Hello MMD.  I was going to make the subject of this submission "Cats
in the Belfry" but I just knew that Robbie wouldn't approve.  Robert
Pelletier's query about Aeolian Orchestrelle linkages ruined by cat
urine produced a very strong resonance with me.

A few days ago I got back to Tasmania after a week in Adelaide and
noticed that I had left open the spoolbox doors on my Gulbransen
Recordo.  Then I noticed some verdigris on the tracker bar.  Then
I noticed a curious dried deposit on the floor of the spoolbox.
Finally it dawned on me that one of our two cats, in our absence, had
been up on the fallboard of the piano and had peed into the spoolbox.
This is taking music criticism too far!

Fortunately some brass polish and a damp cloth seems to have removed
most of the evidence, and as far as I can tell, nothing has penetrated
up the tracker bar tubing.

It's just as well that we have two cats, otherwise by now we very
likely would have no cats.  I suppose it could be argued that I was
asking for trouble by leaving those doors open.

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania