Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1893 Vol. 18 N. 9

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
in amount of liabilities. The number of estab-
lishments reported as resuming work, thirty-
one wholly and twenty-six in part, still exceeds
the number closing, thirty-three for the past
week besides ten reducing force, so that the
hands employed have somewhat increased. The
number unemployed is still very large, the
great industries are still far below their normal
productiveness, and part of the resumption of
work has been secured by lowering prices and
reducing wages. But business is pulling itself
together, and even the crop report has caused
little depression in stocks."
in Foxcroft, Maine, there is a hustling
progressive firm—Dyer & Hughes—they
were in the field early as organ manufacturers,
and achieved renown in this particular line.
They are still shipping organs to all parts of
the world. When they turned their attention
to piano manufacturing it was their intention
to construct their instruments on the same
thorough principles which has characterized
their organ business. They were successful.
The Dyer & Hughes pianos are growing in
popularity ; the dealers who have handled them
are warm in their praise. Regarding their loca-
tion, the firm say, " Our facilities for shipping
organs to our customers on both sides of the
Atlantic are unsurpassed. We are located
within thirty-five miles of tide-water, with
•which we are connected by railroad. The Cana-
dian Pacific Railroad, which spans the Conti-
nent from East to West, is at our door, while
other roads connect us with all the lines of
freightage for distant points.''
judges on musical instruments sent
the appended circular to the exhibitors
under date of Sept. 9th: " I t seems proper,
now that the examinations of musical instru-
ments are completed and awards made, to
briefly give the plan pursued by us. The
judges visited the various booths together, and
together made examination of the instruments,
each judge carefully noting the points as they
occurred to him, fully entering them in the
book he carried for that purpose. When the
examinations were completed the judges acted
as a body in deciding the relative merits, and
it may be mentioned that only in two minor
cases was there any disagreement whatever,
and that merely on a trivial point. Our jndg-
ment was unanimous. The awards are the re-
sult of the examination and judgment of six
men, not of one man. We have kept a com-
plete record, and if our verdict is changed by
other authorities we shall be enabled to show
just where the change lies."
[HEN the Seaverns action was first intro-
duced to the American piano trade, in
1851, nearly every firm produced their own
mechanism, and square pianos were the favor-
ites. That was long before action making as a
special branch was known in New York, and
the difficulties and prejudices the Seaverns peo-
ple had to encounter and overcome can hardly
be realized. But they did overcome these dif-
ficulties, and proved to manufacturers that a
Seaverns action was in every particular a safer
and more reliable mechanism to use than those
made in piano shops with limited facilities.
We owe to this old and prominent New Eng-
land house the recognition that its founders
were among the first to establish the now im-
portant branch of action making in America.
What of Seaverns actions to-day ? Well,
simply this, that their extensive employment
in the largest shops, and the solid financial
reputation of the Seaverns Action Co., speak
eloquently for the character of their product.
This is not an age of mediocrity, and it would
have been impossible for the Seaverns Co. to
grow and prosper during a period embracing
nearly half a century, had its members not kept
pace with the demand of evolution, and main-
tained a standard of improvement commensurate
with progress in other lines of piano manufact-
ure. Let readers study these points. While
the Seaverns Co. have no liking for a certain
species of flappant trade puffs, we feel that it
has not been amiss to touch upon the achieve-
ments of such a stable old firm in this manner.
FAIR PLAY.
N. STETSON & CO.
a recent trip South, we had the pleasure
of visiting, while in Philadelphia, the
extensive warerooms of N. Stetson & Co. We
were strongly impressed by the improvements
and changes which had taken place in the
warerooms since our former visit, and the ex-
tension of wareroom space to double the capacity
at the time of the formation of the company.
The original warerooms, which are on the right
of the main entrance of the magnificent Hazel-
tine building, will be devoted exclusively to the
sale of Stein way pianos. Their stock, which is
now in position, will number one-hundred and
twenty-five superb instruments, showing a
variety of styles and woods manufactured by the
Steinway firm, which will probably be unsur-
passed by any other exhibit in the United
States. Let us imagine a room of two hundred
and fifty feet in depth, splendidly arranged into
artistic showrooms, and in which are placed
the maginificent stock of Steinway pianos.
The other department of the establishment
of the Stetson firm is the same in extension
as number 1418, and in this are found
in great variety Bradbury, Webster, Henning,
Hallet & Davis, and other makes. It was ob-
vious at the start that when the corporation of
N. Stetson & Co. was established that its in-
corporators intended to control a vast trade in
the instruments which they proposed to handle.
Officered as it is by the most prominent men in
the American music trade there can be no
doubt as to the great magnitude and far-reach-
ing influence radiated from this business estab-
lishment. N. Stetson & Co. show by their en-
terprise and ability that they not only intend
to control a large trade outside of the city, but
the magnificent showing of the instruments in
their warerooms prove also that they mean to
give the Steinway piano a proper representation
in the old and historic city of Philadelphia.
