Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
With the Travelers,
the chest; in fact, as one of the colored
gentlemen exclaimed:
" 'De watah am certainly risin 1 .'
"This was true. The proprietor's waiter
had turned on the hydrant faucet lightly
when the men began drinking."
A Statement to the Trade.
BOSTON, NOV. 9TH,
1895.
To THE TRADE:
• ^ W O U know," said Kochmann, "that a
J
traveling man sees dome of the
most ludicrous incidents in the course of
his travels over the country."
"Yes, Reinhard, I have been there my-
self," said THE REVIEW man.
"And," continued Kochmann, having
lighted a perfecto and crossing his feet pre-
paratory to the spinning of a yarn, "about
the funniest incident that I have seen for a
long time occurred down in a restaurant in
the South."
"That wasn't near New Orleans at the
time of the coffin episode?" interjected THE
REVIEW
man.
"No, not exactly. This was in Georgia,
I think. I dropped into a place to get a
little bite, when in came three country
darkies. They were of the real plantation
species. The proprietor at first was going
to order them out, and then being in a
waggish mood, he decided to have some
fun at the expense of the country darkies.
A large ice chest stood at one end of the
counter. It had glass doors, through which
beefsteak, vegetables and fruit could be
plainly seen. At the bottom of the chest
was about an inch of water which came
from the melting of the ice above. A rub-
ber hose was in front of the chest to lead
off the water when it reached a certain
height. But behind the chest was another
pipe, connected with a hydrant, to be used
to wash out the chest when needed. The
proprietor of the restaurant told the colored
men he would give them $5 if they would
drink all the water that remained in the
bottom of the chest. They jumped at the
proposition when they had examined the
chest and saw that there was only about a
gallon of water there. The smallest of the
three went for the water first. He lay down
on the floor and put the end of the hose in
his mouth and drank and drank until his
eyes bulged and he looked weak. When he
could drink no longer he arose and looked
into the chest. It did not appear that the
water had receded from the sides a particle.
He concluded that he had not drunk as
much as he thought he had, and he tried it
again. Each of the three colored men tried
his experiment three times, and it did not
seem that any of the water had gone out of
On November 14th, 1894, we issued a
circular to the Piano trade, stating that we
believed Mr. Geo. P. Bent was infringing
upon the "Plectraphone" attachment of
Messrs. French & Nalence, of which we are
the exclusive licensees, and which is fully
protected by letters patent.
In the circular above referred to, we
warned all manufacturers, dealers and pur-
chasers of the "Orchestral" attachment that
they were liable for damages, if the suit
that we were about to bring against Mr.
Bent resulted in substantiating the claims
made by us in regard to the "Plectraphone"
attachment. Mr. Bent prayed for an in-
junction restraining us from sending out
circulars or other like information, which
he claimed injured his trade. This injunc-
tion was granted in the Superior Court of
Cook County, Chicago, but has just been
dissolved by the Appellate Court for the
First District, Illinois.
We wish now again to say that we are
advised that the "Orchestral" attachment
is an infringement on the "Plectraphone"
patent, and if this be so proven, we shall
prosecute all purchasers or users of the
"Orchestral" attachment. It is our earnest
desire to bring the patent suit to trial at
the earliest moment. We have used, and
are now using, our utmost endeavor to
hurry this suit along. Just now we are
waiting for Mr. Bent to complete his evi-
dence, and have so waited for several weeks.
We hope from time to time to keep you
fully advised of the status of the case, and
shall do our utmost to bring it to an early
trial.
Very truly yours,
THE EVERETT PIANO CO.
The Whitney=Marvin Co.
• T H E Whitney-Marvin Piano Co., of De-
1 troit, Mich., has been incorporated by
Curits W. Marvin, Walter W. Marvin, Geo.
Bouton; capital stock, $50,000, of which
$25,000 has been paid in. This corpora-
tion carries with it a change in the firm of
C. J. Whitney and C. W. Marvin, who
have conducted, under the firm name of the
Whitney-Marvin Music Co., a business in
musical instruments for over a year. By
it the old firm is dissolved, and Mr. Marvin
has purchased the piano and organ depart-
ment, together with the firm name of
Whitney-Marvin.
Mr. Whitney retains
the rest of the business. Of the newly in-
oorporated firm C. W. Marvin is president;
George D. Bouton is vice-president, and
Alta W. Marvin, secretary and treasurer.
Some Light on the So=Called
"Piano War" at Atlanta.
HE Atlanta correspondent of the World
devotes some attention to the so-called
" piano war " in his letter to that paper last
Sunday. He says:
"An interesting situation has been created
over the admission of pianos into the
grounds. A Cincinnati piano firm agreed
to exhibit on condition that that they should
have the exclusive franchise and that no
other instrument be allowed to enter the
grounds.
"The women who had charge of the Balti-
more room in the Woman's Building asked
another firm to lend one of their pianos.
This firm shipped to Atlanta the instrument
which they exhibited at the World's Fair
and which they valued at $10,000. The
truckman who took the instrument from the
depot got as far as the gate when he was
met by a messenger from the President's
office, who declared that the piano could not
be allowed inside the grounds. A German
firm of manufacturers placed at the disposal
of the New York State women one of their
best instruments, which was shipped to
Atlanta, only to be refused admission.
"It will be remembered that at theWorld's
Fair in Chicago Paderewski was at outs with
the management because the pianist in-
sisted on using at his concerts a piano with
whose makers he was under contract. An-
other company had the exclusive right, by
agreement, to furnish all pianos coming
into the grounds. Ultimately Paderewski.
won his point.
"A similar situation arose at the Atlanta
Fair. Victor Herbert, leader of Gilmore's
Band, is also under contract with a piano
firm. He was engaged for the first six
weeks of the Exposition and one of his first
requests was that a certain piano be placed
in the auditorium where the concerts took
place. A flat refusal was returned, but he
was told that a piano of another make would
be furnished. This he declined, and during
his entire engagement no piano was used
in his concerts.
' 'Even the concessionnaires are included in
this ironclad agreement, and every piano
used in the Midway, with one exception, is
a product of the Cincinnati firm. The ex-
ception is a self-playing electric instrument
which is in the Palace of Illusions. But be-
fore the proprietor was allowed to start
business he was forced to rent a Cincinnati
piano, which he promptly stored in the back
of the building along with the waste lum-
ber. "
There are several inaccuracies in the fore-
going. That a "German firm of manufac-
turers" offered to place a piano in the New
York State Building "only to be refused"
is news; that Victor Herbert used no piano
in his concerts is another startling item.
Notwithstanding the "ironclad" agreement
the Strich & Zeidlcr piano has been and is
being used in the New York State Building.
So much for "reliable information."
T