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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
waste of time, and we trust the plans of
the promoters to have the bill a law on or be-
fore the 20th of the month will be realized.
The House and Senate have clearly ex-
pressed a desire by their votes for a tariff
measure, and the sooner it is passed the
better. We want certainty and security in
industrial and commercial conditions; we
have been waiting long enough; the people
at large are heartily sick and tired of tar-
iff and other legislation. The country
to-day needs a rest preparatory to fall trade.
#
#
As reported in another part of this paper
the High Court of Ontario this week upheld
the International Copyright law in the suit
of the John Church Co. against the
Imperial Music Co. of Toronto, for infringe-
ments of copyright, thus indicating clearly
that the interests of music publishers in
the United States will in future be pro-
tected in Canada.
The decision is one of the utmost im-
portance. It means that the Canadian
officials will not tolerate the open infringe-
ments of valuable copyrights which have
been practiced in that country and which
have been brought to public attention so
fully by the National Association of
Music Publishers.
The John Church Co. are entitled to the
thanks of the trade for their stand in this
matter.
Commodore Blake Entertains.
The Weber Grand.
Enrique Heuer, the prominent piano
man of Mexico City, was the guest of
honor on board Rufus W. Blake's palatial
steam yacht "The Dream," which left on
a trip up the Sound yesterday morning.
The Commodore was surrounded by a
number of prominent piano men, including
Calvin Whitney of the A. B. Chase Co.
They were to call at Derby en route and
as Commodore Blake's hospitality on and
off shore is proverbial it is needless to
expatiate on the "good time" enjoyed by
all on board.
Cleveland Moffett, after describing, in
one of the current monthlies, the manner
in which the Weber uprights are manufac-
tured, thus refers to the Weber grands:
And all that has been said of this upright
piano, as made at the Weber factory, of the
endless pains taken at each step in the
manufacture, of the care used in selecting
materials, of the workman's skill, applies
with still greater force to that most admi-
rable of musical instruments, the Weber
Grand. Just as its proportions are nobler
than those of the upright, its framework
heavier, its [action more perfect, and its
tones more beautifully sympathetic, so a
higher degree of skill and art are needed
to produce this result.
The scale of the Weber Grand, the
design of its sounding-board, the curves
of its bridges, represent the labor of
years and the result of experiments
that involve great expense. The proper
construction of every part, as shape of
case, thickness of sounding-board, ar-
rangement of ribs and their proper size
and material, construction of the bridges,
size, quality, spacing and bearing of the
strings; quality of felt, shape and size of
hammers, proper leverage of keys, proper
balancing of all the working parts—these
are some of the details which, if not care-
fully and intelligently attended to, will
nullify and render abortive the best of
scales.
While it is true that many piano-makers
turn out in their factories a limited num-
ber of grands, since without its grand
piano no house can claim high prestige, it
is also true that the country counts very
few houses, four or five at the most, which
have any substantial trade in grands; and
it is keeping within facts to say that two-
thirds of the business in grand pianos done
in the United States is in the hands of two
houses.
And while the necessary greater cost of
the grand piano limits its use in the main
to the wealthy classes and to professional
performers, yet there is no surer criterion
of the standing of any piano manufacturer
and the ranking of his instruments than
the excellence of the grand piano he turns
out. And it is a fact, admitted by k those
who are competent to speak, that in beauty
of tone and sympathetic quality the Web-
er Grand is without superior in the world.
Century Co. to be Reorganized.
John Anderson, president of the Century
Piano Co., Minneapolis, is in town. He
has stated that the receiver of the company
expects to be able to pay cent for cent of
the liabilities. Mr. Anderson, it is under-
stood, is engaged in securing capital with
a view to re-organization. The plant, it
is said, is in excellent shape and ready at
any moment for resumption of extensive
operations.
Entertains Pan=Americans.
One of the pleasant features of the recent
visit of the pan-American delegation to
Cincinnati was the reception tendered them
by the Manufacturers' Club, of which Frank
A. Lee of the John Church Co. is president.
The reception was an event in the history
of the club; prominent men of the city
being in attendance, while nothing was
left undone in the way of music and decora-
tions to add to the effectiveness and beauty
of the scene.
Another Dolge Patent.
Frank A. Lee presided, and in the course
Last week we referred to several im- of an able address of greeting he discussed
portant patents granted to Alfred Dolge at length the desires of the business men
which testified to the tireless energy of of Cincinnati to cultivate broader trade
this popular member of the trade. The relations with the Southern Republics, and
Patent Office this week records another went extensively into the subject of reci-
valuable patent on a machine for making procity. His speech was loudly applauded.
piano hammers. By means of this machine, Other speakers followed, many notable ad-
or apparatus, felt for piano hammers can dresses being made.
be crimped and glued, and, if required, a
Campanari Praises "Krakauer."
piece of veneer inserted, as into the felt,
At the Krakauer warerooms yesterday,
for the treble hammers or at the treble
The Review, during a brief talk with Mr.
end of a set of hammers.
Notwithstanding Mr. Dolge's multifar- Mangold, ascertained that an old friend of
ious interests and his personal participation the latter, the famous Campanari, to whom
in them all, it is a matter for special com- a Krakauer piano was sent last week by re-
ment and indeed worthy of emulation by quest, had written a strong indorsement,
others, that he finds time to be as actively which came to hand just before The Review
interested in the manufacturing depart- arrived. The artist, through Mr. Man-
ment of his business to-day as in days gold, thus refers to the Krakauer piano:
agone.
Spring Lake, N. J., July 6, 1897.
Your piano received, and I thank you
St. John-Ballou Co. Liquidates. very much.
I am happy to say that I found it very
The St. John-Ballou Co., of Syracuse, fine, lovely in quality, even in tone, and
N. Y., have gone into liquidation and will of great power. I can play very soft in
pay their indebtedness in full. The chief delicate passages and I can play forte when
object of this move is to reorganize as a I wish to do so. I am not a piano virtuo-
partnership. The name of the new con- so, but I can say that it is one of the few
pianos from which I have derived satisfac-
cern will probably be St. John & Ballou.
tion. I shall be very glad to give you a
nice testimonial, and I can recommend
The A. B. Chase in Baltimore. your piano to anyone who wants a good
instrument. With many thanks believe
The latest accession to the A. B. Chase me,
Yours sincerely,
G. Campanari.
staff of representatives are R. Lertz & Son
of Baltimore, Md. The first order was for
Among members of the trade in town
a car load of different stvles.
this week was Calvin Whitney.
Secured Forty Orders.
George C. Crane, who has been traveling
in Pennsylvania and vicinity in the inter-
est of the Krell products, has returned to
the city for a few days. He informed The
Review yesterday that as a result of four
days' work he secured forty orders for
delivery early in the fall. He leaves again
next week.
Albert F. Meinberg, who some months
ago became connected with the Pittsburg
branch of the Weber-Wheelock Co., re-
signed his position this week. Mr. Mein-
berg was formerly with Wm. Knabe & Co.
and is an accomplished and popular sales-
man.