SWEETEST HEART OF MARY / The Organ
Photographer: Jann Soltis
2/23/01
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Austin Organ

The huge pipe organ in the gallery, dedicated on Sunday, February 4. 1894, in a great public concert, was once one of the finest instruments in the city. The year 1977 saw the first phase of its restoration by the White Organ Co. of Lansing, Michigan; the second phase witnessed its complete restoration in 1984. It is a two-manual instrument with a great organ and a swell organ. Being a twenty-rank organ, it comprises pipes sixteen feet in height.
The case of this organ is unusually massive, being of solid two-inch oak, with heavy pilasters and moldings. Its finish reflects the beauty of the wood used in its fabrication. It was built by the Austin Organ Co. of Hanford, Conn. Because it was the second instrument built after a system invented by John Austin, a metal piece above the keyboard identifies it as “Austin Organ Co., Opus II, Built 1894.” It is, therefore, truly an antique instrument and is allegedly the only one of the very few of its kind manufactured that is extant. In fact, the first one built was destroyed in a church fire in Hartford.

This pipe organ utilizes an electromagnetic system. The keys of the organ do not communicate directly with the pipes of the instrument, but each one closes an electric current. A large cable, containing 202 insulated wires, extends from the keyboard to the interior of the organ. Each wire controls an electromagnet which opens a valve leading into a particular pipe. The current for this operation was originally supplied by two cells of storage batteries and the action was as quick as that of a piano.

One of the novelties of the construction of this organ is the pumping apparatus. It is located in a large airtight chamber in the interior of the organ and consists of a series of mechanical bellows along two sides of the room. In the center of the chamber is a large pulley with a crankshaft on either side. These cranks operate connecting rods which work the bellows. The instrument necessitated a man or two to maintain the pressure by means of a hand crank. Of course, eventually electric motors were installed to furnish the power.