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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
The Poole Piano Co.
PROGRESS THE ORDER OF THE DAY DEALERS
}NE AND ALL ARE UNANIMOUS IN PROCI,AIM-
ING THE POOLE PIANO ONE OF THEIR
BEST SELLERS SOME REASONS WHY
THE POOLE IS POPULAR.
" One of the best selling pianos in my
lijie," was the answer recently made to The
Review by a prominent dealer when asked
M How is the Poole going? "
This seems to be the general opinion
wherever we journey.
There is no question but the Poole
pianos, made by the Poole Piano Co., are
constantly growing in favor. This is due
to several reasons. Among them it may
be said that the Poole Co. have ever striven
to improve their wares—they have never
sacrificed quality on the altar of cheapness.
And this covers every part of the instru-
that he has taken a special and personal
interest in seeing that every demand made
upon his representatives by the musical
public is satisfied.
As was stated in The Review a short
time ago, the Poole Piano Co. have out-
lined a vigorous policy for this year, and
evidences of it will be forthcoming before
the season grows much older. This policy
is destined to increase the Poole output by
a substantial percentage as well as augment
the prestige and influence of the Poole
Piano Co.
We shall have more to say of the Poole
Co. in later issues. They are one of the live,
go-ahead institutions whose movements
will be worth watching.
Seasoning Wood by Electricity.
A PROCESS WHICH WILL REVOLUTIONIZE PRES-
ENT DAY METHODS WILL CHEAPEN PRICE
AND IMPROVE QUALITY—-THE INVENTOR
A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKER.
Much interest has been manifested in the
article which appeared in The Review of
Feb. 25th regarding the new process of
seasoning wood by electricity now in suc-
cessful operation in France and England,
by means of which the market price of
timber will be reduced and the quality im-
proved.
There is not much difficulty in under-
standing the reasons for the remarkable
success of the process. It is well known
that old wood, on account of its resistance
to damp, to variations of temperature, as
well as its possession of qualities required
for some special manufactures—elasticity,
adhesiveness, impermeability, sonorous-
ness, etc.—is the only kind adapted for the
manufacture of string instruments, wind
instruments, pianos, art materials, sculp-
ture, furniture, joiner's work, and numer-
ous other purposes.
To render timber fit for use the follow-
w. H. POOLE.
ing losses have had to be sustained: (1)
ment whether interior mechanism or case sinking of capital during seasoning (from
five to twenty years), (2) the rent of ground
work.
or
warehouse, (3) expenses of insurance,
In fact the "best possible values" is the.
(4)
loss arising from cracks and rot, which
keynote with the Poole Piano Co.
In
architecture, choice veneers, perfect var- amounts to as much as twenty per cent.,
nish work and all concomitant details, the sometimes even thirty-five per cent., of the
Poole styles for 1899 prove that the Poole total volume of the wood. To this must
Piano Co. understand what constitutes a be added the permanent danger of fire.
There is an interest, therefore, of the
well-made and artistic looking instrument.
It is little wonder that the factory in first order in finding an economical and
Boston has been busy, when other concerns rapid process for ageing the wood while
were dull during the past two months, and securing to it the same qualities as the
For fifty years the
that it Is rushed to-day, for dealers every- natural senescence.
where recognize that the Poole pianos are greatest sacrifices have been made towards
trade makers and can be sold with the this end.
During 1896 two Frenchmen made to-
fullest assurance that no complaints will be
gether the discovery so long attempted in
forthcoming.
This is a point upon which the Poole vain and by so many diverse means. They
Piano Co. pride themselves and it is a finally arrived at a practical and definite
tribute to the careful supervision exercised solution of the problem. The trials bore
over every piano before it leaves the fac- at first on the preparation of the reed for
clarionet reeds, and were made in great
tory.
W. Harry Poole, the head of the Com- number by one of the discoverers, a music-
pany is an experienced piano man, who ical instrument maker. The other gentle-
thoroughly understands that success can man interested then conceived the idea of
best be won by the closest attention to de- applying the same treatment to all wood
tails of manufacture with a view to afford- substances, and under the superintendence
ing satisfaction to dealers, Hence it is of eminent specialists they have made real
and absolutely conclusive industrial expe-
riments. One difficulty to conquer was the
permeation of their joists. This was over-
come in a most practical manner by a very
rapid electrical process. The electro-capil-
lary permeation which resulted therefrom
was soon susceptible of applications as
numerous as they were unforeseen.
The timber to be treated is put into a
quadrangular tank of liquid, immersed to
rather more than half its depth, and an
electric current is applied through a metal-
lic conductor, so arranged as to distribute
it throughout the area. In the space of
four minutes the sap commences to exude
visibly at the lower part of the end of the
wood, forming a line of viscid froth. In
the space of six hours the sap is seen, by
the ceasing of exudation, to be entirely ex-
tracted. The wood is then taken out and
placed in another tank, from which a sep-
tic solution is forced from below into the
pores denuded of sap by an electro-capil-
lary method; duration, three hours.
After the two electrical processes have
been completed the wood undergoes a dry-
ing process by being placed for two or
three or more weeks in covered sheds, pro-
vided with a continuous through current
of fresh air. If of large scantling or ob-
stinate nature, a longer period is allowed,
it being placed for three or more days in
hot, dry rooms. The processes are then
all complete, after lasting about a month.
Among the advantages of the new pro-
cess are the following: One month's in-
terest on capital, instead of years; power
of utilizing cheap or damaged woods, hith-
erto almost useless, and of applying them
to new purposes; facility of dyeing woods
to prescribed colors throughout their entire
thickness, thus rendering painting un-
necessary; gain in treating green woods
without loss of time—the greener the wood
the quicker the action of the process; com-
plete freedom from shrinkage, twisting and
warping; immunity from damage by in-
insects or animalculae; great reduction in
inflammability; increased strength and
better surface; resistance to damp or
moisture; extraordinary increase in the
resonance and fine tone of musical instru-
ments; economy of application; enormous
diminution in the destruction of forests so
far as arising from premature rot in the
timber actually sold, and practicability of
rendering wood fireproof, if required, at a
very small additional cost by one further
process.
An " Irish Trick."
That modern colossus in the field of re-
tailing, the department store, first saw the
light in Ireland's Capital, Dublin, and was
transplanted to America by A. T. Stewart,
a son of Erin, and is to-day managed, in
not a few instances, by Irishmen. Alto-
gether it's an " Irish trick," and a mighty
shrewd one at that.
The Shoninger warerooms now contain
a very attractive selection of 1899 styles
in Shoninger uprights. Several of these
styles are brand new designs each having
distinctive features of a character calculi
ated to secure ready purchasers,