Music Trade Review

Issue: 1881 Vol. 4 N. 3

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
March 5th, i88r.
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
faced out with any degree of success, he sneaks out of it in a measure by
BEATTY AND HIS NEWSPAPER VALET.
in a corner of his advertisement, that he means $150. This last
FEW days ago Mr. P. T. Locke, a dealer in Des Moines, la., wrote as stating,
statement also is false, as we showed in our issue of February 5th, when we
follows to the editor of the Washington, N. J. Star:
said that many reputable manufacturers will sell a better organ than this man
DES MOINES, la., Feb. 19, 1881.
Beatty at as low a price as any he offers.
Editor " Washington Star,"
Beatty also advertises that agents are monopolists, and that he has no
Please send me a copy of your paper, wherein you expose Bealty's agents. Here again he states what he knows to be false, as we have shown
statement of having thousands of dollars worth of your city bonds in his pos-
before this, and as we shall show again in a much severer manner, if he does
session, published, I think, about a year ago.
not mend his ways.
Very respectfully,
P. T. LOCKE.
We see that the New York Times' is publishing an advertisement of
In reply he received merely his own note, at the bottom of which was Beatty's since our exposure of him appeared, obliged the humbugging D. F.
scrawled in that peculiar style of chirography, which affords such excellent to strike out all expressions that would be offensive to reputable and actual
proof of this man, Beatty's, ignorance and asininity, these words:
manufacturers of pianos and organs. This wise plan has not been followed
" Can't I sell you an organ ' my boy'? What do you want of them? by certain publications, which still continue to permit their columns to be
You had better be careful what you circlate about myself.
BEATTY."
defiled by Beatty's false and malicious statements.
This showed that Beatty's trusty valet, the editor of the Washington
We will take it as a favor if our readers will forward to us all news-
Star, had handed the note over to his master, just as the editor of an alleged papers, magazines or other periodicals which contain such statements by
art paper in this city did a few weeks ago, when he was sent a communication Beatty, so that we can publish the list with this object in view, that reputa-
concerning Beatty, which communication he used to dicker with Beatty ble and genuine makers'of pianos and organs may refuse their advertise-
for a small amount of advertising.
ments to publications that will allow a hypocrite and a man of "snide"
Now the cream of all this is that D. F. Beatty of Washington, N. J. methods to build himself up in their columns, by the wholesale detraction
has attained a world-wide fame as a thoroughly unscrupulous liar, which term
of one of the worthiest and most honorable classes of men in the
we use advisedly as no other will do the subject justice, and no one has community.
taken more pains to prove him a liar than this same Washington Star, which
We warn the public for its own good, against a belief in the man
to-day serves him in such a menial capacity. As we desire that our words Beatty, or his misrepresentations.
shall always bear the stamp of truth, we reprint an article from the Star of
Sept. 12th, 1880, in which Mr. Beatty is shown to be a liar. As this is the
very article that Mr. Locke enquired for, it will possess additional interest
THE INFLUENCE OF THE LAST STRIKE.
for our readers. It was headed :—
r~T^HE two strikes which were in progress when we last went to press have
" OUR BOKOUGH DEBT."
JL ended. One, that of Behr's, was comparatively unimportant, and was
settled by what is considered a compromise; the other, Weber's, ended by a
And ran as follows:—
" It was recently announced in Daniel F. Beatty's musical advertising complete submission on the part of the employer to the demands of his strik-
journal, that he was ' worthy of public confidence ' because the people of ing workmen.
