Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1897 Vol. 24 N. 13

Page 6 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
A piano store has been opened in Water-
Charles P. Bowlby, organ manufacturer,
bury, Conn., opposite the Town Hall, by of Washington, N. J., was sold out by the
Chas. and John R. Murphy.
sheriff last Tuesday. James H. Johnston
The music house of Hume-Minor Co., purchased the plant, bidding $500 above
Richmond, Va., have removed to their new the mortgage which he held. It is said
store, 825 Broad street, and will open up that the factory will be started again at
once.
on Monday next.
F. L. Beck, music dealer, Lancaster, O.,
P F. B. Burns, of piano stool and scarf
•will remove into new warerooms on North
I had the pleasure of greeting Charles F. fame, will return to-day from a four days' Broad street about April 1st.
Geiger, president of the Imperial Co., business " flyer."
The H. M. Brainard Co., Cleveland, O.,
Cincinnati, O., at the John Church Co.
Wm. Vincent Wallace Wamelink, a son
will
remove from their present quarters in
headquarters, 141 Fifth avenue, last Wed- of J. T. Wamelink, the well-known music
that
city around April 1st. The John
nesday. Mr. Geiger has been connected dealer of Cleveland, O., and a popular
Church
Co. have rented this store for a
with the small goods interests of the John young business man, died at his home in
Cleveland
branch.
Church Co. for close on thirty years, and that city, last week, after an illness of
has made his way from the bottom of the twelve months.
Theodore Pfafflin's friends will tender
ladder to the top. He is a bright, wide-
him a farewell dinner at the Hotel Logerot
R. F. Adams, of Norwalk, Conn., has this evening.
awake, and genial gentleman, who is help-
added
a line of pianos and organs to his
ing to make the products of the Imperial
Ouvrier Bros., 21 East Fourteenth street,
commission
and auction business.
Co. known far and wide. Mr. Geiger left
are about to remove to 13 East Fourteenth
for the West on Wednesday evening.
G. H. Race, who formerly represented street. They have just bought out the
C. F. Goepel & Co. in Chicago, is in the business of Martins & Sons, of 17 East
The music trade loses a good man, and city. With New York as his headquarters, Sixteenth street. F. Schuler, of 19 East
the insurance business is a gainer in the he will hereafter make periodical trips cov- Fourteenth street, will also make a change
person of Theodore Pfafflin, who will leave ering the entire trade of the country, in and occupy No. 21.
Sunday for Swatara, Pa., where he will en- the Goepel interests.
Reinhard Kochmann returned on Wed-
gage in the insurance business with his son-
E. W. Furbush, of the Vose & Sons Piano nesday from a trip through New York,
in-law, H. W. Balsbaugh.
Pennsylvania, and Vermont, which was
Mr. Pfafflin is one of the cleverest and Co., Boston, arrived in town yesterday.
not
only successful in the way of valuable
best known salesmen in this trade. He
Albert T. Strauch, of Strauch Bros., has
connections for the Baumeister house, but
has held distinguished positions East and returned from a Western trip.
also in that he made a remarkable record of
West and his host of friends join me in
In a widely circulated circular sent out covering forty-five towns in twenty-four
wishing him unalloyed success in his new
field. He has had two or three flattering by the New York World, it r quotes a com- days. He did not employ a flying machine
propositions from some of the prominent plimentary letter sent it bj Peek & Son, either. Truly Reinhard is a hustler.
houses in the trade, but he has firmly de- relative to the benefits derived from adver-
The Mason & Hamlin concert grand was
cided to leave the piano business. The tising in that medium. The letter in ques- used by Mme. Emile Paur, wife of the con-
Union Central Insurance Co., of Ohio, tion is not only of service to the World, ductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
made him a very flattering proposition and but it is a mighty effective ad. for Peek & at a recent concert in Boston given by the
which he deemed it advantageous to accept. Son. It cannot fail to be of great service Boston String Quartet.
to them.
His headquarters will be in Harrisburg.
Mr. Neuman has started in the manufac-
The new automatic piano manufactured
William H. Gebelein, formerly in charge by the ^Eolian Co., is on exhibition at their ture of pianos in Denver, Col.
of the Doll warerooms, 113 East Fourteenth warerooms, 18 West Twenty-third street.
