Over the Christmas Holiday, I found and purchased an interesting old
tracker bar pump in a local antique shop.  Rather than the familiar
"Kleernote" piston-type device, this unit is bellows operated.

The bellows boards are of as-yet-undetermined wood, with what I'm
calling a cherry finish (reddish, might be mahogany).  The bellows
itself is about 8 inches long and perhaps 3 inches wide.  The whole
unit is about a foot long; most of the additional length being in the
two wooden handles.

The top has a flap valve, held in place by a raised piece of wood.
On the other side, at the hinge end, a metal tube protrudes and ends in
a (damaged) metal collar.  I'm assuming there originally was some kind
of gasket attached to this collar that would have provided an airtight
seal with the tracker bar, but there is none now.  On the raised piece
of wood covering the flap valve is a sticker that reads:

  KURE SILENT NOTES  No More Player Troubles
  Mfd by SMITH and KIDD Chicago USA

I recall seeing a similar pump advertised in a reprint of the Starr
player action service manual, but this is the only device of this type
I've ever actually seen.  The bellows cloth is in pretty bad shape and
the flap valve is shot, but otherwise the unit looks to be restorable.

Are bellows operated tracker bar pumps fairly common?  This is only the
second vintage tracker bar pump I've seen of any type in this area, and
the only one with bellows.  Perhaps they are more common in other parts
of the world...  Anyway, If anyone is familiar with devices like mine,
I'd enjoy hearing from you and comparing notes.

Bryan Cather
Arlington, Texas
Bryan.cather@platinum.com