In the last case the employer inflicted an injury on the whole piano
Washiugton had elected him Mayor of the borough, and had ' entrusted him
with their city bonds, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.' The trade in this city, from whatever point of view his action is regarded; if he
announcement was intended as au advertisement to push his business, but it really thought that his men were receiving excessively high wages, and
has had another effect which we are charitable enough to suppose was not honestly intended to make an effort to reduce them, his action was impul-
included in the list of probabilities by the man who has prostituted his office sive and childish, as he must have realized the impossibility of righting such
to advertising purposes. ' City bonds' indicate citv debt, and if there are a compact organization as the Trade Union single handed and with no pros-
'hundreds of thousands of dollars of city bonds of Washington,' it follows pect of assistance from any other members of the trade; if, on the other hand,
that there must be that amount of city debt on Washington. The statement his object was to stop work for a time in, order to accumulate funds for a
has damaged the borough, just as the statement of heavy indebtedness would special purpose, this method of accomplishing his object was a bad one for
damage any firm or any individual, and business men, both inside and out- the trade because it enabled the Trade Union to record another triumph over
side the borough, are inquiring about this wonderful debt. If the report is the manufacturers, the effect of which on both employers and employed is
true, money would not flow freely into a borough groaning under debt and demoralizing, although financially speaking, the Trade Union is worse off by
wasting away under taxes, and we have investigated the affair to discover some $7,000 than it was when the strike commenced. This amount, how-
whether there is any truth, or semblance of truth, in the representation ever, will no doubt be made up by the organization when the proper time
made to the public about the ' city bonds,' or whether it was a lie made out comes to recoup themselves for this outlay, at which time the entire piano
of the whole cloth. We give below the solution of the question, by pub- trade will probably be requested to make good the amount which the Union
lishing the exact financial standing of the borough, as reported by two of has. been obliged to spend to support its members during the time that they
have been fighting Albert Weber.
our town officials:
"WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 1879.
In spite of all the fine writing which has been done concerning the rela-
" Report of the financial condition of the Borough of Washington to tions of capital and labor by political economists, the entire question seems
to be, as far as our experience has gone, one of pure selfishness, and will no
April 1, 1879, inclusive:
doubt continue to be so until the millenium arrives. The end of nearly
School Bonds
$14,095.00
every strike on record has been a victory for the strongest side, and such
Building Loan Notes and Costs
1,064.00
action as we have above alluded to only has the effect of weakening one side
Borough Notes
2,300.00
and making the other stronger.
Borough Drafts
710.32
The whole matter might have been avoided if Albert Weber had pos-
§18,169.32
sessed sufficient moral courage to have "laid-off" his workmen instead of
Cash in hands of the Treasurer
$867.71
867.71 causing them to strike by reducing their wages.
A
Total Borough Debt
JOHN HORNBAKER,
$17,301.61
Collector.
CHRISTIE & CO. PUSHING AHEAD.
MONG the manufacturers of medium priced pianos, are Messrs. Christie
If any one can torture that statement into showing a city debt of " hun-
& Co., of West 36th street. Their pianos, both upright and square,
dreds of thousands of dollars " on Washington, his arithmetic and his imag- are increasing in popularity, and the low prices at which they are sold is a
ination must equal in enormity the brazen impudence and wonderfully dis- strong inducement to a large class of buyers.
torted methods of the man who flaunts such a shameless lie in the eyes of
The factory of Messrs. Christie & Co. consists of a brick building in the
the world. The borough of Washington is a prosperous one, and we do not rear of Nos. 215 to 233 West 36th street, having dimensions of 175 x 40 feet,
propose to allow its good name abroad to be tarnished by outrageous lies and containing all the usual appliances for the successful manufacture of
like the one we quote from Beatty's Advertiser. Every citizen of the com- pianos; they have a considerable number of workmen employed in their
munity has a direct interest in the matter, and we speak for every man or factory, most of whom have been in the employment of the firm for a
woman who has a cent invested in it, and whose property is being depreci- number of years, and are thoroughly proficient in their occupation.
ated by such misrepresentations.
Mr. Christie, the senior partner, is a practical piano maker and
It may be asked : "Had Daniel F. Beatty no excuse for making the mis- thoroughly posted in his line of business; he gives his undivided attention
representation?" We answer that we see no excuse that would be taken by to the factory and its requirements. Mr. Peck, the junior, manages the
any sane or honest man as sufficient to warrant the statement he made. The office and the sales, but is also well acquainted with the practical part of the
surety bonds of the borough officials, amounting to less than forty thousand business, and is the inventor of an improved Pedal Guard, which is applied
dollars, not worth the snap of the finger or a senseless lie to Mr. Beatty or to all the pianos turned out by their house, and is used as well, by several
any one else, papers that cannot be realized upon by him or any one else, prominent piano manufacturers in this country.
are in his safe, because the borough has no safe in which to keep them.
