admit having seen some tubular actions which
were fairly satisfactory, one in particular in the factory of Alfred
Monk, London, England, where for demonstration purposes the tubes were
fifty feet long. Dr. Bedart informs us that Puget, the famous organ
builder of Toulouse, France, sets fifty feet as the limit of usefulness
of this action.

Henry Willis & Sons in their description of the organ in the Lady
Chapel of Liverpool Cathedral state that their action has been tested
to a repetition of 1,000 per minute, quicker than any human finger can
move. This is a square organ in one case, but we note they have
adopted the electric action for the great cathedral organ where the
distance of the pipes from the keys is too great for satisfactory
response.

In view of the wide use at present of this action we give a drawing and
description of its operation as patented and made by Mr. J. J. Binns,
of Bramley, Leeds, England. J. Matthews, in his "Handbook of the
Organ," says that this action is very good and free from drawbacks.

[Illustration: Fig. 5. Tubular Pneumatic Action]

The tubes, N, from each key are fixed to the hole connected to the
small puffs P in the puff-board E. Air under pressure is admitted by
the key action and conveyed by the tubes N which raises the
corresponding button valves S|1|, lifting their spindles S and closing
the apertures T|2| in the bottom of the wind-chest A, and opening a
similar aperture T in the bottom of the cover-board F, causing the
compressed air to escape from the exhaust bellows M, which closes,
raising the solid valve H in the cover-board F and closing the aperture
J|1| in the wind-chest A, shuts off the air from the bellows, which
immediately closes