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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
T
HE curtain has been raised on 1896, and
new resolves and purposes are the
order of the day. Now is the time to draw
conclusions from'old experiences and send
our thoughts exploiting on untraversed
ground. The past cannot be undone, the
future lays before us. The music trade in-
dustry has gone through the fire, and is in
a healthier and better financial condition
to-day than ever before, and the outlook is
brighter than it has been for the past three
years.
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A marked development and improvement
in the construction of the piano and organ
is destined to be witnessed during the com-
ing year, not alone in the department of
acoustics, but in case structure.
The
variety and excellence of the upright piano
will be pressed closely in popularity by the
baby grand, which will have an extended
sale. This is evident in the demand for
the many excellent baby grands at present
on the market. With the growth of better
times this demand is sure to be accentuated,
for the artistic requirements of musicians
are better satisfied with this instrument
than with any other.
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r
' The cloud which loomed up on the finan-
cial horizon a few weeks ago has been
gradually dispelled, and all fears that the
war scare would adversely affect business
have disappeared—in no small measure
through the action of Congress, which,
with admirable precision and unanimity,
is legislating toward placing the finances
of the country on such a sound basis that
its prosperity will no longer be a question
of doubt.
Confidence is the foundation upon which
business safety is built. Less talk about
poverty, and more faith in the nation, will
tend to better times. The United States
is not lacking in wealth, for in the work on
American Commerce, which Chauncey M.
Depew is editing, and to which, by the
way, Mr. Stein way contributes an article
on musical instruments, he places our pop-
ulation at seventy millions, and our re-
sources at seventy billions. It does not
take much figuring to calculate that accord-
ing to this statement every citizen in this
country is worth on an average of a thou-
sand dollars. This would place the average
wealth of each family at about five thousand
dollars.
With such a showing all this
country requires is a little more faith, a
little more patience, and the clouds will
disappear and the sun of prospjr.ty will
shine forth in all its effulgence.
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The gratifying reports made by the
majority of manufacturers for the past year
—which may be termed one of convales-
cence—is so unequivocal that it portends a
still better condition of things, both financi-
ally and industrially,during the present year.
The output of pianos and organs for 1895
makes a showing that is very satisfactory,
considering the fact that the improvement
in business commenced to be felt about six
months ago. According to Mr. A. G. Cone,
who recently prepared a very interesting and
well written article on the polite mechan-
ical arts for a Chicago paper, the number
of pianos manufactured in Chicago during
the past year amount to more than twenty
thousand. This exceeds the output of '92
by six thousand, while the number of reed
organs manufactured during the past year
in Chicago exceed forty thousand, just the
same as '93. This is a record that certainly
does honor to Chicago.
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From all information to hand, we are led
to believe that the increase in the output of
pianos for the year just closed over the pre-
vious year—irrespective of Chicago—will
average from fifteen to twenty per cent.,
and that the total number of pianos manu-
factured in the United States will approxi-
mate ninety-three thousand. Taking these
figures into consideration, and bearing in
mind the fact that the improved condition
of things can be dated from last summer,
there is every reason to surmise that the
music trade industry is floating on a tide of
prosperity which will reach land at the close
of T896 with achievements to its credit
hitherto unparalleled.
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The matter of foreign trade will play no
unimportant part during 1896. It is true
we have a large and undeveloped home
market, but the increase in new concerns
and improved facilities of production tend
to an output that will permit of an advan-
tageous foreign trade. Aside from Europe,
we have a fine market at our very door for
surplus production. The South American
countries have never been "worked" by
piano and "organ manufacturers as they
should. In organs especially, which act as
a missionary for the piano, there is every
possibility of a big trade.
The same may
be said of all sorts of small musical instru-
ments which are now imported from Eu-
rope. The extension of our foreign trade
will force itself on American manufac-
turers; it is in line with the progress of the
times. In Great Britain there is room for
the American piano, not the very cheap,
but the good piano, at a medium price.
Freight rates are reasonable, and while the
gauntlet with English and German manu-
facturers has to be run, yet the Amer-
ican piano possesses such points of
superiority, both in tone and architecture,
that it cannot help being a winner.
Merriam's Factory Burned Out.
MERRIAM & CO.'S piano stool
factory, at South Acton, Mass., was
burned to the ground last Saturday morn-
ing.
The fire originated from some un-
known cause. Fifty men are thrown out
of employment. Loss on stock, $15,000,
and on building and machinery, $12,000.
The insurance on stock is $9,000, while the
building was only partially insured.
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