Music Trade Review

Issue: 1903 Vol. 36 N. 11

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
REVIEW
flUJIC TIRADE
VOL.
x x x v i No. 11
pnhiisM Every Sat, liy Eflvarfl Lyman Bill at 1 Maflison Aye,, New Tort Mar, 14,1903.
LONDON'S MUSIC TRADE EXHIBITION.
THE WILLNER ARTISTIC CARVINGS.
SINGL
^? O P I P E E S R Y°E£I NTS -
CAUSES OF BUSINESS FAILURES
Will Cover a Wide Field, and Attract a Multitude
of People—Tht American Commissioner Invi-
tine the Co-operation of our Manufacturers.
" O u r P l a n t i s rushed with orders," re- Figured Out Very Interestingly by Bradstreet's—
marked Mr. Willner, of the Willner Wood
What They are Due to—It Appears That In-
Co., ^2 Wall street New York the other
competence and Lack of Capital are the two
The InternationafPianoforte and Music
Trades Exhibition which will be held at the
Crystal Palace, London, Eng., from June 13
to Tilly 2K 1003, under distinguished patron-
age comprises amon ff its exhibits: piano-
fortes (all kinds) church organs, American
organs harmoniums piano players, electric
pianos,' automatic musical instruments, vio-
lin and other stringed instruments, brass band
instruments, accordions, concertinas, etc., or-
gan blowing apparatus, organ pipes and
da
.
,
1
1 4. 11 •
c a in
y- " T h e P i a n o manufacturers certainly
S <- aus «-
appreciate our artistic carvings, for we make
Bradstrect's has just published its review
a
specialty of panels, and by our process, of commercial failures in the United States
which is neither embossing nor applique in 1902, in which it analyzes causes for the
work, we produce a line of beautiful designs year's business disasters. Its showing, based
even
superior to the general run of so-called on examination and report by its agents, is
n n e nan
d carving, and in a matter of price interesting. Presented statistically, this is
there is n o
comparison. The quality of work what it has to say:
is a
revelation to the progressive piano maker
Failures due to
No. 1902. No. IOOJ NO. 1900.
2
who knows a good thing when he sees it."
£ S p 5 S ? .7.7.7/.7.." 2 f 2 \
'£g ll7 $
FRANK P. ANDERSON WRATHY.
Lack of capital
...3,048
3,223 3,168
u-
reeds, phonographs and talking machines,
metronomes, musical boxes, pianoforte ac-
tions, piano frames, pianoforte ironmongery,
sconces, etc., music wire, organ and piano-
forte keys, music stands, music stools, cab-
inets, canterburys, etc., timber, veneers, etc.,
marqueterie panels, incisings and gildings,
varnishes, polishes, etc., tools for music
trades, name tablets and transfers, music and
music printing.
-
The directors have decided upon this date
in view of the fact that the Triennial Handel
Festival will be held at the Crystal Palace
at the same time. This festival is attended
by an immense concourse of musical people
from all parts of Great Britain and the Con-
tinent and will therefore bring under the
notice of these people the latest and best of
everything connected with music and musi-
cal instruments. Another feature will be a
loan collection from early periods which, ex-
hibited side by side with present day instru-
ments, will show the rapid strides made in
all phases of the profession.
The Crystal Palace where the exhibition
will be held is admirably situated for such
affairs, and has long been noted for the high-
class character of the concerts and musical
performances which occur there. The attrac-
tions at the Palace during the summer are
numerous and varied, and thousands of vis-
itors are always in attendance. On more
than one occasion during the past year the
attendance has been from sixtv to one htm-
dred thousand
'
Alfred Chassaud, United States Commis-
sioner, is interesting American manufactur-
ers in the exposition, and holds that no such
favorable opportunity has ever before been
presented for manufacturers of pianos and
all other kinds of musical instruments to
reach buyers from every important center.
Those who may be interested in the exposi-
tion may address him at the St. James Build-
ing, 1133 Broadway, New York City.
A reward of
Frank R
$ 10 ° h a s
bee
»
otfered
^
Unwise credits
278
37b
Failures r>f others
271
2^0 201
Extra^glf^.!".! 7.!
T 7
S?
291
I5
Anderson, of Anderson & Co pia- £eglect
305
3 * 34i
™ d e a l e r s > B r o o k l y n > f o r t h e a r r e s t a n d c o n " SgSte^t^'WW" J S
ijg
1%
v l c t l o n o f t h e
l
P erson o r P ersons w h o P ulled R a t i o n
™ T ]f A
T £
d
™ n the fence recently erected around the Fraud
w
^ 4 i_M
building at 370 Fulton street which is being
Totals
9,973
10,648 9,912
remodeled to suit the business purposes of
Commenting on these figures, Bradstreet's
t h e firm M r
-
' Anderson leased the building r e c o r d r e m a r k s : "When comparison is made
for ten
^ e a r s f r o m C h a r I e s Genung. They w i t h s u c h y e a r s as 1894, when 25.9 per cent.
