Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
July 5th, 1881.
166
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
England by the shipload. East of the Mississippi black walnut has almost
A NEW PIANO MANUFACTURING FIRM.
entirely disappeared. We obtain it now from Iowa and Missouri, and there
N
the
1st
inst.
a new firm of piano manufacturers was organized in this
is some in Arkansas. There is black walnut in Michigan and Tennessee, but
under the name of Behr Bros. & Co., at Nos. 292 to 298 Eleventh
the supply in Ohio is nearly exhausted, and in a comparatively short time— avenue. city The
first two members of the firm have long been known to the
perhaps ten years—it will be nearly all gone. As to what will take its place
trade as manufacturers of piano cases, and it is in the building
it is hard to say. There is an increasing demand for mahogany now, and piano
for that purpose that they are now making their pianos. They have
that will probably come into greater U8e ; while there will be a greater used
associated
themselves with Mr. Paul Gmehlin of this city, who has had
variety in the use of woods, and maple, ash and oak will be more generally almost a life-long
experience as a practical piano manufacturer; beginning in
employed. New York and Boston are large centres for consuming black
with Wilhelm Doner in Stuttgart, and afterwards serving here with
walnut, and in Cincinnati, Chicago and Grand Rapids the furniture interests Europe
such men as Jacob Decker, J. & C. Fischer, and lastly for thirteen years
are extensive.
with Ernst Gabler.
" For furniture, black walnut is, next to mahogany, the best wood, as
this long experience many good ideas concerning the manufac-
white oak and other woods have to be kept a very long time in order to ture During
of pianos have suggested themselves to Mr. Gniehlin, and some im-
become sufficiently seasoned. We buy here from a million to a million and provements
pianos have had their source in his brain. It would be diffi-
a half feet of black walnut a year, while the entire receipts in the city are, cult to find in
a
man better qualified by experience and education for the
speaking roughly, probably about six millions. The founder of this firm, mechanical department
of the new firm than Mr. Gmehlin; for, in addition
John L. Brower, in 1817, was the first man to introduce black walnut into to his experience he combines
quality which goes a long way towards
use. He found great difficulty in inducing people to use it. Mahogany, in success, viz., a love for and an a enthusiasm
in his profession.
which the firm formerly exclusively dealt, was the fashion. People thought
The new firm propose at first to confine themselves to the manufacture
no native wood was good enough. The first black walnut was cut in the of upright
pianos of which they are making about ten per week at present,
centre or western part of this State and came down the Erie canal in logs. but will increase
number as rapidly as the growth of the business de-
We used to get it from back of Newburg and Catskill ; then we went back to mands, to four or this
five times that number. Their facilities are large, the
Rochester and Oneida and the Genesee valley. Then Buffalo became a building which they
occupy extending from 292 to 298 Eleventh avenue,
lumber port and black walnut was bought along Lake Erie and in Western New York city, five stories
and covering a space of 75 x 100 feet, the
Pennsylvania. Michigan was entered next for black walnut. We were the whole substantially built of high,
and situated in a part of the city adjacent
first to sell Michigan pine, but people preferred the Genesee valley pine, to one of the principal lines brick
communication, the freight cars of
which had a high reputation. Then Ohio became a source of black walnut, that road passing the door. of All railroad
the upright pianos manufactured by this
and now it is necessary to go west of the Mississippi. There is still a belt of house will have the patent cylinder
top by means of which the upper part of
black walnut country from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. As the the piano can be opened for increasing
volume of sound or for tuning
country is opened further west, the black walnut is rapidly cut off and finds without disturbing the top of the piano, the thereby
enabling it to serve as a
a market in Western cities. It seems likely that mahogany will be used more permanent resting place for ornaments, books or music.
