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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
a feeling of disappointment when he inves-
tigates trade conditions here. To begin
with, the establishments themselves are
disappointing — both manufacturing and
retail. Take some of those superb estab-
lishments which are quite the thing in
America, and they will be surprising to
the average English piano manufacturer,
both in extent and system. What would
astonish him most would be the mammotb.
factories with their superb mechanical
equipment.
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*
*
I had the pleasure of inspecting some
of the best known London factories, and I
must frankly admit that I was disappoint-
ed, and I do not think that our manufac-
turers need fear the incursion of English
pianos upon their domain. In the first
place, the factory system is entirely off,
from our standpoint. Secondly, the instru-
ments which they build would not sell in
America. They do not possess the tone.
It is thin and tinny. I believe the average
American who has examined the tonal
merits of the instruments made by our
cousins will admit the truth of this. They
are diminutive in size and, as a rule, I
think, inartistic. They do make, however,
and sell a great many of these instruments.
They go here, but I find there is a grow-
ing interest on the part of the English
dealers to handle American goods, and I
believe that American manufacturers may
find this a fertile field for operations in the
near future. The high-priced instruments
of American make will never take well
here. They cost too much money to ap-
peal to the masses, and, after all, that's
where the great bulk of the pianos go.
Piano manufacturers of England could not
live upon the trade of the titled classes.
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*
I find the people here seem much in-
terested in the stencil question that is
being agitated now in America. I walked
into a well-known retail establishment and
found the proprietor engaged in reading
a copy of The Review, the American Re-
view they call it here. He was reading a
stencil article, and not being acquainted
with the conditions which exist in our coun-
try, he didn't understand what the jolly row
was all about. In England, like in France,
there are a great many dealers who have
pianos made for them and people who pur-
chase them have come to look upon the
dealers as genuine manufacturers. I don't
know whether they will ever succeed in
uprooting the stencil industry here or not,
at least there seems to be no inclination at
present on the part of the average manu-
facturer or dealer to pay the slightest at-
tention to it. It has not yet arisen to the
dignity of a problem with the people on
this side.
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*
There are quite a number of prominent
music trade Americans visiting Europe,
and I understand that the probability is
that the American trade will be materially
extended here in the near future.
*
*
•
I find that there is a general belief ex-
isting that prices on musical instruments
will be advanced. Iron is advancing and
there is a well-grounded theory that there
is an upward tendency in everything, and
that pianos and organs will be affected.
*
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*
There is considerable interest manifested
in the question of uniform musical pitch.
The position taken by the old Broadwood
house has caused considerable comment.
They admit the desirability of the adop-
tion of a uniform musical pitch. It is
proposed to make this pitch A 439 and that
that standard shall be adopted after Sep-
tember first.
A number of the manufacturers have
expressed their willingness to co-operate
with Messrs.. Broadwood on the establish-
ment of this uniform pitch. They all
agree that the time has arrived for the ar-
rangement of a standard pitch.
There seems to be, however, consider-
able feeling against the Broadwood for
having sent the letter recommending the
adoption of a uniform pitch to the Daily
Telegraph instead of the local musical
organization, or to the trade papers.
Some of them seem to think that Broad-
wood wished to gain a little advertising
out of the move, and sent the communica-
tion to a paper which has a large circula-
tion among the masses instead of to the
trade journals or to the firms direct. Some
of them felt slighted that they had to re-
ceive the'r trade information from the
daily papers instead of through the regu-
lar trade sources. Some go so far as to
say that they consider it a sad thing for
the trade that Messrs. Broadwood should
have interfered in the question of the al-
ternation of pitch at the wrong time and
in a way not calculated to bring about the
most beneficial results.
An Epidemic of Fire.
There seems to be an epidemic of fires.
Here are a few reports that have reached
The Review during the week.
Washington, D. C , Aug. 10, 1899.
The building occupied by Hugo Worch,
the piano merchant, at 923 F street north-
west, was the scene of a fire at an early
hour this morning, which almost resulted
in its complete destruction. About 1:20
o'clock this morning Special Policeman
Jama was passing the building, and noticed
a cloud of smoke hovering over the roof.
He immediately began an investigation,
and found that the second floor was in
flames. An alarm was turned in from box
131, corner of Ninth and F streets, and the
fire department quickly responded. By the
time the engine was on the scene, how-
ever, the flames had descended through
the building to the first floor, and a large
quantity of sheet music was ablaze. With
difficulty lines of hose were run through
the second-story window and the front
door, and after a short time the flames
were extinguished. Mr. Worch occupies
all of the first and the rear of the second
floor. His stock is damaged to the extent
of $1,500, but is fully insured. It consisted
principally of sheet musie and musical in-
struments. The fire is supposed to have
originated in the rear room of the second
floor, where there is a piano repair shop.
It was caused, it is said, by depositing hot
ashes in a wooden receptacle.
Oswego, N. Y., Aug. 8, 1899.
At eleven o'clock last night fire broke
out in a four-story block in which is located
Schilling's music store. Much damage
was done to other occupants of the block,
but Mr. Schilling says that his loss is com-
paratively light.
Lake Charles, La., Aug. 8, 1899.
Early this morning a fire did many
thousand dollars worth of damage. A
number of stores were swept entirely
away. In fact, the block on the east side
of Main street here was entirely composed
of a frame building, which was consumed,
and J. Smith's music store was a total loss.
Faribault, Minn., Aug. 8, 1899.
A big fire occurred here last evening and
among the buildings damaged was the old
Schimmel Piano factory. The damage was
not heavy.
Paterson, N. J., Aug. 15, 1899.
Verdy Byrs is mourning to-day the loss
of $10,000 worth of fine musical instru-
ments in a fire which destroyed his home
yesterday. One of them was a $2,000
violin which he brought from Australia a
few years ago; another was a $1,000 piano,
while many other instruments and much
valuable manuscript made up the rest.
The old man was nearly frantic when he
saw his home burning.
The Shining Starr.
The poet says "There is a Star in the
West which shall never go down," and there
is one which first rose to public inspection
at Richmond, Ind., which is holding sway
over a large audience. Its clear, shining,
sterling qualities appeal to the intelligence
of a large and growing constituency. Its
permanency and brilliancy seem assured,
for it is a fixed part of the industry.
The Starr piano is steadily increasing its
popularity as is best attested by the con-
stantly expanding manufacturing plant.
An inspection of the huge manufacturing
plant at Richmond, Ind., will furnish in-
controvertible evidence of the almost mar-
velous expansion of the business, which
within a comparatively short time has as-
sumed a commanding position in the
trade.
The Starr pianos are sold from the At-
lantic to the Pacific, from the Gulf to the
Northwest, and notwithstanding the enor-
mous productive power of the factories
they are pushed to the utmost to supply
the ever growing demand for these instru-
ments.
T. C. Heffner, music dealer, Reading,
Pa., has moved from 15 North Eighth to
5 North Eighth St. A new front is being
put into the storeroom.