til recently, exhibited to visitors. To-day not a vestige
of it remains. Weary of the importunities of relic-seekers, the
Cremonese have torn it down, and have banished violins and every
reminder of them from the town.

The tone of a Stradivarius, in good condition, is round, full and
exceedingly brilliant, and displays remarkable equality as the player
passes from string to string. Dr. Joseph Joachim, owner of the famous
Buda-Pesth Strad, writes of the maker that he "seems to have given his
violins a soul that speaks and a heart that beats." The Tuscan Strad,
one of a set ordered by Marquis Ariberti for the Prince of Tuscany, in
1690, was sold two hundred years later to Mr. Brandt by a London firm
for L2,000. Lady Halle, court violinist to Queen Alexandra, owns the
concert Strad of Ernst (1814-1865), composer of the celebrated Elegie,
and values it at $10,000. A magnificent Stradivarius violin, with an
exceedingly romantic history, belongs to Carl Gaertner, the veteran
violinist and musician of Philadelphia, and could not be purchased at
any price.

Another violin-builder from Nicolo Amati's workshop was Andrea
Guarnerius (1630-1695), whose sons, Giuseppe and Pietro, followed in his
footsteps. The family name reached its highest distinction in his
nephew, Giuseppe (Joseph) Guarnerius (1683-1745), called del Gesu,
because on his labels the initials I. H. S., surmounted by a Roman
cross, were placed after his name, indicating that he belonged to a
Jesuit society.

This Joseph of Cremona figures in story as a man of fascinating,
restless personality, who for weeks would squander time and talents and
then set to work with a zeal equalling that of Master Stradivarius.
Tradition has it that he was once imprisoned for some bit of
lawlessness, and was saved from despair by the jailor's daughter who
brought him the tools and materials required for violin-building. What
he esteemed the masterpiece of his lonely cell he presented as a
souvenir to his gentle friend.

The violin about which this legend is woven, dated 1742, was bought by
Ole Bull from the famous Tarisio collection, and is now the property of
his son, Mr. Alexander Bull. It has an unusually rich, sonorous tone and
splendid carrying powers. Similar qualities are attributed to the
Paganini Guarnerius del Gesu, 1743, known as the "Canon" and kept under
glass at the Genoa Museum. Mr. Hart, a violin authority, places highest
in this make the "King Joseph," 1737, lon