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THE MUSIC TRKDE
J. W. GUERNSEY ON THE SOHMER.
The Veteran Dealer Talks With The Review and
Enthuses Over the Merits of this Instrument—
The Position it Has Won in .Scranton.
REVIEW
GILBERT VICTORIOUS.
BEHR BROS. & CO.'S NEW CATALOGUE
Admirably Edited and Superbly Produced, it is a Suit-
The One-Time Banker but now Piano Dealer of
able Environment for the Many Beautiful
Portland Freed From Responsibility in the
Designs Illustrated and Described.
Much Talked of Bank Failure.
J. W. Guernsey, the well-known and high-
A case has just been decided in Portland,
ly-esteemed veteran piano dealer of Scran- Ore., which to the untrained eye of the lay-
ton, Pa., who has successfully handled the man who does not see the technicality of the
Sohmer piano in his city and vicinity for law, could not possibly have been decided
twenty years past, was seen by The Review any other way. Several years ago Frank Gil-
on Friday, when the usual call was made bert withdrew from the banking concern of
at the Sohmer headquarters. He chatted Gilbert Bros, at Salem, Ore. This fact was
freely on general topics, and in response to announced duly and advertised according to
questions as to the genera! prestige and prog- the legal requirements. Four years later the
ress of the Sohmer products, declared, in firm of Gilbert Bros, had financial difficulties
effect, that their present standing within and the creditors made the attempt to hold
the territory he so ably represents is a most Frank Gilbert responsible. Gilbert went into
enviable one, with excellent prospects in the piano business of Wiley B. Allen at Port-
the matter of future business.
land when the latter moved to San Fran-
"I remember very well indeed how it hap- cisco, and is now doing business under the
pened that I became connected with the Soh- name of Allen & Gilbert. The decision of
mer house. I wanted to become the agent the courts which freed Gilbert from any re-
for a really good piano, and had almost made sponsibility of the business of Gilbert Bros,
up my mind in another direction, when a has been very satisfactory to a large circle
friend of mine who knew the Sohmer, of his friends, as also to some of the largest
and used it in preference to any other sug- piano manufacturers to whom he has dem-
gested that, before deciding, I ought to onstrated his ability to dispose of large quan-
investigate. This I did, and have never had tities of their goods.
a moment's reason for regret.
"When I started with the Sohmer there SIEGEL-COOPER'S PIANO DEPARTMENT
was only, so far as I knew, one Sohmer
Will be Branched Out on a High-Grade Plan About
piano in or near Scranton. To-day, the Soh-
April—Line of Instruments Not Yet Selected—
mer upright or the Sohmer baby grand is
Conn Band and •• Small Goods" Will be Carried.
to be found in the homes of hundreds of
The Review, during a talk on Tuesday,
Scranton's best citizens, including many of
with Mr. Goldfinger, the aggressive man-
the city's leading public men. Without ex- ager of the musical merchandise department
ceptions they are proud to possess a Soh- at the Siegel-Cooper headquarters, Sixth
mer, and firmly resist all offers, no matter avenue, 18th and 19th streets, learned that
how tempting, to give place to one of some it will be at least two months before the piano
other make. That, to my mind, is the department will be in full swing. Mr.
strongest kind of evidence that it is a very Goldfinger, during his recent trip, left cer-
desirable instrument to have and to hold."
tain negotiations still open, and these are
The Review asked Mr. Guernsey to men- still pending.
tion briefly the points of merit in the Sohmer
"It has been definitely decided," said Mr.
apparently most appreciated.
Goldfinger, "to establish a fully equipped
"My experience with the Sohmer, tog-ether piano department, and special space will, in
with practical knowledge of what constitutes due course, be allo.tted, probably on the third
a good piano," replied Mr. Guernsey, "en- floor. W r e shall have a fine line of pianos,
ables me to say, unhesitatingly, that the Soh- but as the makes have not yet been chosen
mer stands where it does because of sterling it will be better to refrain from giving any
all-round merits. It is not strong in one fea- names. I shall be at liberty to give further
ture and weak in another, but excellent particulars in April, perhaps, but not before.
throughout. There are no flaws. It gives Our leader in the line of pianos is still an
no cause for complaints, and complaints are open question."
never made.
