Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1899 Vol. 29 N. 24

Page 5 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
ing injustice when it includes The Review
under the sweeping" term of "the Eastern
trade press."
ALL PIANO MANUFACTURERS IN-
TERESTED.
"T^HE situation in Chicago interests every
piano manufacturer who is located
where there is a possibility of labor unions
being formed.
Those who have given this matter seri-
ous consideration realize that it is not a
question of paying more wages. That is
not the vital matter at issue. It is whether
a manufacturer shall be permitted to be
a free agent in the conduct of his affairs, in
the right to employ and discharge labor, or
whether he is to be thwarted at every move
by the more and more exacting and greedy
demands of the union as time rolls on.
The Review saw, and so reported from
the first, that should the manufacturers of
Chicago accept the ultimatum laid down
by the union officials, then industry could
never remain entirely free from the inter-
fering demands of labor. It is necessary
that there should be a complete harmony
existing between capital and labor, but
capital cannot afford to be dictated to in
every move by labor, because in that way,
capital would in the end cease to produce,
and all conditions of society would become
chaotic and uncertain.
The piano manufacturers of Chicago
fully realized this, and they were willing to
accept a long and bitter fight, thus losing
the cream of the best trade which this in-
dustry has enjoyed for years before they
would accept a reconciliation on any other
basis than that of industrial independence.
With them it was not a question of wages.
That was one of minor importance. They
were perfectly willing to grant that, but
they refused to be shackled and bound by
such clauses which would not require even
a liberal interpretation to tie up their busi-
ness at any time.
It may seem inevitable that the condi-
tions be waged into the new year, and we
wish to say to the piano manufacturers of
Chicago that practically the sympathy of
the entire Eastern trade is accorded them,
and that the reports which have been cir-
culated to the effect that Eastern manufac-
turers have egged on the disturbing labor
element is one of the vilest, most untruthful,
sectional fabrications ever concocted. No
matter how complicated the situation be-
comes, the thinking men of this trade rec-
ognize the vital question at issue—it can-
not become obscured; no matter how much
the labor element desire it. Should the
labor leaders win in their present demands,
there is no telling what the next move will be.
It should be understood that the build-
ing operations in Chicago are seriously
crippled by the labor unions, and a new
element of trouble was disclosed there last
week which had been partially suspected
but not proved. The fact was made pub-
lic that certain manufacturers of materials
used largely in building had made com-
binations with sub-contractors and labor
unions through which the use of certain
material was forced upon owners of build-
ings whether of inferior quality or higher
priced than could be procured from out-
side manufacturers.
Why would it not be possible for this
same condition of affairs, only magnified, to
be brought about in the piano trade? If
they demand one thing they could with
equal justification insist upon another.
They could insist upon certain materials
being used. If the manufacturing inter-
ests of this country are to thrive and pros-
per they must not be hampered by unwar-
rantable labor interference.
ANENT QUOTING PRICES.
JUDGING from the numerous expres-
sions of approval regarding the leader
in last week's Review, urging that some
action be taken to counteract the circula-
tion of ridiculous statements regarding the
cost of pianos by the labor leaders of Chi-
cago, we incline to the opinion that our
position is unequivocally endorsed. Assur-
edly something should be done to remove
the false impressions regarding the cost of
pianos to manufacture circulated from Chi-
cago.
It is well known that the Annex editor
did a very serious injury to the trade years
ago, when he published statement after
statement, itemizing the cost of pianos.
These are matters which alone concern
manufacturers, and the more these false
reports are circulated the more injury is
done to the legitimate trade. In the first
place some dealers readily gulp down the
absurd tales of cost of pianos and at once
commence a series of arguments insisting
that lower prices be granted them—that
the manufacturers are making all the
money, and the dealers are being forced to
pay exorbitant profits to the rich manufac-
turers.
Then again, in the newspapers these re-
ports reach the great purchasing public,
and a series of onslaughts is made on the
dealer for lower prices, alleging that enor-
mous profits are being made in the retail-
ing of pianos.
All of this sort of publicity is an injury
to the industry, and it means that the pub-
lic and the dealers are apt to look upon the
actual cost of the manufacture of pianos in
an entirely erroneous and false light. In-
telligent dealers should be good judges of
values, and if some manufacturers by a per-
fect factory system—by economy—paying
careful study to every department of their
business, are enabled to produce goods
cheaper than others, it is only right that
they should profit by their intellectual
acumen, and the dealers, that is the intel-
ligent dealers, know whether they are se-
curing great values or not. It is not what
a product costs to create, but it is what
it is worth in the market of to-day. The
matter of cost is too little understood.
