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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
culties. This report originated in a silly
Starr Travelers Return.
rumor printed by some irresponsible scrib-
L. E. Thayer and Clarence Gennett, of
bler on a daily paper. Within twenty-four the Starr Piano Co., Richmond, Ind., who
hours from the time of its appearance it spent their vacation in Europe this sum-
became publicly known in trade circles in mer, reached home last week by way of
Boston, having come over on the steamship
Chicago and elsewhere. It was reported
" Ivernia " of the Cunard line.
to The Review in three Western cities
It was their intention to sail by one of
within a surprising time from its first ap- the lines reaching New York and to get
home a week or so earlier, but owing to the
pearance in the columns of public print.
These rumors are calculated to do much great number of Americans in Europe it
harm, and it frequently takes a long time was impossible to secure passage on a New
York steamer. Both Mr. Gennett and Mr.
to recover from their ill effects, because Thayer had a very pleasant and satisfactory
they are too often used by traveling and trip, the result of which, in a business way,
local competitors in a detrimental way, and will be referred to later.
then again, they are apt to have an influ-
floore Co. in Kenosha.
ence upon the credit of institutions which
Kenosha, Wis., Oct. 17, 1900.
are financially sound, but to whom a cur-
Treasurer Williams of the Moore Organ
tailment of credit means business disaster.
Company of Chicago was here looking at
There should be some recourse, for the factory sites in Kenosha, with a view of
poison once instilled is bound to percolate removing the works of the company to this
the entire trade system, doing much harm city. The Chicago Brass Company, in
before it is finally absorbed. We can re- this city, manufactures a large number of
call many instances whereby the credit of the reeds used by the Moore Company,
and on this account it is deemed advisable
perfectly sound institutions has been ser-
to have both of the plants in the same
iously impaired by the circulation of ru- city. The factory will be enlarged and
mors which have had a detrimental effect 300 men will be employed. The Kenosha
Business Men's Association is making
upon their credit.
every
effort to locate the plant.
Good news travels slowly, but bad news
slides along at an electric pace.
flet Death Through Falls.
An Emerson Booklet.
A booklet of exceptional elegance relat-
ing to the Emerson pianos has just made
its appearance. It opens with a " plain
talk," in other words, a simple, clear, con-
cise and interesting statement of the rea-
sons upon which the Emerson Piano Co.
base their claims for trade patronage. The
points are well presented and they must
convince all, whether dealers or prospec-
tive purchasers, as to the musical values
embodied in the Emerson products.
The illustrations shown embrace style
31, style 21, style 41, style 51 in uprights,
and the latest Emerson production in par-
lor grands, the scale of which is the result
of long, exhaustive experiment, resulting
in a tone which has won general commen-
dation.
The volume closes with an illustration
of the Emerson composite metal frame
and the spacious factory building at Har-
rison avenue, Waltham and Union Park
streets, Boston. Typographically the book
is a dainty and pretty piece of work in two
colors. It bears the Ketterlinus imprint
which is in itself a guarantee of excellence.
This pocket catalogue should prove an ef-
fective missionary in the Emerson inter-
ests.
A. P. H. Warren, who for a number of
years has been employed with the well-
known piano firm of C. H. title)', Buffalo,
N. Y., has resigned his position to accept
a similar place with the JEolian Co. of
which H. Tracy Balcom is manager. Mr.
Warren succeeds Mr. Lucius B. Adams,
well-known in Buffalo musical circles, who
leaves soon for an extended trip to Aus-
tralia.
William Kevelock, a piano maker, thirty
years old, of New Rochelle, employed by
the piano manufacturing firm of the Ernest
A. Tonk Co., at Nos. 507 and 509 West
Thirty-fifth street, was almost instantly
killed at the factory Monday afternoon by
falling down an elevator shaft from the
second floor to the basement. Kevelock
went to the edge of the freight elevator
and lost his balance and fell headlong down
the shaft, striking on his head and neck at
the bottom in the cellar. He was dead be-
fore an ambulance from the Roosevelt
Hospital arrived.
