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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
ly competent manner as exhibited in hand-
ling- cash transactions. This is too well
known to be denied. You will notice how
calm and dispassionately I am discussing
this matter, and I may say without super-
erogation—how I do love that word!—that
the lovely ozone here helps me to keep my
temper, still I myself cannot help sad
thoughts creeping in upon my memory,
and you know how retentive my memory
is. It is like my pocketbook; it will hold
almost anything, and now little vague
memories of a fruitful past come to me
like glimpses of fairy land. I just now
tried to sing that song "The Little Game
That Failed to Work Again," but when I
came to the close I felt so tearful that I
had to ring for a boy to bring up a large
cake of ice. Now I feel a little better and
will proceed.
I say I cannot quite remove that heavy
feeling from my heart. There is sort of a
goneness in my make-up to-day which is
suggestive of a Klondike in a worked out
state.
The pamphlet is no good; I say it is
no good, and what I say goes,—that is,
it used to be so. In the first place I did
not print it, and I was not consulted as
to its contents and I declare it worthless.
As an evident supporting fact in this I
wish to state that my name or the name of
my paper is not mentioned in it from
cover to cover. Now isn't that enough to
condemn anything in my mind ?
I declare without supererogation that
the committee has attempted to fight the
stencil on logical grounds and has not even
consulted me, and I defy any person un-
acquainted with the piano industry of the
country to get a clear cut, comprehensive
idea of what the stencil means, its possi-
bilities as to revenues, without first consult-
ing me. I have been the stencil authority,
know more about the revenues of stencil-
ing than any man now living. I say it,
and it must be so, because I say it. It was
I who planned the Paris Exposition, and I
propose to figure in it as I did in the
Chicago Fair, and nothing shall occur to
obfuscate—I love that word obfuscate
nearly as much as supererogation. It is a
lovely word and looks well in print, and
gives power to my arguments.
I never have forgiven the members of
the Association for not extending to me the
glad hand at Washington. The icy touch
which I received there has chilled me ever
since, and I say—I shall never stop saying
it—that I am the proper person to handle
the stencil question. I created it, and as
the result of my power I want to say that
there are fifteen stencil pianos made to-
day where there was only one when I com-
menced my campaign for revenue only.
If that is not sufficient evidence that I
have been correct in my summarizing and
in my conclusion, and if the whole stencil
racket is right, then I shall produce a
chronological table to any one who de-
sires it.
In order to save time regarding the pro-
duction of this chronological table, I pro-
pose to have it framed and placed on my
office walls. I shall also have a miniature
table made so that it can be attached to
my coat. When the subject is mentioned,
all I shall have to do is to touch the but-
ton and the little chronological table ap-
pears on the lapel of my coat in plain view.
That scheme is clever. I shall work it,
because my dignity—I think so much of
my dignity, and my self-respect, and the
reputation of my paper that I have deter-
mined when I return to America, to handle
this matter in a way which will simply
wake the echoes—I say wake the echoes,
and if this letter is not sufficient to cause
some of them to drop off their perch and
meanwhile shake a few dollars in my direc-
tion, then I shall try other means. If tufts
of grass are not sufficient then I shall fling
a few bricks. Mind you, I do not mean
personal bricks. I have determined here
at this distance, while sitting on this cool
block of ice and enjoying this lovely Al-
pine air, not to indulge in personalities. I
detest personalities ever since Morris Stein-
ert turned the tables on me and I marched
up to the captain's desk and—settled. I
hate to use that word settled, it is exceed-
ingly repugnant to me.
There is no constituted authority outside
of myself who can decide this stencil ques-
tion, and I refuse to have my preserves
poached upon by gentlemen who are not in
sympathy with my ideas of what constitutes
"working the trade." To permit further
consideration of this rank, rotten stencil
matter I have cooled down and with the
aid of four glasses of ice water and a fresh
cake of ice, I have concluded that all these
pamphlets—I don't like to say brochure,
the word pamphlet suggests a sort of idea
of littleness, and everything must be little
unless I had something to do with its com-
pilation, or printing.
I say destroy the pamphlet, and that
settles it. I say destroy it and I expect
that there will be not one pamphlet visible
when I return to American shores.
I say the stencil business is reaching a
point where it is decidedly unpleasant to
me, and I think my feelings should be
considered, particularly when I have done
so much toward the purification of trade.
I think piano manufacturers should be
broad, liberal. I know they are liberal,
my chronological table will prove it, but let
bygones be bygones and look upon these
great and important questions with that
American spirit which grants liberty of
thought and action to every one. I want
to be left alone, but I do not propose to
leave others alone. Why should I?
I think the attitude assumed towards me
and not mentioning me as the creator, the
aider and the abettor of the stencil, is too
mean for anything, and you may depend
upon it I shall say more about this when I
get my mouth in perfect working order.
My position and my attitude toward this
and other trade matters has intensified the
interest in my publication, and I may add
without being accused of supererogation—
how I do love that word!—that the interest
has been of such a character that my paper
has grown, grown, I say, perceptibly
smaller all the time. An enormous amount
of business has gone other ways than mine.
n
That is history, and no association can
throw off history.
Well, I am getting a little bit warmer,
my temperature is rising. I declare how
that ice melts.—Yes, waiter, another block
of ice and a large pitcher of icewater and
put in three tablespoonsful of soda.
Wait until I get back to America!
Won't things howl? I declare I can hardly
content my feelings. My ideas get all
tangled up. There is the stencil, I say
stencil and other things, including super-
erogation.
By the way, I struck the old man Verdi
at Milan. Couldn't work him, he was on.
I am afraid also that my blandishments
did not work successfully upon Paderewski.
More ice!
More supererogation!
Stencil! Ah
Confound that waiter; he must be in
league with the stencilers. Ice, ice, I say!
and when I say anything I say it, I say;
and for the sole purpose of saying it, so
that others may hear me say it, and, can-
didly, I love to hear myself say it!
Mass Meeting of Pianomakers.
A mass meeting of pianomakers was held
Sunday morning at Maennerchor Hall in
East Fifty-sixth street.
The audience
listened to a report on the strike of the men
in Krakauer's Piano Factory for an ad-
vance of wages. The delegates said that
Mr. Krakauer had declared that he would
shut down his works rather than yield to
the men's demands, and they also reported
that several piano manufacturers were
helping Mr. Krakauer. by doing work for
him. The meeting indorsed the strike,
and decided to order strikes in the shops of
such manufacturers as might be detected
in helping Mr. Krakauer.
*
*
*
The action of the piano makers regard-
ing the outside assistance given to Kra-
kauer Bros, is too absurd to even receive
serious consideration, as, to our minds, it
would require tremendous powers of obser-
vation to discover any outside help given
to Krakauer Bros, at this particular junc-
ture. The men only make their position
more ridiculous by passing such resolu-
tions.
We may add, that up to the time of the
last forms going to press, no other strikes
are on in New York. Krakauer Bros,
maintain a firm front regarding their atti-
tude with the striking piano makers and
are shipping some pianos, notwithstanding
the action of their old employees.
Enroll Immediately.
Scan page 12 and see if you do not desire
to have your name immediately enrolled
among the elect. Don't delay, for delays
are dangerous. In other words, the offer
is not open for all time.
Willard A. Vose, treasurer of the Vose
& Sons Piano Co., returned last week from
his vacation at Poland Springs. That his
summer rest was highly beneficial is ap-
parent from his ruddy complexion and gen-
eral fitness for a busy fall campaign.