It is the law of supply and demand which
creates the value, and even in this trade
there is a standard of values sufficiently
well established for the dealer to know
whether he is securing good returns for
money or not.
LABOR UNIONS AND TRUSTS.
T H E trust promoter is attempting to
make capital out of the labor condi-
tions now existing in Chicago to further
his own interests in the way of commis-
sions by using the present time to augment
the trust idea among the manufacturers.
He alleges that this is the only way in
which manufacturers can successfully com-
bat a strike or labor union.
His argument is too full of holes to hold
water. Strikes cannot be eliminated from
modern industrial conditions by the forma-
tion of trusts, and when the prosperity of
an industry depends entirely upon a com-
bining of all into one, then it is indeed in
a deplorable condition. Combinations can
be made which would work justice to in-
dustry and the promotion of individual in-
terests, but trusts, as they are commonly
termed, are not achieving such popularity
as they were a few months past. Small
manufacturers are exceeding loath to merge
their interests with greater ones, because
they know the old story of the fishes and
they prefer to swim in their own little
pond, where they run no particular
danger of being gobbled up.
Our people are becoming soberer on the
question of trusts; they realize that it is
a question of industry rather than politics.
The question of governmental supervision
of these great industrial corporations is
one which has been discussed from an
early period in the consolidation move-
ment. The necessity was perceived of
some action which would at least attempt
to insure the protection of the interests of
stockholders. It was believed that oppor-
tunities were being created which might be
used by unscrupulous individuals to enrich
themselves at the expense of those who had
their money invested but had no voice in
the management of affairs. An arrange-
ment whereby the government would be
brought into more intimate relations with

Page 6 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
the trust would be of advantage, provided
men were selected for their ability and ex-
pert knowledge of the particular business
to which they should be assigned.
Piano manufacturers have been afforded
considerable opportunity to sift the trust
matter to the bottom and while some of
them have been led into the serious con-
sideration of pooling their interests, a great
majority of them, like the mice in the
fable, discovering the familiar outlines of
the old cat in place of the bag of meal,
are not desirous, particularly when prosper-
ous times are now with us, to dispose of
their well-earned independence.
""PHE rising tide of prices is up to the
publisher now who has problems of
his own as well as the piano manufacturer.
The price of paper has been rapidly ad-
vancing. Last week we called for a num-
ber of bids on an eight hundred to a thou-
sand ream order, for it should be under-
stood that The Review orders are always
placed at the mill months in advance. The
very lowest point that could be gained
was an advance of one and three-quarter
cents per pound on our former rates. It
only requires a little figuring to show that
the newspaper man has troubles of his own
in the matter of adjusting his business to
the upward march of prices.
f"* 1 EN. Appraiser Tichenor would like to
see a reduction of the number of pro-
tests filed by importers against the rulings of
the Custom House officials. This, he thinks,
could be accomplished by the Government's
exacting a fee of $i for each protest. This,
in Colonel Tichenor's opinion, would not de-
ter the importer from filing a protest when-
ever he might feel that he had a good case,
but would discourage the "customs law-
yer " from urging the importer to take pro-
ceedings on a mere triviality. If the
charge of $i per protest would tend to
hurry up the Board in rendering decisions
few importers would object to paying it.
They would probably be willing to reim-
burse the "customs lawyer " if the latter
should lay out the amount. Hence, how
would the dollar fee tend to discourage the
lawyers from urging importers to file
protests ?
A S reported in another part of The Re-
view, the Supreme Court of the United
States decided, by a unanimous opinion, on
Monday that all trade combinations en-
gaged in inter-state commerce which by
concerted action prevent competition and
enhance prices beyond a reasonable limit,
thus restricting trade, are unlawful and
subject to the penalties of the Sherman
Anti-Trust law. The decision is, as the
Solicitor-General says, "highly important
and far-reaching."
S.
[Prepared especially for The Review.]
Washington, D. C., Dec. 5, 1899.
Musical Instrument. John A. Weser,
New York. Patent No. 638,082.
This invention relates to the class of mu-
sical instruments employing pedals—such
as pianofortes, for example; and it com-
prises improvements in the pedal mechan-
ism of the instrment.