That their establishment is appreciated by the
residents of the Quaker City is best evidenced
by the increased sales which have been made.
is unfair to condemn an individual before
he has had an opportunity to state his
side of the case. Trials by self constituted
newspaper juries are notoriously sensational,
and reduce the element of fairness to a mini-
mum. They are always prejudicial, one sided,
and are intended to influence the opinion of the
people in the way the sensational or corrupt
writer inclines. The question of the fitness of
.judges of awards in the musical section of the
World's Fair has assumed definite—legal form.
Charges have been made, and they will be
either sustained or refuted at the proper time.
In the meantime, every paper which lays any
claim to honesty or fairness in its conduct
should refrain from filthy attacks upon the in-
dividual members of the jury. There should be
THE new location of J. H. Kurzenknabe, Har-
an abandonment of the journalistic—highway- risburg, Pa., was opened September 1st. The
men methods ; there should be no ventingof per- local paper says of the entertainment : Kurzen-
sonal spite, of disappointed ambition ; no dis- knabe's temple of music on North Second street,
crediting of men or methods until they have above Market, was crowded last night with
lovers of music from all parts of the city. The
been proven unworthy by fair trial. The in-
new store at 22 North Second street was thrown
herent love for fair play dominates the Ameri- open to the public yesterday, and the concert in
can people. They believe in it—they demand the evening, which was participated in by
it. We believe, until they are proven otherwise, some of the best talent in the city, celebrated
that the jury selected to pass upon the musical the event. The large room was tastefully
exhibit is a representative one, and that they decorated with palms and potted plants and
presented a very inviting appearance. A novel
are entitled to all the courtesy due men occupy- attraction was the symphony organ, which
ing official appointments of trust and honor. plays music from a roll, the performer only
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW believes that the
managing the stops.
The artists acquitted themselves well and all
dignity and respect of the music trade is at
who
heard them went away pleased with the
stake in this matter, and it should not be as-
evening's entertainment.
sailed by adventurers who assume the cloak of
journalism to conceal their villainous practices.
A small fire recently occurred in the factory
Journalism is a dignified, honest profession, of the New England Piano Co., Boston, Mass.
but, unhappily, in the music trade there exists It was discovered by the watchman who turned
an element unworthy to be classed as journalists. in an alarm, and the fire was extinguished be-
Vultures would be a better name—more appro- fore it had reached great proportions. The loss
priate.
was very slight.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
CHICAGO.
THE LATEST NEWS
FROM THE
THEATRE OF WAR.
F ast -
l^umors Fty'99
CHICAGO,
Sept. 20th, 1893.
EDITOR MUSIC TRADE REVIEW :
The piano men are still in a state of agitation,
uncertainty and expectation. The first, because
of thousands of ugly rumors affecting various
firms, members of the jury, and more than one
man in music trade journalism. I have heard
of more '' rods in pickle '' than would suffice for
four World's Fairs and all the people in the
trade. Every second man I meet had his porcu-
pine quills set hard and is sworn to avenge some
injury, fancied or real, as soon as the jury's
awards are announced. I hear that several of
our journalistic confreres are considerably at sea
in their efforts to be too fly, and they are natu-
rally numbered among those wno are in a state
of uncertainty, while the expectant ones com-
pass almost the entire outfit in the trade and its
correlative branches. Some are so from what
they hope to get, while others from what they
hope to escape. Not all can come out rewarded,
and most certainly not all will emerge un-
scathed. The ides of November will bring a
period of reckoning, and many an unpaid score
will be settled with compound interest. Suffice
it for the present that the esprit du corps of
Section I has not been maintained throughout,
and the morale has suffered or some one has
been wofully maligned. Come out when this
merry war is over and you will see many
ghastly remains of what were intended for
future monuments of enterprise and sagacity.
I hear that the friends of Checkering & Sons,
Hallet & Davis, Mason & Hainlin, and
the Sohmer Company expect them to be
placed in the first-class niche in the awards,
with grades therein apportioned in the order
named, while the friends of none of the remain-
ing ones will for a moment concede that they
can go below the second grade. Of course, this
is all surmise, as no one claims to know any-
thing positively, but if I was going to "call the
t u r n " I would play the combination named
to win as stated.
No new injunctions have been sought since
I last wrote, but several are still on tap, and I
learn are still held in abeyance pending the
hearing in the Chase Bros, case, which is set
for next Monday.
There is, however, a well-grounded reason
afloat that a checkmating scheme is on foot to
immediately ask for an order restraining the
Fair authorities from closing the Fair until the
piano awards are announced. This move is to
follow the instant the injunction of Chase Bros,
is dissolved, if it should be, and is designed to
forestall any other injunction of a similar pur-
port. But there are those, and they are not a
few, who count on the present injunction mak-
ing a stronger showing than appears on its
face.
Meantime, every species of advertising is
being worked by the camp followers, both oral
and written, and willing tools are found to
cater thereto for a consideration or the promise
of possible favors in the future.
John Boyd Thacher has got himself into hot
water by giving out an award to the house of
Besson, in the small goods department. Of
course, much was made of it, not only by
the concern interested, but by others, who
maintain that he had no right to give out any-
thing pertaining to Section I, in view of the in-
junction bearing on pianos.
