Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
VOL. Y.
NEW YORK, MARCH 20TH, 1882.
No. 16.
"My acquaintance with that man, Freund," said many incidents connected with his attempts in this
Mr. Wheeler, "began not very long after his arriv- direction—"
al in this country. When I met him he had pur-
"Never mind about them at present," said our
chased the Arcadian, a newspaper, the property of representative. "You remember how after he had
A JOURNALISTIC ANACONDA.
Mr. Charles Moss, brother of Theodore Moss, the disposed of The Arcadian, he announced his plan
T H E SPECULATIVE NEWSPAPER DODGE—LOVE AND treasurer of Wallack's Theatre."
of a music trade paper?"
LlTERATTJBE — A N UNBOUNDED STOMACH
' 'Who and what did he seem to you to be, Mr.
"Very well, indeed," replied Mr. Wheeler. "It
CONQUERS ALL THINGS—A THEAT-
Wheeler, when you first met him?"
was
nothing more nor less than a gigantic scheme
RICAL COMBINATION SALIVA-
"Better tell what he claimed to be. Although from the outset to speculate upon human weakness,
TED AND BOLTED
he claimed that he had attained to considerable but it failed disastrously as such a scheme, be-
WHOLE.
celebrity for his literary work in England hit fame cause the speculator lacked the ability to carry
had never reached this country. After he came it through to the end, where another and more
NE afternoon last week two men were seated here his fame became widespread."
able man might have succeeded. Why, I remem-
at a table in the windows at the Fifteenth
"Exactly so," remarked our representative with ber well, just before Freund brought out the
street and Fourth avenue corner of the Union a smile.
Music Trade Review, in 1875, I met him right here
Square Hotel Restaurant. They were dividing
"He boasted," continued Mr. Wheeler, that lie on this corner one day, and he pulled out of his
their attention between the lunch and the contem- had been a successful play-writer in England.
pocket the printed title page of his proposed
plation of the many well known people who were
'' He bought The Arcadian without money, paper, and in his usual indiscreet and effusive
constantly coming into the place for liquid or ran it without money, and sold it out to George manner informed me that he was going to start a
solid refreshments.
Butler. The Arcadian from the moment he new paper, in which there was a good deal more
Ferdinand Dulcken was there of course, fight- touched it was like all papers he handled—a money for him than in dramatic journalism, and
ing his way stolidly through mountains of food. superficial success. He possessed a certain amount that he had a big thing on Steinway & Sons. He
Herrman, the magician, with his low shirt collar of energy and impudence combined. He was also said that they were going to back it. He had
and embroidered pantalettes, looking like a carica- not a literary man in any sense, but knew well nothing more than his title page. 'Now,' he said,
ture of Mephistopheles, was devoting himself to how to avail himself of literary talent in others, 'I am going to take this title page and get adver-
Brother Dam's good cheer.
purchasing it at a low figure, or at no figure at all, tisements on this scheme. I am going to make
Joe Howard, of The Herald, was making things or else paying for it at an extravagant rate in prom- people believe that I am authorized to use William
lively for everybody by poking the lunchers in ises. He spurted The Arcadian by the following Steinway's name. I'll get 34,000 or $5,000 in ad-
the ribs with his cane, while he insisted that all methods: by attacking several conspicuous but in- vertising in, and paid for in advance, and then I'll
hands should join him in the next room where nocent people—Fred'k McCabe, the comic singer start my paper.' And he did start it. It was a
there was a mysterious rattling of ice and a lively and character performer; Kate Field, and others. In mystery to the music trades and the musicians
clinking of glasses. Townsend Percy, of The Miss Field's case, when she appeared at Booth's why he should have such a hold on these people,
Star, just off from a sick bed was poking around theatre in the character of Peg Woffington, in addi- but Freund had no hesitation in declaring to
for matter for his spicy dramatic department, and tion to a violent attack upon her acting, he publish- several people that he did have a hold on them so
his "Man About Town" in that paper.
ed an atrocious and scandalous picture of her. Fred- that they could not avoid paying tribute to him.
