Destroying Old Pianos

[Paul Van Ees]

>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Wimblees@AOL.COM <Wimblees@AOL.COM>
>To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Date: Tuesday, April 20, 1999 3:55 PM
>Subject: Re: Destroying Old Pianos
>
>>I heard once that uprights float also, with the back just barely above the
>>water line. Any one out there with hands-on experience?
>>
>>Wim
(in the light of piano-catapult-to-the-hereafter-stories and gloomy news
casts, here is another try at frivolity):
>No,Wim, but a long time ago the  ship I was on capsized and, with many
other
>passengers, I was hurled overboard. After treading water for a while I
found
>as in a miracle,  the piano from the ships' lounge, a 9 foot Steinway
>concert grand. It was merrily floating along with legs down, and I and
>several other soaked shipwrecked souls clambered aboard. We wrestled the
lid
>off, two people were in the water propelling furiously away with their feet
>, pushing the keyboard end, while the rest of us used our hands to row and
took the music
>desk out  to act as a rudder. A waiting vessel appeared at the horizon to
rescue
>us. When at last we were about to board, we were so elated that we started
a
>chorus doing "What shall we do with a drunken sailor?", as the two swimmers
>behind the keyboard pounded the keys. They complained about several sticky
>keys but the piano seemed to hold its tune quite well!
>Pablo