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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
ocean and even of the carrying trade to work, and a shut-down and laying off of
and from the Orient by the Pacific route. hands meant a great loss to the owners
They will have no connecting links with and men. It was suggested to send over
which to deal and can work the Morgan to a neighboring factory, which employed
scheme to perfection. It is not even wildly an engineer who was considered No. i in
imaginary that Mr. Carnegie is being looked his line, and ask him to come over and
after in this sudden grouping of controlling locate the trouble. He did so, and, asking
railroad property. His threat to fight com- for a heavy hammer, struck the pump a
petition in the steel and iron business by sharp blow over the valves—and the pump
establishing works at Conneaut, has put started right off about its business. The
the opposition to thinking. If they can con- valves had simply stuck, and the blow
trol their own roads, manufacture their jarred them loose. With the thanks of the
own steel and iron, and go through the firm and a request to send in his little bill
farce of changing money from one pocket for services, Mr. Engineer returned to his
to another while charging high rates for own quarters. Not long after that he sent
shipment over Carnegie's outlets to his in a bill, which read: • For fixing pump,
trade, it is not far-sighted to see his 50 cents; for knowing how, $50.' And it
was paid.
finish.
Now, if our friend, the draughtsman
If it should eventually develop that the
same capital owns the railroads and the in- will send a revised bill worded like that of
dustrial trusts, gaining control of produc- the engineer, we feel confident the manu-
tion as well as transportation, and placing facturer will "see the point" and will glad-
itself in an easy position to strangle all ly send a check for the amount asked.
competition, the advocates of the govern-
CHARACTER AS AN ASSET.
ment ownership of railroads will have a
' ' IV\ ^ R A k character and strict honesty
backing far beyond any they have yet en-
in all things great and small stand
listed.
paramount to all other business assets.
KNOWING HOW.
Next in importance is business ability."
T H E value of knowing how to do a thing
These words, uttered by one of our lead-
is not always estimated' at its true ing merchants, convey a great truth that
worth. A matter which was brought to should be self-evident notwithstanding the
our notice quite recently demonstrates this. fact that week after week disreputable
A piano manufacturer desirous of bring- practices come to light in the trade. Busi-
ing out some new styles had two scales ness to-day is not to be won by sharp
drawn for him. When an instrument with practices, over-reaching and deception, but
one of the new scales was completed, it is rather the prize of perseverance, fair
was found that the tone was quite uneven dealing and straightforwardness, coupled,
and the ordinary corps of regulators and of course, with ability.
tuners could not smooth out the difficulty
The fact that there are notable excep-
—in other words the scale was faulty.
tions to this rule in the trade—and manu-
The manufacturer was incensed. He facturers and dealers unfortunately come
called upon the party who drew the scale across them every day—does not in any
to remedy the defects and considerable way invalidate the general truth of the
time was spent endeavoring to do so, but statement. It is not alone in school books
without much success. He thereupon ap- that "honesty is the best policy," it is the
pealed to a gentleman whose skill as a law in every-day business. Experience
draughtsman is of national celebrity, and has shown that it is short-sighted to mis-
in what may be termed a few moments represent goods, that it pays better to fur-
this gentleman explained how the defect nish good quality than poor, and that a
could be remedied. The suggestion proved good name in business is a tangible and
to be the correct solution of the difficulty. permanent asset.
Later this expert draughtsman sent a
Of course the standard of commercial
bill for rather a fat sum to the manufac- honesty has not been attained, but it must
turer who considers it extravagent and out be admitted it has been slowly but surely
of all proportion to the time and labor in- rising for years and that it will hold its
volved. One of the parties interested has own in comparison with most of the stand-
appealed to The Review for an opinion as ards of other callings.
to the justice of the charge. Before giv-
Every day we find a wider recognition
ing it, it may be well to tell a story:
of the fact that business is mostly trading
The boiler feed pump of a large fac- in human nature; that every successful
tory not a thousand miles from New York concern has been remarkable for the per-
suddenly refused to work recently, and the sonality of the men who compose it, and
regular engineer in charge could not locate that discipline, organization and system
the trouble. The mill was crowded with have been merely the expression of these
men. Analyzing this, we find that senti-
ment is an element of success and that the
best efforts of employer and employees are
the result of encouragement and enthusi-
asm.
It follows, therefore, as an inevitable
corollary, that fair treatment of those who
work with you and for you is the surest
road to success. It is the foundation stone
of progress.
PUBLICITY AND~ITS RESULTS.
of the secrets of good advertising
is to combine productiveness with
economy, and the difficulty—a crucial one
—is to just find out what kind of advertis-
ing produces results and what does not.
Much of the advertising used in the daily
papers is not conceived along profitable
lines. The "piano for $100" idea is being
worked to death, as is the coupling of the
names of the leading manufacturers with
instruments "at a bargain."
The reading public must be fed on a
new diet, and the diet must be something
original if results are expected.
In catalogue making there has been a
notable improvement during recent years.
There exists a better comprehension of the
value of this form of publicity, as well as
an endeavor to keep in touch with the
progress of the times and the advance of
the industry.
At the present time, however, booklets
seem to be in the greatest favor. They
are produced in the most original styles,
lavish use being made of fine half tones,
new kinds of type, special headings and
borders and other accessories to good print-
ing, and the mere fact that so many are
produced at so high a cost is proof that
this form of advertising pays.
Such publications are undoubtedly a
safe investment, and the impression cre-
ated by good paper, dainty type and good
press work as compared with the cheap,
poor work and still poorer paper, insures
the payment of a big interest on the extra
cost incurred in production.
Again, such publications stand forth
virtually as representatives of the house
issuing them. They create in the minds
of the recipients a conception favorable or
unfavorable of the establishment, its make
up and its methods, and too much study
and work cannot be devoted to get this
conception right.
The "cheap" ideas put forth in the word-
ing of retail advertisements may be com-
pared to cheap catalogues or booklets.
The results are the same. The reader is
not prone to be impressed and it is like
throwing away money. This important
point is too often overlooked.
Good advertising, no matter what it