The Chicago Cottage Organ Co. made a
street, and for some time past with the This instrument is entitled the "Aerial" big purchase of walnut veneers this week,
Wissner retail branch in Brooklyn, has re- and in it are embodied many novel features amounting to over half a million feet.
turned to the Doll warerooms. He took peculiar to this house, and which will un-
Geo. A. Oates, for many years a promi-
charge as manager on Monday last, and doubtedly help to make the instrument a
nent music dealer in the South, was acci-
means to enter upon his last-assumed duties great favorite.
dentally killed near Augusta, Ga., while
with characteristic energy.
Haines Bros., Incor., are preparing a new driving, last Sunday. He was born seventy-
Fred. J. Mabon, traveling representative catalogue which will be ready for delivery four years ago in England.
Alva Babcock, formerly in charge of
for Paul G. Mehlin & Sons, has just re- in about two weeks.
the Wheelock warerooms, is now connected
turned from a two weeks' tour in the East-
G. B.'Benjamin has been appointed man- with the Weber-Wheelock warerooms, 108
ern States. Business has been satisfac-
ager
of Freeborn G. Smith's branch store, Fifth avenue.
tory. In response to an inquiry, Mr.
Newark,
N. J.
Mabon said: " I found the Mehlin agents
The Sohmer agency at Baltimore, Md.,
most friendly, and unanimous in praise of
The suit of John Feld against the Jesse has been placed with D. S. Hollingshead.
our instruments. The present demand is French Piano Co. and others of St. Louis
W. C. Golden, traveling representative
not great, but it is healthy, and the outlook for $10,000 damages has been amicably
of
Stultz & Bauer, has met with satisfac-
for the fall is excellent."
settled through the good offices of the Piano
tory success thus far on his Western tour.
Dealers' Association of that city.
Horace Lehr, of H. Lehr & Co., piano
French & Bassett, of Duluth, Minn., have
F. C. Train has been substituted for secured the agency for the Weber-Wheelock
and organ manufacturers, Easton, Pa., has
been elected a member of the Board of Furlong & White as attorney for the line of instruments. It is the intention of
Councilmen of that city. A fitting honor Muehlfeld & Haynes Piano Co. by order of this firm to bring the Weber piano promi-
Justice Smyth of the Supreme Court.
for an enterprising citizen.
" '
nently to the front by means of recitals,
etc.
Business
is
booming
at
the
Regina
Music
The Brockport Piano Co., of Brockport,
Box
works
in
Rah
way,
N.
J.,
and
a
large
N. Y., have plans under consideration
The wording of some of the advertise-
whereby the sale of their instruments will part of the force are now working over- ments in the daily papers is a study. A
be materially augmented during this year. time.
recent ad in a local paper contained the fol-
The "Capen" piano, which the Brockport
Judgment was filed on Thursday last by lowing interesting sentence: "A lady wants
Co. manufacture, is a creditable one, and a Edward T. Wolf against the New York to sell her piano as she is going abroad in
good "seller."
a strong iron frame."
Piano Hammer Co. for $595.58.

Page 7 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
.;»».»•,,»ui«i.,i tt 4^»^ffrtt;^J»»,»».-s?nTT
From a Traveler's Note Book.
^
HERE are some advantages in
living in a country with a vast
territorial area even if loosely
joined politically. While some
one portion may be afflicted
with drouth, flood or famine,
the remainder moves tranquilly along with-
out more than passing comment upon the
situation of those less fortunate, unless
there should be a call for aid, then it is
given and to the everlasting glory of our
people be it said that no call for aid by
stricken brethren has passed unheeded.
The response has always been spontaneous,
and unstinted in dimensions. That the
American people are generous in their in-
stincts maybe appreciated by their actions
when Memphis was ravaged by yellow fe-
ver, Johnstown flood swept, and on hun-
dreds of other occasions when there has
been an appeal for aid. Last year, when
St. Louis was devastated by a cyclone, how
quickly from all parts of America the peo-
ple stood ready to pour their millions into
the stricken city and were dissuaded only
by the selfish action of that city's ruler. I
question if the people of the East and far
West realize how serious the floods have
been throughout Ohio and Indiana. Travel
has been seriously affected by reason of
great washouts which have not only delayed
the regular service but have rendered travel
accompanied by more than a modicum
of danger. All along the flooded sections
great damage has been done, and much
suffering and privation has been the direct
result of the great floods, and if the rivers
continue to rise in their riotous sway those
located in more favored regions will have
to contribute to the relief of the flood suf-
ferers.