The cylinder top
and more. The price of black walnut is from $90 to $100
a
thousand,
and
one of the important features of the new uprights, and will no doubt add
of mahogany from $125 to $150. Tree-planting would 1 be of little avail, for is
much to their popularity. In addition to this improvement the cases will
a tree requires from 50 to 100 years to attain a valuable size."
be of entirely new and original designs, of which illustrations will be given
A Centre Street dealer said : " Black walnut has advanced $20 a thous- in subsequent issues of this paper. In regard to the interior of the piano
'and in the last three months. The supply is being exhausted and large everything has been done that long experience could suggest to make a per-
quantities of the best quality are being shipped to Europe—more last year fect instrument, Mr. Gmehlin himself superintending every detail. The
than ever before. It comes largely from Tennessee, with some from Indiana firm state that only the best materials are used, and the result is a sympa-
and Michigan. Ohio is played out. There has been reckless cutting, but thetic and powerful toned upright.
black walnut is a scarcer wood than oak or chestnut. Much has been used
Behr Bros. & Co. state that they will spare no pains nor ex-
in the West of late. More is utilized and more furniture made in Grand pense Messrs.
a really first class piano, and they will sell it at as moderate
Rapids, Mich., than in New York, Boston and Philadelphia together. The a price to as make
is consistent with its quality and cost of manufacture. They also
tree grows best in rich bottom lands. It will grow in the East, but planting say that they
have abundant capital to meet all the requirements of the new
would only benefit the next generation. My father-in-law planted a nut 50
The partners are men in the prime of life, in good health and
years ago at his home in New Jersey, which has grown to a tree two feet at enterprise.
and promise to make the new firm an important factor in the piano
the stump. I don't know that black walnut is any better than maple or vigor,
white oak, but it has been the fashion, although now going out, and mahog- manufacturing industry of the country.
The demand for pianos in the United States is very large and is increas-
any and rosewood are coming in."
at a greater rate than the increase in population, so there is plenty of
Another dealer said: '' Black walnut is becoming very scarce, especially ing
for the new firm, and we bespeak for it the favorable consideration of
the dry wood. We have bought some standing trees in Indiana, and also room
get wood from Virginia and Tennessee. Mahogany is the coming wood. I the trade and the public.
consider black walnut the poorest wood for furniture, as it will give out,
warp and twist, but it has been the fashion for fifteen years. The Govern-
ment buildings here and in Washington were fitted out with mahogany two
or three years ago ; it is lighter and more durable."
Among the music trade exhibits at the Magdeburg Exhibition are the
A wholesale furniture dealer in Elizabeth said : " I consider the increas- following :—Em. Ascherberg, Dresden, drawing-room grand, three pianinos.
ed price in black walnut to be due to the necessity of transporting it a longer C. A. Bauer, Dresden, string quartet. C. H. Bornkessel, Sangerhausen,
distance and also to the increased shipments to Europe. I think there is no two concert pianinos. Alex. Bretschneider, Leipzig, short grand, pianino.
reason to fear any great and'sudden scarcity of the wood. A large dealer F. Geissler Zeitz, two pianinos. Fr. Goetze, Dresden, drawing-room grand,
just returned from the West tells me that there is an ample supply in the pianino. Georg Gunther, Halle, string instruments. F. Hiinel & Sohn,
more unsettled parts, even where the Indians still are, and that the wood is Naumburg, concert grand, pianino. Hagspiel & Co., Dresden, concert
to be found in Idaho and Wyoming. He has five or six movable saw mills grand. W. H. Hammig, Leipzig, string quartet. H. Th. Heberlein, jun.,
constantly running, and from his large experience I should say that there Markneukirchen, one quartet imitation of Ant. Stradivarius. Carl August
will be black walnut enough to meet all demands for a long time."
Henkel, Leipzig, Pianino. J. G. Heyl, Leipzig, pianino. Hb'lling & Spang-
There is said to be great alarm in the West among manufacturers who enberg, Zeitz, grand, six pianinos. Rob. Hoffmann, Halle, four pianinos.
have large investments in the business. Among the woods in Central R. Hupfer & Co., Zeitz, pianino. E. Jehring, Altenburg, brass instruments.
America suggested as substitutes for black walnut are, beside mahogany, J. G. Irmler, Leipzig, pianino, short grand. E. Kaps, Dresden, patent
rosewood, cocobello, a hard and beautiful wood, ebony caray, or tortoise- grand, concert pianino. Jul. Kreutzback, Leipzig, two pianinos Krietsch
shell wood, gauchifilin, a handsomely variegated wood, and several other & Ress, Zeitz, two pianinos. C. Kruspe, Erfurt, collection of brass instru-
varieties.—-ZV. Y. Tribune.
ments. Frz. Lindner, Dresden, pianino. F. A. Reichel, Markneukirchen,
brass and reed instruments. C. R. Ritter, Merseburg, three pianinos.
