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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
I say that the Grunewald Co. are con-
ducting a perfectly legitimate business.
T
HERE has been much talk about sten-
cil pianos. Now it occurs to me that
there are two kinds of stencil pianos—one
the legitimate and the other the illegiti-
mate stencil. One piano, the legitimate,
has a definite origin; the other, *he illegiti-
mate, has no definite origin.
Let us de-
fine: In the first place let us take the piano
that is sold by a reputable firm who stand
sponsors for it—a piano that they have
given a name and are willing at an}' time
to supply deficiencies, if any exist, to the
customer. They sell the piano at a fair
price. There is no fraud upon the purchaser
in the sale, and they stand ready to uphold
any representations made, the same as if
the piano bore the manufacturer's name.
Take, for instance, the "Kingsbury," a
piano which has acquired a wide reputa-
tion, a piano that has fulfilled its mission, a
piano which has borne out all representa-
tions made for it, a piano which has found
a ready sale, a piano which is sold in its
class; such a piano is a legitimate stenci
piano, and has just as much right for place
in the trade as any other instrument.
Why? Because it is sold under no misrep-
resentations, and has a definite, traceable
origin.
* *
*
Take another case, the "Grunewald"
in New Orleans.
That instrument is
fathered by one of the best-known houses
in the South. It is sold in its place at a fair
price, and the Grunewald Co. stand ready
at all times to uphold any representations
which their salesmen may make for it.
The Grunewald name is one of the best
known names in the South. They place it
on a piano. The piano is made for them.
Is not such a piano a perfectly legitimate
piano? Still the Grunewald Co. have no
factory. If the instrument does not prove
satisfactory in every way is it not easier for
the customer to report to a firm of the
standing like the Grunewald than it is to
write to some unknown manufacturer two
or three thousand miles away? They have
known the Grunewald concern for a genera-
tion, and they know that they could not
afford to put their name on any article of
which they were ashamed. Therefore, I
do not agree with the Musical Courier when
it says:
"The instruments are probably bought by the
Grunewald concern in New Orleans from some
New York or Chicago factory. There are, unfor-
tunately for the legitimate piano trade, several of
these concerns who make pianos upon which they
are ashamed to put their own names, but who will
put the name of any purchaser upon the fall-
boards."
As to the illegitimate stencil. An ille-
gitimate stencil is a piano which has no
traceable origin. It is sold by circularizing
the country—with offices here, there and
everywhere—sometimes by irresponsible
local agents, by itinerant music teachers
who are not pecuniarily responsible. These
pianos to a certain extent bear the outward
appearance of musical instruments, but as
a rule investigation proves them to be
otherwise. Upon their name-board they
usually bear a close imitation of some well
known name, for instance: " Stein burg,"
"Pickering," "Webber." Such pianos are
illegitimate stencils because in the first
place they have no traceable origin. They
are sold under false pretenses by attempting
to use the value of another's name. They
are sold by irresponsible parties as a rule;
people who have no name to sustain, who
have no prestige to support, who are likely
to be in Buffalo one week and in Kalamazoo
the next; who make the wildest kind of rep-
resentations for their instruments, and the
purchaser does not receive what he has
paid for; he is defrauded out of his money.
That piano is an illegitimate stenciled
piano.
*
To sum up. In the business which is
carried on by honorable representations by
rssponsible dealers, any wares which are
vended by them, no matter whether they
bear the manufacturer's name or their own,
are a perfectly legitimate product, even if
that much-abused and much misunderstood
term "stencil" applies to them. The pianos
which are sold under false representations,
pianos which bear upon their name-board
names which are pronounced almost the
same as the best known names in the trade,
when no such firm or corporation exists, are
illegitimate stenciled pianos.
The men
who sell them are engaged in fraudulent
transactions, and the men who manufacture
them are abettors.
There has been much talk about stencils,
much meaningless, insincere talk; therefore
I consider that a clearly defined statement
should be made. The matter is largely one
between the manufacturer and dealer, but
it should be understood there are two sten-
cils—legitimate and illegitimate.
* *
"Have you ever noticed the various ex-
pressions at a musicale?" she said to him.
"They are really extremely funny.
At
Miss C.'s the other night, M. and I got into
a corner and examined every one, and it
was most amusing. Some assumed a rapt,
ecstatic look that was irresistibly provoca-
tive of laughter; some looked pensive and
wistful; others—and they were generally
people who are not musical at all, but fancy
it is the thing to appear so—beat time, or
kept their fingers moving as if they were
playing sympathetic chords on an imagin-
ary piano. But the most delightful couple
were those two arrant flirts, Miss X. and
Mr. Z.; they really do not either of them
care a bit for music, and by some bad luck
ttiey had been seized by their hostess and
given a sofa quite up in front and nearly
opposite the musicians. There they were
hopelessly trapped for the entire evening,
and their expressions, as they tried to as-
sume a conventional air of appreciation and
interest, were too comical.
I have before me "A Royal Road to
Music," a charming little brochure re-
cently published by the ^Eolian Co., New
York. It is worthy of more than passing
notice, as it bears that stamp of originality
and esthetic taste which characterizes all
the^ advertising and descriptive matter
issued by the ^Eolian Co. The colors
throughout are royal purple and gold.
Aside from the unique cover and artistic
illustrations, there is embodied in the vol-
ume a sentiment which must create inter-
est in the ^2olian, and cause desire on the
part of those who are unacquainted with
the wondrous possibilities of that instru-
ment to ask, " What is the/Eolian?"
It
will be found that there are many sur-
prises in store for the uninitiated, and after
they have investigated they will become
just as enthusiastic over this instrument as
thousands of others have become.
The
^Eolian business is peculiar from others, in
that each purchaser becomes an extoller of
its merits. But to refer to the brochure:
there are quotations from royalty, others
high in State and official positions, musi-
cians of the highest renown, all of whom
have given generous, hearty words for the
^Eolian. It means something; it means
that the yEolian has brushed aside the cob-
webs of prejudice from public opinion re-
garding so-called automatic instruments.
It means that the delicate tone-shading
qualities which enable the player to main-
tain individuality has won them. It will
win others. Let me ask, "Have you seen
the ^Eolian?"
'
' .
Social and musical circles have almost
forgotten Mrs. Alice Shaw, the lovely
sifflcusc, as the Parisians called her, who, it
will be remembered, was quite the rage
here a few years ago. Her whistling ac-
complishment was something unique, and
nothing so much rejoices the average
fagged-out New Yorker as to get hold of
some novelty that shall be the pleasure of
the moment. But Mrs Shaw's day quickly
passed, and she is now whistling at the
Wintergarten, one of Berlin's numerous
music halls. She is still making a good
living, but is no longer the vogue that she
once was in New York and London.
Mrs.
Shaw's whistling talents first came into re-
nown under the auspices of Sorosis. She
had twin daughters and trouble with her
husband, and in order to support the chil-
dren she decided upon a career of sibillant
solos. Sorosis has good intentions.
It
started the lovely whistler into fame, but
did not pay for its tickets at her concerts.
Mrs. Shaw liked applause well enough, but
she needed bread and butter, so she took
the twins to England, and by astute wire