* * * * *
John Gulready, twenty-two years old, a
piano varnisher, of n East 134th street,
died in Harlem Hospital Monday, from
peritonitis, following a fall he received
Saturday.
Working Over=time.
Owing to the great demand fur the
Mathushek & Son pianos from all over the
country it has been found necessary, in or-
der to supply the trade, to work over-time:
hence on Monday last a time schedule of
one quarter day extra was inaugurated.
This will continue until such time as they
are able to catch up with orders. In view
of the closeness of election, this is a condi-
tion of business that is very cheering and
speaks well for the growing popularity of
the Mathushek & Son piano.
W. P. Van Wickle, manager of the Brad-
bury warerooms in Washington, D. C.,
was in town this week. Mr. Van Wickle
is a close student of trade matters and a
charming gentleman whom it is always a
pleasure to meet.
Various Sources of Ivory.
INFORMATION BROUGHT OUT UY INQUIRIES
MADE KY CUSTOMS OFFICIALS.
The Board of General Appraisers at
Washington, D. C, has recently been
wrestling with the problem of where ivory
left off and bone began.
It seems, from the evidence taken before
the board, that when one sells hippopota-
mi teeth, walruses' tusks and other large
tusks or teeth they are ivory, but when
one imports them or wishes to purchase
them they are simply bone. The case in
question was one where Morgenstern &
Goldsmith, of New York, had imported
some umbrella handles made of the teeth of
the hippopotamus. The appraiser entered
them as "manufactures of ivory" and duti-
able at 35 per cent, ad valorem. The im-
porters set up the claim that they were
made of bone, not ivory, and were dutia-
ble at 30 per cent, ad valorem. Wit-
nesses were sworn and testimony taken on
both sides, and the board reports its in-
ability to find that any definite, distinct
and general trade understanding exists
upon this class of merchandise. Elephant
ivory appears to be of a finer texture than
the ivory from the hippopotamus or the
walrus, but it is classed as elephant ivory
simply because of its higher trade value
and not because it is anymore ''ivory'
than the other.
Quotations in ivory, it is said, disclose a
vast variety of ivory. For instance, there
are the Zanzibar and East Indian teeth,
the Mozambique, Abyssinian and soft
Lisbon teeth, the West African teeth,
Egyptian and Malta teeth, East Indian cut
points, East Indian hollows, East Indian
turned curves, sea horse teeth, walrus
teeth and whale teeth. After dealing
with the distinctions between the various
kinds of teeth which are commercially
valuable as ivory, the board says that
while some dealers insist on elephants'
tusks, when they want ivory, others are
willing to take the teeth of hippopotami,
and the latter and products from them
sell in the markets as ivory. The price
differs from that of elephants' ivory
simply because of the difference in
size and quality.
It is, therefore,
held that the umbrella handles in
question are of ivory and that the tusks
and teeth of elephants, hippopotami, wal-
rus and mastodons are dutiable alike as
ivory and not as bone or horn. The de-
cision of the collector was, therefore, sus-
tained.
It is interesting to note that Tiffany &
Co., of this city, have in their possession,
the largest elephant tusks extant. They
weigh respectively 224 and 239 pounds.
Their corresponding sizes are: Length, 10
feet % inch and 10 feet3^ inches; circum-
ference, 23 inches and 24^2 inches. The
tusks of the extinct Elephas ganesa were
sometimes 12 feet 4 inches long and 2 feet
3 inches around. A mammoth tusk from
Alaska is 12 feet 10 inches long and 22^
inches around, but the average tusks of
this animal are 7 feet to 9 feet long and
only 60 pounds to 80 pounds in weight.
The tusks of the mastodon are thicker than
those of the mammoth, a large one being
9 feet 4 inches long and 23 inches around.