The object of the invention is in part to
provide the pedal with a simple locking
and releasing device, which may be ap-
plied at a moderate cost to the ordinary
pedals of any piano, and in part to the
mounting and connections of the pedal-
levers, whereby they may be conveniently
adjusted, both at the fulcrum and at the
coupling points, and whereby lateral play
or looseness of the pedals is measurably
avoided.
Piano Tuning Pin. Levi Walker, Chat-
ham, Can. Patent No. 638,154.
This invention relates to tuning pins in
pianos and its object lies in the construc-
tion of a tuning-pin which is capable of
resisting the increased strain exerted there-
on over and above the normal strain and due
to the contraction of the string, such con-
struction being the result of years of study
as to the mode of obviating the tendency
of the pin to turn under said increased
strain. In this Mr. Walker claims to have
succeeded, first, by making the milled
shank of tuning-pins of greater diameter
than that of the pin commonly used, and,
like it, of uniform diameter throughout;
secondly, by reducing the leverage of the
string on the pin to nil, and this he does by
providing the pin with a winding throat of
slightly less diameter than that of the shank
and having the usual tapering squared head
for the tuning-hammer with this very im-
portant exception, that he provides be-
tween the said head and throat a cylin-
drical portion of substantially the same
diameter as the shank, and instead of bor-
ing the string-hole squarely through the
said throat or in a plane at right angles to
and intersecting the longitudinal axis of
the pin said hole is bored through the en-
larged cylindrical portion above the throat
and about midway of the length of said cy-
lindrical portion and form a helical channel
extending from one end of said hole to the
point of junction of said cylindrical portion
with the throat of the pin. It is evident
that the shank of uniform but greater dia-
meter than that of the shank of the tun-
ing-pin generally used will afford a cor-
respondingly greater hold on the wrest-
plank. It is furthermore evident that
by passing the string in a helical direc-
tion from its hole in the enlarged por-
tion of the pin above its throat and com-
mencing the winding of said string at
the point of junction of the throat with
the enlarged portion, the leverage of the
string on the pin is reduced to practically
nothing, and as the throat is of about the
same diameter as that of the tuning-pin in
common use, danger of breakage is of
course avoided, as the pin itself is in no
manner weakened, while a considerable
portion of the strain is sustained by the
enlarged portion above the throat, and that
strain may be said to be exerted in the di-
rection of the longitudinal axis of the pin,
but instead of outwardly or toward the
head, as in the lever-pin hereinbefore re-
ferred to, it is exerted inwardly or toward
the wrest-plank, tending to more firmly
hold the pin therein.
Mr. Walker says further: To satisfy my-
self that the object of my invention has
been attained by a pin of the construction
described, I tested the same by having a
piano equipped with these pins and sub-
jected first to a freezing temperature and
then immediately to the influence of a
midsummer sun, and after reducing the
temperature to normal by placing the
piano in a store-room and allowing it to
cool I tested it and found that none of the
strings were out of tune. This test if ap-
plied to a piano equipped with the tuning-
pins in general use would have left every
string out of tune.
Musical Instrument. B. E. Benhardus,
St. Olaf, Minn. Patent No. 638,000.
This invention relates particularly to a
roller-organ wherein the keys which oper-
ate the valves oi the reed-box are actuated
by a roller or cylinder; and the objects in
view are to provide simple and efficient
means whereby the roller or cylinder may
be mounted and dismounted with facility
to enable the same to be changed when de-
sired, to provide means whereby the roller
or cylinder may be axially adjusted and
held at the desired adjustment to vary the
composition by varying the positions of
the projections thereon with relation to the
keys, and also to provide means for con-
trolling the volume of sound and the differ-
ent sets of reeds which are included in the
reed-box.
Button for Keys for Musical Instruments.
O. W. Snedeker, Chicago, 111. Patent No.
637,75 6 -
This invention relates to improvements in
the manufacture of buttons or heads for the
keys of musical instruments, such as are used
on violins, guitars, mandolins, and banjos.
The object is to provide buttons of the
above-named character which shall be
simple and inexpensive in construction,
strong, durable, and attractive in appear-
ance, and which by reason of their peculiar
construction will be more durable and less
liable to become detached from the keys
than the buttons heretofore in general use.
25th Anniversary.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the
wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Ira N. Goff,
Providence, R. I., was the occasion of a
large gathering at their home in that city
last week. Mr. Goff is the head of the
house of Goff & Darling and is highly re-
spected by his competitors as well as by all
who have come in contact with him in a
business and social way.

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