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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
- ^ . E D W A R D LVMAN
Editor and Proprietor.
PUBLISHED
EVERY
^T will give much attention to the purchase of
anything other than/absolute necessaries. .
Taking everything- into consideration, .
therefore, the season of the, ye^f, t h e ;
necessity for the farmer's close attention to
crops,, it may be said that business is in>a-
satisfactory condition."
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SATURDAY
3 East 14th St., New York
SUBSCRIPTION (including: postage) United States and
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ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per
ertion. On quarterly
q
insertion.
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REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should
be made payable to Edward Lyman Bill.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Cla, r Matter.
"THE BUSINESS MAN'S PAPER.'
I
T is definitely'announced that the long-
promised medals awarded to manu-
facturers who exhibited at the World's Fair
two years ago will be distributed in a week
or so. We cannot, however, vouch for the
truth of the item. This is about the
s'teenth time the above piece of "news"
has been industriously circulated—but the
medals never made their appearance. It
may be diffeient this time. Let us hope so.
W
E clip the following from a report
just issued by one of the leading
mercantile agencies in this city. It ac-
counts in a measure for the quietness of re-
tail trade throughout the country so gen-
erally complained of during the past few
weeks:
"As we heretofore have stated on sev-
eral different occasions, the fact that busi-
ness at this season of the year is not what
jobbers would like to have it to be, is not
to be considered as a bad omen. The
farmers are giving the closest possible at-
tention to their crops; caring for them and
seeing to it that so far at least as it is in
their power, the crops will receive no back-
set. It is not to be expected, therefore,
while this state of affairs exists, that farmers.
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HE Cotton States and International
Exposition to be opened at Atlanta
next month, has grown to such propor-
tions that it seems destined to take rank
as one of the great world's expositions.
Manufacturers in this country and abroad
have manifested an unusual interest in its
success, and the scope is so imposing and
so representative that it cannot fail to mark
the date of a new era of industrial activity
in the South.
The music trade has not displa)^ed as
keen an interest in this event as one would
expect, and this is due, perhaps, to the
prevailing feeling that returns from ex-
hibitions are neither satisfactor)?- from a
pecuniary nor advertising standpoint.
Laying aside this phase of the matter, it
is, we think, unwise to ignore to any large
extent the opportunity presented of bring-
ing to the attention, not alone of the
South, but the thousands who will journey
from the several Southern Republics, the
products of the music trade industry of
this country.
It is true a number of manufacturers
will be represented through their .local
agents, but such an important event in the
history of the South should be taken up
more warmly and more actively by the
trade at large.
T
T
HE utilization of electricity in the me-
chanical and industrial fields has
been so apparent, particularly during the
past two years, and has been so generally
paid attention to by inventors, that the
question now is, where will this tendency
in the several departments of inventive ac-
tivity lead us?
Electricity has revolutionized the church
organ. Improvements effecting the touch,
stops and action have made it truly the
"king of instruments."
The benefits conferred on the organ by
the use of electricity are now being ap-
plied to the piano with signal success. In-
ventors have so far confined themselves
largely to automatic attachments, which
give promise of great possibilities, but be-
fore long we can safely predict that in the
piano action field especially, electricity will
be very largely utilized—in fact, inventors
who wish to keep in touch with the times
and be rewarded for their labors, will not
underestimate the part which the "electric
fluid" is going to exercise in the music
trade mdustry. .
.' We will be greatly mistaken if some sur-
prising achievements are not recorded in
this domain before twelve months pass by
—achievements that will add to the popu-
larity of musical instruments and make
them a greater pleasure in the home.
CCORDING to dispatches from
Washington, Ainsworth R. Spof-
ford, who has occupied the position of
Librarian of Congress ar.d Chief of the
Copyright Bureau for more than a score of
years, is alleged to be a defaulter to the
Government for at least $35,000, and per-
haps more. It is amazing to think that a
public business such as this could be so
loosely conducted. There has apparently
been no pretense of keeping accounts, or
no idea of responsibility—what is more,
there has been no examination of the
finances of the business for twenty years.
This is a disgraceful condition of things.
If the conduct of the financial department
of the Copyright Office is a sample of the
way the other business of the Bureau is
managed, it is an open question whether
the supposed certificates of copyrights held
by thousands all over the country, on musi-
cal publications, books, etc., have been
properly recorded and are worth more than
their weight in paper.
The carelessness and entire unaccounta-
bility manifest in this public office is a
scandal, and there should be a thorough
probing so«as to insure a restoration of
public confidence. The present exposure
will justly cause a great deal of uneasiness
among the thousands of writers and
business men who are indirectly in-
terested in this important Bureau, and
who have looked upon its management as
being above reproach.
A
Will Enlarge Their Quarters.
UXTON & BLACK, music trade
dealers of Buffalo, N. Y., have se-
cured a lease of the store adjoining their
present quarters, which they will use in
conjunction with their establishment as
a wareroom. Luxton & Black are
building up a splendid trade, particularly
with the Colby pianos. The number of
these instruments sold since they opened
up business last November is surprisingly
large.
L
OTTO WISSNER is spending a well-de-
served vacation in the White Mountains.
G. H. CAMPBELL, of the Knight-Camp-
bell Music Co., Denver, Col., was in town
during the week, and left some substantial
orders with Decker Br.os.