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VOL.
XXVI.
No. 18.
Published Every Saturday at 3 East Fourteenth Street, New York, April 30,1898.
Durand Organ Company.
RECEIVER'S REPORT BRINGS INTERESTING CASE
TO MIND.
[Special to The Review.]
Portland, Ore., April 26, 1898. •
W. A. Currie, receiver of the Durand
Organ & Piano Company, filed a report
yesterday covering the period from July,
1897, and showing $1,533 balance on hand at
that date.
The history of the Durand Organ & Piano
Company is quite an interesting one, and
has at various times been fully detailed in
public print. Ezra Durand, the promoter
of the enterprise, is now in the penitentiary,
serving a term of 12 years for forgery, hav-
ing been returned here from the East about
a year ago. The old man was considerably
broken down by his many wanderings to
escape being overtaken by justice, and had
none of his alleged ill-gotten gains with
which to defend himself against the numer-
ous charges brought against him. He said
he was penniless, and he pleaded guilty and
took what came. When he left here in
January, 1892, his victims claimed that he
had gotten away with a very large sum, but
Durand, on his return, averred that such
was not the case, and that he had very little
when he fled.
The receivership was sued for in Novem-
ber, 1892, by W. A. Currie, who got the ap-
pointment. He was a creditor to the ex-
tent of $1,500. Banker B. H. Bowman, of
the East Side, had in the meantime taken
possession of all of the property of the com-
pany, on a chattel mortgage to secure a
large claim.
Currie prosecuted a suit against Bowman,
which was carried to the supreme court,
and- out of the assets Bowman, by a court
decree, turned over $2,400 cash, contracts
amounting to about $4,000, and notes of
about $4,100.
The receiver has since been realizing up-
on the contracts, etc. Including the money
received from Bowman, the receiver has
altogether collected about $4,760 and dis-
bursed about $3,193.
Of the disbursements, the receiver has
drawn as salary about $1,400, and Mitchell
& Tanner for prosecuting the Bowman suit,
etc.,
have been paid $650. Nothing has
been paid in the way of a creditor's divi-
dend, and there is no statement of claims
presented. From appearances, however, it
does not appear that the creditors, if there
are any, would ever get much. Currie has
a judgment for his claim, obtained years
ago, and it probably takes a preference and
amounts to much more, with interest, than
the amount on hand.
Besides Ezra Durand, there was in the
company, D. J. Durand, secretary; M. J. Du-
rand, D. C. Currie, Ezra Durand, and W.
R. Stevenson, directors.
M. J. Durand departed about the same
time Ezra did. The receiver's reports show
that $40 expense was paid to bring old man
Durand back to Portland. There are those
who profess to believe that Durand did not
commit all of the forgeries charged to him,
but that when he ran away, persons who had
signed notes proclaimed them forgeries to
avoid having to liquidate the same.
flusic Trade Associations.
Our London namesake, The Music
Trade Review, in its latest edition prints the
names of the various officers of the music
trade associations of this country and in
this connection says:
" There are, it will be seen, a National
Pianoforte Manufacturers' Association and
an American Pianoforte Manufacturers' As-
sociation, both having headquarters in New
York, and being, it is understood, more or
less in friendly rivalry, a matter which, in
certain instances, seems to have been ad-
justed by putting one partner on the ' Na-
tional ' and the other on the ' American '
Association. Each, however, has numerous
and wealthy members, and, moreover, both
are fighting associations, so that if the trade
is threatened, immediate action is possible,
and is, in fact, taken."
This well meant comment is a little "off."
We would say, for the benefit of our con-
temporary, that the "American" Associa-
tion is purely a New York organization and
its jurisdiction is confined to this city, while
the "National" is, as its name implies,
national in object and covers the entire
country. No doubt the name " American "
is confusing and that is why the name was
changed at the last meeting, so that instead
of being known as the "American" it is now
the " New York Piano Manufacturers' As-
sociation."
In this same article some excellent re-
marks are made regarding trade associa-
tions, four of which were founded at the in-
stance of our contemporary in England
some two years ago. Speaking along this
line The Review says : " T h e ideal of a
federation of trades would, of course, be the
formation of local associations in every
$2.00 PER YEAR.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 C^NTS.
town, or, where the town is a small one, in
every district. These could form a sort of
county council, and their delegates should
be sent at stated intervals of three, six, or
twelve months to meet either in London or
in some other central city, thus forming a
sort of superior parliament. An association
of this sort would wield enormous influence
and as it would naturally be limited to the
defence of bona fide trade interests, it would,
we should imagine, do an immense amount
of good. A real federation of the musical
instrument trades, however, at present seems
to be more or less a dream of Utopia."
Lyon & Healy's Latest Purchase.
Adler & Hornstein, violin dealers of Chi-
cago, have retired from business and have
sold their stock, which is valved at $30,000,
to Lyon & Healy. Mr. Hornstein has re-
entered the employ of Lyon & Healy, and
will be connected with the repair section
of the string instrument department^
Among the stock purchased was a number
of rare and valuable old violins, violas and
'cellos. It is Lyon & Healy's intention to
dispose of these instruments at the earli-
est possible moment, and bargains will cer-
tainly be in store for connoisseurs who de-
sire to take advantage of this unusual op-
portunity.
C. G. Conn's "Truth."
An exceedingly interesting and " l i v e "
issue is the April number of C. G. Conn's
Truth, which recently made its appear-
ance. There are vigorous and telling edi-
torials—regular knock-out blows—regard-
ing some of Mr. Conn's friendly (?) compet-
itors.
Fake manufacturing and fake advertising
receive due attention, and Mr. Conn's as-
sailment of these methods is as effective as
the recent bombardment of Matanzas by the
American fleet.
Space will not permit us to dwell upon
the abundance of good things in this issue
of Truth. There is so much of interest that
it is difficult to discriminate in reviewing
it. After a perusal, however, the reader
will be better informed regarding the
" Wonder" violins, mandolins, guitars,
flutes, clarionets, saxophones and brass wind-
instruments generally. An interesting de-
partment is that " Among the Bands."
The cover page is adorned by a very ex-
cellent cut of Sig. Eugenio Sorrentino, di-
rector of the celebrated Banda Rossa, of
Italy, who is enthusiastic about the Conn
instruments.