At one table sat the head of the house of Stein- erick McCabe was a man who had undoubted talent, What that 'hold' was, as Freund explained it, I
way k Sons, chatting with Geilfuss, one of his but it was marred by conspicuous vulgarity. It will now give you."
best salesmen, and with his nephew, Charley seems that Freund had a grudge against McCabe
"No; let us take that point up at another time,"
Steinway, who is learning all that is worth know- in England, and he instigated a writer in this
ing about business under the watchful eye of his city to furnish him with an article dilating upon said our representative.
"Well," said Mr. Wheeler, "111 take up another
uncle William.
McCabe's weakest point. The writer was ignorant
The two men at the corner table—one, Mr. A. of Freund's animus, and seeing that McCabe's feature of the case. At this time one of the few
C. Wheeler, the well-known JSfym Crinkle of the vulgarity, as I have said, was conspicuous, wrote piano men of importance who kept aloof from
literary world; the other, a representative of THE a stinging article, which appeared in The Arcadian. Freund and held him in loathing and scorn, was
MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW—happened to McCabe was wild when he read it, but did not re- Albert Weber. It was part of Freund's scheme,
look out of the window at the same moment, just taliate in kind. He swore revenge and then brought and a part that annoyed the Stein ways very much,
as a man with a large abdominal development, a up a number of claims against Freund and forced I am sure, to attack Mr. Weber apparently in the
nose hooked like the beak of a bird of prey, and him into such a corner that he gladly made an interest of Steinway. He made it appear that he
a languishing eye in which there was a mingled ex- abject apology and pusillanimously put the whole was doing this in the interest of Steinway, as you
pression of mush and malevolence, floated volup- onus of the affair on the man who wrote the arti- know it is always his plan to endeavor to cover up
tuously down the street. A remark made by the cle at his instigation. But this is only a slight his tracks so as to make the blame attach, if pos-
representative of THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE episode in the history of Freund's connection sible, to some one besides himself. But Weber was
REVIEW drew the attention of all in the room to with The Arcadian. I could give you a list of a match for him, and got a twist on him through
this apparition, and instinctively every man thrust dates, facts and names if you wished that would McCabe. Then Freund came to me, and with tears
in his eyes begged me to go with him to Albert
his hand into his pocket and grasped his pocket- astonish your readers.
Weber and heal this breach, saying that he could
book, and no one felt safe until the voluptuous
"One at a time, Mr. Wheeler," said our repre- not understand why it was that Weber should be
apparition had passed out of sight.
sentative. "Don't be in a hurry. Some other so bitter against him personally, when it was all
"I will lay a wager," said some one, "that
day I may call upon you for some more facts. somebody else's fault. I took him to Weber's,
the amount that man Freund has bled from
You will remember, of course, that he turned nis and the breach was healed—conditionally. What
the people in this room alone would net the hand-
squirt-gun upon other prominent people."
those conditions were we can consider when we
some sum of about six or eight thousand dollars."
"Call in Andrew J. Dam, the proprietor of this Just at this point Mr. William Humphries, look- have more time to spare. As I was saying, Freund's
hotel," suggested some one, "and he will raise ing as patriarchial as ever, came into the restau- object in starting The Music Trade Review was at
first a purely speculative one, but as he went on
that amount several hundred dollars for wines, rant, and joined the party.
"Yes," said Mr. Wheeler. " He bulldozed with it, it became part of a social scheme. He
liquors and lunches."
"Mr. Wheeler," said our representative, "you dramatic and some other people so easily that he grew to have an inordinate social ambition, and
were well acquainted with the man who has at- thought he could do the same thing with railroad firmly believed that by means of his paper he could
tracted our attention. Where did you first run men, stock brokers, etc., who were wealthier, but make not only money, but a position in society.
in that scheme he failed. I could relate to you His attempts to work out this theory were without
across him ? "
ABDOMINAL MAGNETISM,
O