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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOD- |
ERN PIANO ACTIONS, KEYS AND HAMMERS 1
As Illustrated by the House of Strauch Bros.
^
ARTICLE IV.
The Strauch Factory.
*
jt
IN the chapters which have preceded this
we have dealt exclusively with the
product of the Strauch factories, and ow-
ing to the limited space at our disposal we
have been unable to present more than a
flitting glimpse of the varied wares of this
famous concern. We have demonstrated,
however, that the specialized lines which
this house is supplying to the music trade
to-day are the direct outgrowth of many
piano keys. In the factory on every hand
is evidenced the closest attention to sys-
tem and factory detail, while each depart-
ment is fitted up with the latest and most
approved machinery for the perfect and
economical manufacture of the work in
hand. Among these machines are found
many designed and constructed in their own
machine shop, the product of their years
of experience and experiment.
WHERE THE STRAUCH WARES ARE MADE.
years of intelligent thought, backed by
honest endeavor along lines of scientific
and industrial research, culminating in
that magnificent creation, the Strauch ac-
tion of 1900, and all of its auxiliary sup-
plies. It, therefore, may be considered a fit-
ting finale to the series in this last account
to refer exclusively t<« the Strauch plant.
It has been said by some in a light vein
that "all factories are the same." But
there would be a speedy dissipation of such
ideas, if entertained by any one, upon a
visit to the Strauch plant. There is as
much difference in factories as there is in
piano actions, and it is an educational and
instructive trip to make a tour of the
Strauch establishment from the basement
where upon many feet of concrete pave-
ment rest the huge engines which send
pulsing life on every floor of the factory.
One" hardly appreciates the work, "the
thought, the skill and capital necessary to
produce such an action as the Strauch,
until a visit has been pa ; d to the stock and
manufacturing departments. In the stock
room will be found the finest assortment
of felts, cloths and materials the market
offers, and here also may be seen tons, of
ivory ready to be cut up and turned into
It is scarcely necessary to enumerate
the many factory advantages which the
plant possesses. One thing which must
impress the visitor above all others is the
perfect light and ventilation, and the vari-
ety and almost human ingenuity of the
machines. The lines of busy operatives
show that the members of the Strauch
fi rm r e i y o n intelligent factors in every
department of their business. The Strauchs
in employing high-grade and
believe
s k i l l e d w o r kmen.
It is needless to particularize any de-
partment of their manufacturing business.
They are all complete and the factory fa-
cilities have been steadily increased in or-
der to meet the growing demands of the
business.
Their New York plant to-day covers
ei
^ h t city lots a n d h a s recently been en-
lar ed b
^
^ t h e P u r c h a s e of two additional
lots
containing buildings which will be
used to
increase their drying room capac-
ity and for the storage of lumber. Are-
serve stock of lumber is always carried at
the mills of Strauch Bros., which are lo-
cated in the best lumber regions of the
State.
For Higher Commercial Educa'
tion.
The New York University of New York
city has made a notable new departure in
the establishment of a school, to be known
as the School of Commerce, Accounts and
Finance, which will be opened on October
1. The school will form a new department
of the University and will be equipped with
a corps of professors and instructors of its
own, just as the law or medical schools of
the university. This is said to be the first
instance in this country in which a school
of commerce has formed a regular depart-
ment of a leading American college. The
school is the result of the general move-
ment for the provision of a higher
commercial education of the young
men of the country, and its establish-
ment is due in a large measure to
the work of the New York State Society
of Certified Public Accountants, who took
the initiative in the matter. It differs
from the several schools of finance or
commerce recently established as special
courses in connection with other Ameri-
can colleges in that its entire instruction
is intended to be professional in character.
It is not designed merely to fit young men
to become wage-earners as book-keepers,
clerks, etc., but is intended to equip them
with the power to become leaders in the
commercial and financial world, to grasp
the details of great business enterprises and
carry them to a successful issue. The
idea of the school is a recognition of the
fact that the commercial field of the United
States has so broadened out and the con-
ditions of modern business have become
so vast and complex that highly trained
and specially educated men are needed to
deal with them. The school will thus of-
fer valuable advantages to the young man
who is ambitious to become an adminis-
trator of great financial enterprises, a bank
president or the holder of an office of pub-
lic trust. The classes will meet in the
evening, to permit the attendance of
young men employed in business dur-
ing the day, and the students will be
instructed in the history and develop-
ment of accountancy, as connected with
trade and commerce, finance and munici-
pal and State government, in the science
of accountancy and the reduction of its
principles to practice, in commercial law,
and in the general principles of economics
and their application to various lines of
business. The faculty of the new school
is a strong one, composed of practical men,
prominent in the professions of law and
accountancy, with Charles Waldo Haskins,
president of the New York State Society
of Certified Accountants, as dean.
Assignee Discharged.
[Special to The Review.]
Minneapolis, Minn., Sept. 16, 1900.
Judge Harrison has issued an order dis-
charging the assignee of the Century Pi-
ano Co., and releasing the insolvent.
The Musicians' Union of Denmark is so
powerful that no foreigner is allowed to
play in a band in that country until he has
resided there for a period of three years.