This story is a little different: it illustrates the amazing
survivability of an instrument despite the efforts of malicious mates,
postal gorillas, ignorant owners, and inappropriate repairmen!  I am
listening to an 1880's Swiss 6-tune box 5.5-inch cylinder movement.
It is playing nicely, despite the following history.

1. It was purchased about 20 years ago at an outdoor flea market where
it had been manhandled, poked, tried out by everyone, probably rained
on, etc.

2. It was thrown during a domestic dispute into a lighted fireplace,
and apparently dragged out before actually catching fire, but somewhat
charred.

3. The pieces of broken box and movement were mostly collected minus
the u-shaped connecting piece between the spring and the cylinder which
was never found.

4. A local woodworker reassembled the box but could not get the
movement working, diagnosed as 'broken axle'.

5. It was wrapped in a few layers of bubble wrap and brown paper and
mailed regular surface mail across the country and to Canada as a
'parts machine' gift.

6. It arrived with wrapping torn, and box splintered -- not just
broken, but shattered!  The only large piece was the base on which
the movement is mounted.

7. Then, in my own ignorant hands, the mess was turned over to a
clockmaker who had never worked on a music box.  He could do nothing
with the case and discarded the shards.  In the course of a year, he
managed to get the movement working, which actually only needed that
u-shaped piece.  He could not figure out the stopping mechanism, and
jury-rigged a brass flag sort of affair which turns to stop the
governor.

8. The good news is that it has no broken comb teeth or bent cylinder
pins, and plays nicely on its base, although very softly without a box!

All in all, I don't think we could have done any worse by this amazing
survivor.  This almost sounds like an April Fool story, but sadly (or
happily) it is the truth.

Now I need to find a real restorer with an empty box and a proper job.
Who do you know in Canada, so I can _carry_ it to him and no shipping!

Jim Katz  =^..^=