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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
swindling Piano Dealers.
*
p oo \ e
Piano Co.'s Great Trade Catcher,
A SUSPICIOUS STRANGER FROM GEORGIA FAILS
TO WORK HIS GAME IN WORCESTER.
[Special to The Review.]
Worcester, Mass., Jan. 17, 1898.
Local piano dealers have had an experience
with a man who represented himself as a trav
eling salesman from Macon, Ga., which leads
the police to connect the stranger with a per-
son who has been swindling piano dealers in
other parts of the country by a fraudulent
working of the installment plan. The scheme
as operated in other places was to hire a piano
and ship out of town, the operator following it.
A few days ago a stranger went into M. B.
Lamb's music store and told C. M. Farnum,
who was in charge at the time, that he wanted
to buy a piano. An instrument was finally
shown that suited him, and he agreed to take
it, payment to be made on the installment
plan, $25 at the time of sale and $15 a month
thereafter until September i, when the full
balance of the bill was to be paid.
The customer said he could not make the
first payment at once, but would do so within
a few days. He wished the instrument de-
livered at his boarding house at once, how-
ever, explaining that his wife, who was com-
ing to Worcester in a few days, was the
family banker and controlled the cash.
Mr, Farnum referred the customer to Mr.
Lamb, as it was against the rules of the house
to send out a piano without the first install-
ment being paid. The stranger approached
Mr. Lamb and told his story, adding that he
was a traveling salesman, formerly of Macon,
Ga., and was to make Worcester his home.
Mr. Lamb decided to hold the piano until
the first payment had been made. Mean-
while he happened to discover that a man of
the name given had worked piano dealers
successfully in cities of Texas and Kansas.
He informed the police, who discovered that
the man had procured a piano from another
dealer in town.
After talking the matter over, the police
decided to let him go, after the piano had
been returned, as there was no w T ay of prov-
ing that he did not intend to pay the bill.
The case was disposed of by the man agree-
ing to leave the city.
BUILT
UPON
HONOR
The
Germain
Piano
UNEQUALED FOR TONE QUALITIES.
THE ONLY PIANO
HAVING ALL
POINTS OF MERIT.
Germain Piano Co.
Factory, Saginaw, flich.
POOLE
Last week we referred to the big demand
made upon the Poole Piano Co. of Boston for
their new style '97 upright, and take pleas-
ure in presenting herewith cut of the instru-
ment. It is unnecessary to dilate at length
on the attractiveness of this instrument. It
speaks for itself. The swelled sides, full ex-
tension desk, carved pilasters and trusses
are neatly proportioned and present an effec-
tive ensemble which at once catches the eye,
and makes the " Poole " an easy seller with
the dealer.
This instrument, like all the Poole styles,
is noted for its satisfactory tone and careful
manufacture.
With the Poole Piano Co.
there is no such thing as seasons, for orders
continue to come in by every mail for their
latest styles with unfailing regularity.
Antwerp as an Ivory flarket.
The ivory trade is perhaps unique in the
fact that the capital invested in the manu-
facture of ivory goods, although much of the
labor is artistic, highly skilled and expensive,
is really insignificant in comparison with the
money devoted to hunting ivory. By far the
larger part of the expense has already been
incurred when the tusks are delivered to the
manufacturers.
Antwerp recently has become the principal
ivory market of the world. It has surpassed
Liverpool for nearly two years in the amount
of its imports. This change of center is due
to the fact that while all the tusks from
central tropical Africa were formerly carried
to Zanzibar and thence to Bombay and Liver-
pool, a large part of the trade has now been
diverted down the Congo to the Belgian
steamers, and they land the product at Ant-
werp.
As long as the supply holds out, ivory
will continue to be one of the most expen-
sive articles of commerce. It is costly, first
of all, because it requires large expenditure
to get it to market. Most of the supply is
carried hundreds of miles through the wilds
of Africa on the backs of men. It costs
about $600 a ton to transport it to the sea.
In about a year or more, ivory, for the first
time, will be carried by steam from the far
interior of Africa, for the Congo railroad will
then be completed. The new facility, how-
ever, may not reduce the price very much,
for freight charges will yet be high and the
sources of supply are becoming more and
more restricted.
PIANOS
In Great Demand.
Apollo Harps and Regent Zithers are be-
ing eagerly bought up as fast as they can be
completed and sent out from the Flagg Co.
factory.
D. Flagg, who was in town this
week on a brief visit to Frank Scribner at the
New York headquarters, says that although,
when these instruments were introduced, he
ventured to predict a big success for them,
results have been far in excess of even his
most sanguine expectations.
Perry Bros, will open a music store in
Scranton, Pa., on February 1 and handle the
Briggs piano. The Briggs Piano Co.'s pros-
pects for '98 are very excellent indeed. This
is best evidenced from the substantial orders
which have been reaching the company since
the holidays.
Precious, Perfect, Peerless
As to Tone, Touch, Design,
Durability and Value. . . ,
5 and 7 AFFLETON STREET, BOSTON. MASS.