Trade is looking up wonderfully and business
is settling down to the usual fall status ; but if
you ask any man down town for news, he in-
variably directs you to Section I, saying: All
there is of interest is centered therein.
Yours, etc.,
HARRY MANNING.
HOW TO SELECT
AND PURCHASE
_ A PIANO,
JHipts For Everybody.
BY JULIUS HAYDEN.
CHAPTER I.
{From a Recently Published Brochure.}
Dear reader, have you given the subject of
buying a piano, or the exchange of your old in-
strument for one of more modern character,
serious study ?
Are you not aware that the piano is the most
important article in almost every household,
that it costs considerably more than any other
thing in the boudoir, parlor or drawing room as
a general rule ?
Do you not know that it possesses an exceed-
ingly sensitive and complicated action mechan-
ism through which the human fingers operate
in the production of musical sounds and their
melodic and harmonic combinations ?
Are you not cognizant of the fact that the
combined action and keyboard mechanism of the
piano took centuries to perfect and that their
manufacture and adjustment in the instrument
call for considerable skill and judgment ?
Do you not know that the development of the
sounding board and general stringing system,
as evidenced in the Sohmer piano for instance,
is also the outcome of incalculable experiment,
money, and mechanical and scientific genius ?
If you have not been aware of the foregoing
facts know them now, and in addition know
that as the production of first-class pianos calls
for high mechanical skill, choice materials, fine
judgment in tone, production and expert super-
vision, the danger of rushing into the market
and picking up an inferior and dangerously bad
instrument is consequently increased.
Why?
Because if the production of thoroughly re-
liable and artistic pianos is such a difficult task
as most people do not seem to imagine, the
matter of purchasing a reliable instrument be-
comes all the more important.
Therefore look around yourself very cautiously
before buying.
I do not even wish that readers should rush
off hastily after perusing these lines and pur-
chase a Sohmer piano in preference to others,
because the writer has advised them to do so.
No ! that would be a surrender of independent
judgment. It would be un-American.
Meanwhile I advise readers to examine and
compare for themselves, confident that they will
be all the better impressed by the soundness
and fairness of the arguments presented here.
Again !
Do you not know that there is a large amount
of bugabooism in the superior (?) claims of
certain high-class firms ?
For instance, take up any two of the leading
pianos, putting them side by side for the pur-
pose of comparison, and you will find that con-
siderable difference of opinion prevails among
the best judges regarding the respective merits
of the two " makes." In that connection one
expert will favor the "Brown" and another
expert will favor the "Jones." What is the
logical basis of superiority, anyhow ?
Take your friend, Mrs. Green, for example!
Mrs. Green will remark with a simper of af-
fectation that she wouldn't have " any piano
but a 'Brown.'" Mrs. Green is extremely
rich, no doubt, and wants you to kuow that
she has paid a large share for the name on the
fall board of the instrument.
That is all right!
Your friend, Mrs. Green, has paid an exorbi-
tant price of her own free will, merely to be
" i n fashion," as she imagines it, but that is
her own business.
Then look at Mrs. Baker !
Mrs. Baker will tell you on the other hand
that her " G r a n d " is a "Jones," and that it
cost $1,200. "Money talks," but it does not
talk with any rational purpose in the latter
case, for poor Mrs. Baker has paid largely for
her personal pride. Yet Mrs. Green and Mrs.
Baker will not admit that either of their instru-
ments is inferior in any way.
In the meantime it is really better that Mrs.
Green and Mrs. Baker should have paid exorbi-
tant prices for their pianos than to run any
risks through investing in cheap and unreliable
" makes " with which the market is flooded.
Dear reader, you have the advantage !
You have the advantage of the imaginary
friends—Mrs. Green and Mrs. Baker—referred
to in learning some facts about the inconsist-
encies and absurdities of the claims set up by a
few piano manufacturers of a certain stamp.
You will perceive that much of the alleged supe-
riority in these instruments is a matter of price
simply.
What about Sohmer & Co ?
Sohmer & Co. pay no heed to the small fry,
their competition is necessarily with a few lead-
ing firms owing to the musical character of their
world renowned pianos.
Hence it is why they have been trying to
show the public a most important point, name-
ly, that a piano equal in most respects—and
superior in several—to the few recognized lead-
ers, can be had on terms within the reach of all.
Sohmer & Co. are a unique firm.
Sohmer & Co. are unique in one respect.
They are conscientious, they compete only with
first-class firms, but they are of the opinion that
to give the musical public the benefit of the
vast sums paid to the foreign artistes brought
hither to boom the " Brown & Jones " piano, is
a far more conscientious policy than the one
referred to.
The success of Sohmer & Co.
Their great success is an undoubted indication
that the mass of the musical public appreciate a
thoroughly reliable piano and are able to think
and act for themselves.
Meanwhile I am confident that Sohmer & Co.
are not opposed to legitimate exhibitions of
virtuosity and excellence in piano performance,
but they are opposed to the subsidy of genius
for the purpose of advertising pianos in most
respects inferior to the Sohmer.
I«et the reader carefully digest these points.

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