OUR OWN IDEAS ON THE WALNUT QUESTION.
L. Romhildt, Weimar, two pianinos. E. Rosenkranz, Dresden, grand pian-
HATEVER application the above statements may have to the furni- ino. E. Riibner, Zeitz, two pianinos. Wilh. Riihlmann, Zorbig, organ
ture trade, they do not as vitally affect the organ manufacturers as for St. Agnes's Church at Cothen. C. G. Schmaltz, Greiz, pianino. Fr.
Adolf Schmit, jun., trumpets. P. Schmidt & Sohn, Zeitz, two pianinos.
might at a first glance be supposed.
The general impression in the trade seems to be, that if prices continue Rob. Seitz, Leipzig, three pianinos, short grand. Ferd. Selie & Sohne.
to advance until they reach a point from $8 to $10 per thousand feet beyond Miihlhausen, pianino. R. Sieber & Co., Zeitz. zithers. F. Stichel, Leipzig,
the prices prevailing at present, the alternative is to use a black walnut two pianinos Gebr. Suppe, Zeitz, two pianinos. Fr. Thiirmer, Meissen,
veneer instead of the solid wood. There would be little or no objection to combination piano and harmonium. F. E. Vogel, Dresden, concert grand,
this course, as a black walnut veneer on a foundation of pine, is thought to pianino, and model of repetition action. Carl Wagner, Wittwee, Nord-
be more durable and less liable to check or crack than the solid wood, and hausen, two pianinos Paul Werner, Dresden, drawing-room grand. Wieck
as the branch wood could, in the new order of things, be used more readily, & Haussler, Dresden, pianino, grand. H. Wohleben, Miilhausen, two
pianinos. Zierold & Co., Leipzig, Glockenspiel and grand.
the appearance of the instrument would be improved.
The use of Central American woods is prohibited to a great extent by
The house of Rosenkranz & Co., of Dresden, pianoforte makers, are to
their cost, and by the increased expense of working them on account of their be represented
in London by Messrs. Witt & Co.
extreme hardness. Moreover, the statements about the extreme scarcity of
black walnut, must be taken with " a grain of salt," for, although many
Messrs. Green & Savage, the English makers, are largely extending
nearby districts have been exhausted of their stock of this wood, there are their lately built factory.
still extensive districts in the South and West which are as yet untouched
Mr. Schreiber, of Newmeyer Hall, London, has just patented an inven-
and which will come into the market as our railroad system is extended.
of quadruple over-stringing. There are four bridges, one having been
It is probable, also, that a considerable advance in price wo aid com- tion
extended. The patent also covers quintuple, sextuple, and other
pel the furnitui-e makers to substitute some other wood for black walnut, in greatly
which event it would go out of fashion in furniture, and this lessening of over-stringing. An improvement in repetition is also part of the patent.
It is not unlikely that some stand will shortly be taken against the
the demand, would diminish the price to a point where it would still pay
the manufacturers of organs to use the solid wood. There is another ele- freight charges of the railway companies. It is said to be cheaper to-
ment at work, viz : the increasing popularity of ebonized wood for organs. convey goods from France to London than from Southampton to London,
This may have a tendency to lessen the demand for black walnut for organ which certainly is anomalous. Similarly, we believe, it is cheaper to ship
cases. The high prices quoted here for the wood, are to a certain extent from America direct to Hamburg and back by water to London than to ship
delusive, for the organ makers do not buy the wood at the East in the rough, to Liverpool and forward by train. If the foreign trade of the country is
by the thousand feet, and do the re-sawing themselves; they send their pat- thus affected, the home trade suffers far more. We unfortunately have no
terns to the western mills and have the wood sawn there, thus saving the association of musical instrument manufacturers, or the matter would be
investigated. —London and Provincial Music Trades Review.
transportation on the waste.
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TRADE CHAT.
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