This Pedal Guard is quite a neat affair; it is heavily nickel plated and
These bonds are just as much real basis for his monstrous misstatement as not only serves, as its name implies, to guard the polished wood near the
would be so many blank sheets of brown wrapping paper. We make this pedals of the piano from being scratched by the feet when the instrument is
showing in the interest of property holders in the borough, and if Daniel F. played upon, but is, in addition, an ornament to the instrument. Mr. Peck
Beatty considers it a "big ad." he is welcome to use it as much and as is pushing the sales of this Pedal Guard all over the country and substantial
often as may suit him."
results are beginning to come in from it.
Messrs. Christie & Co. state that their business showed a remarkable
D. F. BEATTY'S DISREPUTABLE PRACTICES.
increase in the number of pianos sold during the past year, and the signs
INCE our exposure in the issue of February 5th of the MUSICAL CRITIC are that the present year will be equally, if not more, prosperous than the
AND TRADE REVIEW, of D. F. Beatty's disreputable manner of palming last. The concern is an enterprising one, and cannot, if they continue to
off his goods upon the public, he has hauled in his horns somewhat in his pay as close attention to their business in the future as they have done in the
blatant advertisements. Still we have found cases in which he continues to past, fail to make their mark in the trade.
advertise his malicious and false statements.
We have one now lying before us, in which he says "A 0450 SEVENTEEN
THE GAZETTE.
STOP CABINET OR PARLOR ORGAN FOB ONJUY $85 cash." A little after this, in
Frederick
Schaefer,
Pekin,
111.,
books and musical instruments, has assigned
the same advertisement, he says—though in very fine type, while the first
all his real and personal property to the v\ idow Smith, for whom he was
statement is in large type—that' "Such an instrument would range from $150
agent, and managed her estate. He represents that he will be able to
to $450," if oii'ered by any other party than himself.
pay his creditors in full. He lias been in business many years, had a
So this man Beutty attempts to catch the public eye by pretending that
stock formerly valued at $18,000, and his real estate was considered
he is offering for $85 as good an organ as the agents of reputable manufac-
worth at least $12,000. He had a branch store at Peoria.
turers sell for $450; but being aware that this is too bold a falsehood to be
J. C. WELLER, Clerk."
S
A
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
58
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
March 5th, 1881.
ring to trade with Mexico, "We want to sell them ploughs, not pianos.
The pianos will come by and by." The piano manufacturers will probably
dissent from this opinion and with cause, they at least want to sell pianoa
As the London and Provincial Music Trades Review ia very particular there, and it would astonish Mr. Gould to know how many have already
that its name shall be given in full whenever it is mentioned, would it be found their way to that country.
asking too much if we should request that excellent paper to give the name
The amount of enterprise displayed lately by "Ooward Lockward's Fly
of THE MUSIOAB CRITIC AND TKADE .REVIEW in full whenever it is so kind as
Sheet " is something marvelous, combining great accuracy with a remarka-
to allude to our publication, which is not merely the MUSICAL CRITIC?
ble amount of inventive ability; for instance we find in the issue of that
It is rumored that Mr. J. Burns Brown of The Mechanical Orguinette sheet for Feb. 5, 1881; among items which are supposed to be of interest to
Company, is about to take a one-thirteenth interest with E. D. Buckingham, the trade, that " B. Shoninger, of New Haven, was in New York last week,
of Utica, N. Y., and we have no doubt that the alliance will prove mutually and that B. Shoninger & Co. are now making twenty-one organs a
advantageous.
week." As Mr. B. Shoninger was not in New York during the week in
Messrs. C. D. Pease & Co., of West 43rd street, this city, have lately question, and as the concern of which he is the head has been for a year past
introduced a new pedal guard of their own design, and they are using it on making twenty-five organs every working day, the intelligence that they are
all their new pianos. It is very handsome and does its work effectually. making twenty-one organs per week must be highly gratifying to them.
The new small upright piano lately put on the market by this firm is becom-
SLOW PROGRESS OF THE EXHIBITION OF 1883.
ing quite popular.