Referring to development of the musical
"Apart from the Sohmer tone, which al- merchandise department, which is now part
ways has had a charming individuality, the of the Siegel-Cooper establishment, Mr.
Sohmer makes friends everywhere, because of (roldfinger said in answer to a question:
its remarkable staying power. It stays in "When I saw Mr. Conn during my visit to
tune, and I might add that it stays in good Flkhart, he fell in with my ideas as to proper
condition—a very important factor in the suc- display and within a short time there will
cess or non-success of a piano. The Sohmer be a full line of the Conn products here on
has made a great record, and its future will exhibition. It is my intention to make the
department of pianos and that of musical
be, in my opinion, very bright indeed."
merchandise worthy of the name and reputa-
THE KROEGER IN BOSTON.
tion of this great firm."
The Vose & Sons Piano Co., of Boston,
L. W. P. Norris, president of the Linde-
have secured the agency, for that city, of the
Kroeger piano, and the instruments which man & Sons Piano Co., 548-550 West Twen-
constituted the first shipment, which are now ty-third street, who returned recently from
on the floor of their warerooms, 158 Boyls- an eight days' trip, visited Cincinnati, Indian-
ton street, are being much admired. In ad- apolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Chicago, De-
dition to the Kroeger the Vose concern han- troit, and other points during his tour and re-
dle the Smith & Barnes and the Willard.
ceived several important orders.
Behr Bros. & Co. have just issued a hand-
some thirty-two page illustrated descriptive
catalogue with artistic cover in gray and
gold, the Behr trade-mark and firm name, in
gold, standing out boldly in relief on a rich
gray background. The subject matter is ap-
propriate and well arranged. It includes fac-
similes of medals and diplomas awarded, an
introduction replete with facts concerning the
policy of the Behr firm and the quality of
the Behr products, illustrated descriptions of
the Behr patented special features, illustra-
tions and descriptions of seven new Behr
styles in uprights, and the two new styles in
Behr grands, and the testimony of experts
and patrons who are well acquainted with the
merits of the Behr pianos.
The whole story of Behr success is told in
the following paragraph, taken from the in-
troduction to the catalogue:
"The Behr Bros. & Co. piano is an artistic
production in the true sense of the word.
Its present high standard of excellence has
been reached because its makers from the be-
ginning set themselves a high ideal, and res-
olutely and persistently worked to attain for
it the position it occupies to-day in the very
front rank of highest grade instruments."
Under the heading "Special Features of
the Behr Bros..& Co. Upright Pianos," the
following are given, as they deserve special
prominence:
A light and elastic touch, the very acme of
perfection.
Great power and volume of tone, combined
with a rich musical quality, that delights and
captivates all musical connoisseurs.
A beautiful bass-register of remarkable
depth and grandeur, due to the Behr system
of stringing.
Unequaled evenness of scale, not even the
transition from the middle to the lower regis-
ter being perceptible.
The new styles shown in uprights arc F, O,
P, C, II, (two styles in panels) and Louis
XV. The Behr grands include new styles
J and K.
The testimony in favor of the Behr prod-
ucts is strong and convincing. One of the
many weighty documents in the volume is
that of the Scharwenka Conservatory of Mu-
sic, signed by fifteen directors and members
of the faculty, giving an unequivocal indorse-
ment of the liehr piano.
Altogether, the new Behr catalogue is a
fitting presentation of strong, unassailable
arguments in favor of the Behr products an
111 the hands of live dealers it ought to prove
decidedlv effective.
WESER BROS. NEW FACTORY.
The new portion of the factory of Weser
I'.ros., 520-528 West Forty-third street, is
rapidly getting into shape. Work is being
done in piano construction on every floor.
The office quarters will be moved into the
new structure during the coming spring. Out
of town the W r eser agencies are doing good
work. Otto Heinzmann, now traveling in
the West, is sending in satisfactory reports.