Pipe dream from across the waves

An educator and musician based in Ningbo missed playing the organ so much that he shipped a 60-year-old example all the way from his native US to Zhejiang province

The pipe organ that graces Tianyi Catholic Church in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, is the pride and joy of Justin Berg. But much more than that, it's a testament to how old treasures threatened by what often seems like overwhelming progress can survive to bring pleasure to people in another time and place.

The first thing to know about this organ is that it was built by the Hinners Organ Company of Pekin, Illinois, 110 years ago. Hinners had a thriving business making reed and pipe organs and selling them to churches and theaters throughout the United States. However, faced with technological changes and increasingly stiff competition in the wake of the Great Depression, its business declined and the company disappeared in 1942.