Tj^VERYBODY connected with the project for an International Exhibition
»
Pv in this city in 1883, seems to be floundering about in a slough of
Mr. W. T. Waite, of Kansas City, called on us one day last week. He despond and hesitation, and the project does not seem to be in as forward a
reports a good trade in his locality and an active cash demand for first class condition as it was six months ago. Even the illustrious president of the
pianos.
commission, whose name was in times past a synonym for energy and deci-
The celebrated " Bradbury" Piano manufactured by Mr. F. G. Smith, of sion, has caught the infection, and seems to be as badly mixed as to the
Brooklyn, seeuis to have an especial fascination for prominent political person- qualities of the site selected and as uncertain as to the feasibility of any'other
ages. There is a Bradbury piano in the White House at Washington; A. H. location, as the weakest member of the commission. It begins to look as if
Colquitt, Governor of Georgia, has ordered a $1,000 piano for the gubernatorial the whole thing would be still-born and never proceed further than the
mansion at Atlanta, Ga.; Wm. Claflin, ex-Governor of Mass., has bought one of period of gestation.
the same kind, and Hon. Stewart L. Woodford has bought an $800 upright of
The honorable commission either did not pull together from the start,
the same make. We are sure that when Mr. Smith has completed the pile or have
not applied business principles to the solution of the questions which
of dollars which he is so rapidly accumulating in the piano business, and is they were
called upon to solve. After a deal of setting and cackling the egg
ready to enter the political arena, that a soft spot will be prepared for him, of a site was
laid, and the proper bird appointed to do the hatching; but after
and we hope that when that time arrives he will shed that old suit of clothes the nest had
been prepared and outsiders all thought that the setting
from which so much money mysteriously disappears, and get a new one.
business was progressing finely, the bird rises and coolly informs the public
The old and reliable house of Geo. Hall, of Cleveland, Ohio, sent, it is that the nest must be changed. The egg was pretty far advanced in decom-
reported, in January last, orders for 35 Bradbury pianos.
position before the setting was finally under way, and we very much fear
Things seem to be booming up at Hardman, Dowling & Peck's factory, that in spite of all the efforts of the illustrious parent-bird it will prove to be
corner of Fiity-seventh street and Tenth avenue. The firm state that they already addled and beyond hatching.
The people outside of the city seem to have taken a livelier interest in
cannot make pianos fast enough to till their orders, and when our reporter
had the pleasure of going through the factory one day last week with Mr. the matter than those of the place where it was to have been held, the sub-
Dowling, appearances certainly seemed to confirm this statement; their scriptions have come forward in a very languid manner, and the commission
great brick building was crowded with pianos in every stage of construction appears never to have recovered from the effects of the first dissension
among the original members.
and there was a small army of men at work.
We regret very much to see this condition of things in regard to the fair
Messrs. H. Behr & Bro., case makers of Eleventh avenue, wish us to matters, not only on the general account, but because we believe it would be a
make a correction in an item that appeared in our last issue, in which it Avas great thing for the music trade in this city; but Americans are a practical
made to appear that Messrs. Bebr Bros, had reduced the pay of their work- business people and very slow to take interest in any enterprise which is
men for top cleaning from 75 to 40 cents. The facts in the case are as fol- lacking in business principles.
lows : Messrs. Behr & Bro. lately introduced into their factory a machine
"Which is the proper grammatical construction: ' Some souls have music
which did the heavier part of the top cleaning that was formerly done by
the men, and as with the help of this machine a much greater amount of in them ; there is souls have none; or, Some souls have music in them ; there
none?'- Art Jabberer, Feb. 19, '81."
work could be done by the men, and with much less labor, a corresponding are souls have
papers have sense in them; there w papers has none. Some papers
reduction was made in the price of piece-work on tops. This did not suit have Some
sense
in
them
; there are papers have none—among which latter class is
the men, and a compromise was finally effected with them by which they the A. J.
were to be paid $15 per week. The action of Messrs. Behr & Bro., as can be
English musical instruments are well and prominently placed at the Mel-
clearly seen, was in no sense an attempt to reduce the wages of their work-
men, as with the aid of the top cleaning machine they could make just as bourne Exhibition, the best positions being occupied by Pleyel, Erard, Philippe,
Barnett Samuel, andBrinsmead. Inferior positions are given to all the
much money at 40 cents as formerly at 75 cents, with the addition of having Herz,
American organs.
the roughest and hardest part of the work done for them.
The Commissioners of the Sydney International Exhibition having had
The senior partner of the firm of Dutton & Son, of Philadelphia, made a their attention called to the position of inferiority accorded to such firms as
flying visit to this city on Saturday last.