With only a short tarry in New York, I
have been traveling continuously since the
middle of December, and it is with feelings
in which there is a large element of satis-
faction that I swing across the Appalachian
chain on my home run.
Travel hath its charms, likewise its trials;
but, after all, I think that we are amply
repaid for the outlay and for the annoy-
ances and discomforts to which we are sub-
jected by an added knowledge of the
ever-changing trade conditions, a closer
acquaintance with the local environments
of the far-away trade, a greater discrimi-
nating power to deal with the intricacies
of application peculiar to the close of the
century. And how trade methods have
changed during the past decade!
With as great changes during the next ten
years as we have witnessed during the
*y?
past, it will amount to practically a revo-
lution. The business man who fails to
appreciate the situation as it exists to-day
and direct his craft accordingly will find
that he is hopelessly stranded, without a
shadow of a chance of getting off the
shoals.
Times have changed things in every de-
partment of life. Politically, industrially,
and commercially the world has undergone
a complete metamorphosis, and no man
should handicap himself with the issues of
the past when a nervous, restless present is
with us. Sometimes I wonder if the great
men of the past would have accomplished
as much had they lived in this age.
Looking back, we must be forced to ad-
mit that there was a certain simplicity in
the problems that confronted the country in
the early days of the century. There were
no pressing sociological questions. Eco-
nomics, though in confusion, was, after all,
not complex and intricate.
The problems of state could be viewed at
long range, and could be decided with a
calm judgment, unvexed by a thousand
contradicting interests clamoring at once
for recognition. I question if Washington
would have been as successful a President
had his term ended in 1897, instead of
1797;
The problems which would have con-
fronted him at the end of the nineteenth
century are of an entirely different com-
plexion than those which he encountered.
The President of to-day has to deal with
intricacies which demand different solu-
tions and are infinitely more testing than
our early rulers had to encounter. It is
the same in the industrial world. The
business man of to-day requires a more
comprehensive power of coordination, a
subtler sense of values, a sterner moral
courage than was necessary to achieve suc-
cess in America when it was in a strict
sense an agricultural country. Would some
of our old-time manufacturers and mer-
chants have achieved the same degree of
success in these later days that they did in
days agone ? A difficult question to answer;
but one thing is sure, and that is, that some
of the men who have deemed their position
impregnable are surely being forced to a
rear position.
Overdue- conservatism and a disregard
of the new methods do not contribute to
business success.
Personally, I do not wonder that some
of the men are loath to cast aside the
conservatism of old and in its place ac-
cept the new methods, for, like the " new
journalism," there is much about it which
is distasteful.
Still we must go with the stream, not
against it; and no matter how much we all
would prefer the days of old, our very ex-
istence demands unrelaxing vigilance and
unremitting application to maintain our
position.
Some of the old houses who have disre-
garded the lessons of the times have lost
their position, and I question if they will
ever regain it.
The time has gone by when dealers come
to market clambering over each other in
their haste to secure wares.
There are mighty few manufacturers
who can afford to occupy an independent
position. If they remain with relaxed en-
ergies, encroachments are steadily being
made upon their preserves by more ener-
getic men.
It is the same in trade journalism.
A dozen years ago The Review was pub-
.lished fortnightly, and its size was from
eight to twelve pages.
It had in those days a good circulation,
considerable influence, and business came
to it readily.
To-day we are publishing from thirty to
fifty pages weekly, and giving in every
way an infinitely superior service. And
does business come in easily?
It comes, but only
"Through long days of labor
And nights devoid of ease."
If I had clung to the old principles and
theories, I should have been simply wiped
out of existence. The fact is we must all
give more for the money than ever before,
or else be crushed by the modern Jugger-
naut—competition.
Like Canute of old, we may command
the waves to stop, but they sweep in heed-
less of our wishes.
- *
*
*
*
When I reached Cincinnati the cit3 r itself
and the country tributary were suffering
from the effects of the recent floods. In
fact there was only one road running trains
out of the city on the day of my arrival.
Cincinnati is the home of three music
trade houses of national importance. I re-
fer to the John Church Co., D. H. Bald-
win & Co., the Krell Piano Co. Unless
one is familiar with the trade over the
country they" can scarcely form an ade-
quate idea of the vast ramifications of the
John Church Co. 's interests. We must first
consider that the John Church Co. with its
allied interests control a vast music pub-

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