the service music
himself while George Cooper was at the keys in the regions above.
After the service Goss said to Ousley, who was present, "What do you
think of the pedal organ?" "Magnificent!" replied the Oxford
Professor. "You know that the pipes are a long way off; did the pedals
seem to go exactly together with the manuals?" Goss asked.
"Perfectly," replied Ousley, "but why do you ask me in that way?" Then
Goss let out the secret--for it was really a great secret at the time.

Willis' great hobby was yachting. He owned a 54-ton yacht named the
_Opal_, and attributed the wonderful health he enjoyed to his numerous
sea voyages. "I have circumnavigated the whole of England and
Scotland," he said, "and I am my own captain. Those two men over
there" (pointing to two of his employees working in the factory) "are
my steward and shipwright. The steward is a fisherman--a fisherman
being very useful as a weather prophet. * * * I do all the repairs to
the yacht myself and have re-coppered her bottom two or three times. I
also put entirely new spars into her, and there stands her old mast.
Some years ago I injured the third and fourth fingers of both my hands
with the ropes passing through them. These four fingers became bent
under, and for a long time I had to play my services with only the
thumb and two fingers of each hand. But Dr. Macready, a very clever
surgeon, begged me to allow him to operate on my disabled fingers, with
the result that I can use them as of old, or nearly so."

Henry Willis died in London on February 11, 1900, in his 80th year,
deeply mourned by all who knew him, and was interred in Highgate
cemetery. In the course of this work we have referred to the many
improvements he effected in organ construction and reed voicing. As
Sir George Grove said, his organs are celebrated for "their excellent
engineering qualities." Clever, ingenious, dauntless and
resourceful--qualities blended together with a plentiful supply of
sound judgment and good common sense--were some of the striking
characteristics of this remarkable man. He gave his personal attention
to every department of his factory; nothing was too insignificant to
claim his notice; his thoroughness was extraordinary--every pipe went
through his hands. An organist himself, he was always thinking of the
player in laying out his instruments. He had a remarkably inventive
genius, which he turned to good account in the mechanical portions o