Steinway, Chickerinj?, Erard, Bechstein, and 1-Jliithner by the jury on musical
instruments, who awarded ihese a " first prize " only and a "first prize with
We had the pleasure of receiving a visit from Mr. Johnson, of the New special
commendation " to Messrs. Brinsmead & Sons, have called for a special
Haven Organ Co., on Friday, Feb. 25th.
report, and have agreed, it is said, to raise the prize to these firms to the high-
The Weber strike has ended, and, as we predicted in our last issue, the est degree, i. e., first prize special.
workmen have had all their demands complied with, and again (for them)
The London and Provincial Mimic Trades Review says: "Harmoniums
"The goose hangs high."
have Kone entirely out of fashion in Australia, and so, to an extent, have
American
organs. The former have given place to cheap pianos, which can be
We saw the other day at the factory of H. Behr & Bro., of this city,
on the time payment system, and the latter are too expensive and really
the case of an upright piano which had an improvement something on the bought
plan of the cylinder desk, whereby the upper part of the case can be opened do not appear to answer expectations." Indeed !
"VVe have to announce the death, on January 18th, at Brussels, at the age of
to give out more sound, or for tuning purposes, without disturbing the flat
top, which in the improved case may be made a permanent resting place for sixty two. of H. Dehege, one of the oldest music sellers in Belgium, and the
ornaments or music. A patent has been applied for and the invention will president of the Syndicate of Music Publishers. M. Deliege was formerly head
of the short-hand writers in the Belgian Chamber of Eepresentatives.
be fully described in a subsequent issue of this paper.
Mr. W. T. Waite, of Kansas City, has taken the agency for the Sohmer
Trade in general remains quiet. We do not look for much improve-
for his locality, and we hope the arrangement will be satisfactory to both
ment in it until the weather improves, so that instruments can be shipped piano
parties.
without being delayed on the road and exposed to injury in cold and stormy
weather.
We were going to give Messrs. Kranich & Bach, of No. 237 East Twenty-
third street, a splendid notice in this issue, but our reporter, after having
made several visits and not being able to see any other representative of the
firm than the bookkeeper, came to the conclusion that the firm was in a
Kranich (Chronic) state of Bach-wardness, or else were exclusively engaged
THESE ROYAL INSTRUMENTS
in stupendous efforts to make their pianos stand in tune.
Unrivaled
for Tone and Durability,
One of our prominent makers was in Wall street last week when the
ESTABLISHED SI3STOE! 1838,
squeeze in the money market was tightest, " seeing how the cat jumped; "
Combine every practical improvement known to the modern piano, aud, with the additional
maybe he thought if she jumped low enough she might be caught, and some introduction
of our patent Gold Strings, it is the most highly improved and very lending piano of
of the big money made last year in pianos might be invested to advan- the world. Received th« highest honors at the Centennial, and wherever in competition. The
Electro Gold Wires used i a our instruments produce a decidedly more brilliant, enduring tone,
tage—or lost.
with a refined musical quality so much desired in the piano, the coating be.ng of piire Go d of the
standard and done by Cold process ; will last forever, and is an absolute security against
Messrs. Wm. E. Wheelock & Co. are again advertising for workmen on highest
rust or atmospheric action, and at lhe same time imparting elegance of appearance iound in no
pianos. What is the matter? Is the neighborhood of One Hundred and other make. Too much cannot be said in favor uf these (iold otriug Pianoa.
An immense demand has already sprung up lor all our siyl.-s—Grands, Squares and Uprights,
Forty-ninth street and Third avenue malarious, or do the men find Wheelock
camion the public against m srepresentation. All other manufacturers are, compelled to use
& Co. harder nuts to crack than the average piano manufacturer?
The B. Shoninger Organ Co., of New Haven, Conn., have contracted for
7,000 packing cases for organs, a pretty good sign of their confidence in an
active trade in their goods this year.
Messrs. Vose & Sons have removed to spacious warerooms at 535 Wash 1103 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia,
ington street, Boston, Mass., next to the Boston Theatre.
3 East Fourteenth Street, New York,
Mr. Jay Gould said during a late interview with a Herald reporter, refer-
493 Washington Street, Boston.
TRADE CHAT.
SCHOMACKER
Gold String Pianos,
SCHOMACKER PIANO-FORTE M'F'G CO.,

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