Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 40.djvu/656

 He learned his business with Flight & Robson, the famous English builders, and proved a workman of rare ability. In 1837 he arrived in New York, bringing over his family with him. American organ-building was in an embryo state at the time, and Jardine was compelled to put his mechanical skill to account in other directions; but he found an entry into the business in due time. Working along in an unpretentious way, he awaited an opportunity to show his ability. The Church of St. James gave him a contract for a small instrument, and the outcome laid the basis of his fortune. E. G. Jardine, his son, who had been educated to all the niceties and comprehensive details of the business, was taken into partnership in 1860, and upon the death of his father became the head of the firm. This gentleman has traveled extensively in Europe, where he studied the celebrated works of Cavaillé-Coll and other noted builders to acquire a broader insight into his art. During recent years Jardine & Sons have erected the following instruments: Fifth Avenue Cathedral, St. George's, St. Paul's, M. E., Holy Innocents, New York; Pittsburgh Cathedral, Mobile Cathedral, Christ Church, New Orleans, and the Brooklyn Tabernacle organ, all these being four-manual organs, besides a vast number of other notable instruments, which can not be specified here. George Jardine died in 1883, leaving a name destined to live among the world's greatest organ-builders of this century.

The present condition of the art of organ-building in America is further exemplified in the magnificent concert instrument erected in the Auditorium Building, Chicago, by the Roosevelt house of New York. Hilbourne L. Roosevelt, the founder of this house, was a native of New York, who was educated to a scholastic pursuit. Interest in the instrument as a boy led up to an enthusiasm for the mechanical and artistic possibilities which it