were
informed at the Building Department o f t h e failures were due to specific conditions,
t h a t [t w o u l d b e
necessary to erect a fence t h e percentage of 17.7 per cent, now shown
about the
P r e m l s e s to protect pedestrians i s a comparatively small one. The failures
while the
O r a t i o n s were in progress.
d u e t 0 fraud fail to show any specific ten-
T h e fence w a s erected
- O n lt w a s a S 1 £ n dency over a period of years. Never in the
statm
S t h a t Anderson & Co. would occupy p a s t d e c a d e h a v e the failures due to this
the
building after May 1. Some time Friday c a u s e f a l l e n b e i o w ; . 5 p e r c e n t., and, on the
ni ht the fence w a s taken d o w n a n d the
§
other hand, they have never risen above 11.5
boards thrown into the store. Mr. Ander- p e r c e n t Incompetence, as already pointed
son has
notified the police of the occurrence, o u t j w hi c h claimed one-fifth of the victims in
a n d sa s t h a t h e wil1
y
P a y $ I ' OO ° i f necessary I Q O 2 j h a s s h o w n a perceptible increase in de-
t o find t h e u i l t
g y persons. He believes that strU ctive power of late years. In 1895, for
the
destruction of the fence was prompted i n s t a n ce, the percentage due to those causes
b malice
y
- " lt m a y h a v e been spite work on w a s o n i y I 3 7 p e r cent., or a little over one-
the
art o f
P
business rivals, or it may not," e i g h t h o f all> w h e reas now one-fifth of all
h e added
- " A t a n y rate > l m e a n t 0 P u n i s h failures are attributable to it.
whoever did it, if I have to spend $1,000."
Despite the theory that with the expansion
in
FOR KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS FAIR.
business the tendency has been to unduly
, 1 M _ , , 1T — 7 . e _ Tr , .
increase credits, it might be noted that the
When Fred W
" H e l b l ^ ' o f , Washington, f a i l u r e g d u e t Q u n w i s e c r e d i t s i n igQ2 w e r e
D C w a s in N e w Y o r k recent1
" '
^ " \ a d d l r t l 0 n only 2.8 per cent, of all. This is the smallest
lr
sh
als
e r t e d bimse lf
\°^ f
Z°°* ?
° ^
^ n percentage given for at least a decade past,
f
behalf of t h e K
s
P thiaS
r
be
^
° y
f " ' * > f In the years from 1892 to 1896, in fact, the
h d d next month
' A s c h a n " m a n o f t h e . K - o f percentage ranged in excess of 4 per cent,
R Music Committee wlth a
'
P r opo s i t i o n t o Speculation outside of the regular business
create
something novel and of more than - s ^
^ c a u s e w h ich fails to rise or fall
passing attractiveness in the form of a rau- n o t a b i V ) a n d hangs in the neighborhood of
sical section, Mr. Helbig lost no time in solic- J p e f c e n t t h r o u g h a l l t h e y e a r S ) a n d e xtrav-
iting the aid of metropolitan houses, with a g a n c e (personal) also claims about the same
proportion of victims every year.
t j i e r e s u i t that some one donated a piano,
, „ R
cninnrinne Riipo-pleicpn
w
T
Wm. lonk & Bro., a solophone, Buegeleisen
W i l l i a m Schnaekel, late of the McLeod-
& Jacobson a Durro violin outfit, and per- Schnaekel Piano Co., Detroit, Mich., who rc-
haps August Pollman an orchestrion, with c e n t ly disposed of his interests to his partner,
others yet to hear from.
has opened a piano store in Janesville, Wis.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRKDE
REVIEW
EDWARD
LYMAN
BILL,
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
J. B. S P I L L A N E , MANAGING EDITOR
EXECUTIVE STAFF :
THOS. CAMPBELL-COPELAND
WALDO E. LADD
GEO. B. KELLER
EMILIE FRANCES BAUER
GEO. W. QUER1PEL
A. J. NICKLIN
v* Published Every Saturday at I Madison Avenue, New Y o r k . *
SUBSCRIPTION (Including postage), United States, Mexico and Canada, $2.00 per
year; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising Pages $50.00 ; opposite
reading matter, $75.00.
REMITTANCES, In other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
NEW YORK, MARCH J4, J903.
TBLEPHONE NUHBER, I745-EK1HTEENTH STREET.
On the first Saturday of each month The Review contains in its
"Artists' Department" all the current musical news. This is
effected without in any way trespassing on the size or service
DEPARTMENT of the trade section of the paper. Jt has a special circulation, and
therefore augments materially the value of The Review to advertisers.
THE
ARTISTS
DIRECTORY
nv PI A Mit
The directory of piano manufacturing firms and corpora
tlons found on page 27 will be of great value as a reference for
MANUFACTURERS
EDITORIAL
HERE are many unlooked-for expenses which creep into piano
manufacturing which a manufacturer does not count upon
with a degree of certainty when estimating the cost of pianos. All
of the expense does not end when he has figured materials, labor
and selling expenses.
T
To illustrate: Take the recent court decision against Kra-
kauer Bros, whereby they were compelled to pay the sum of $14,000
to an employee who was injured in their establishment. The in-
jury occurred to the workman when the Krakauer institution was
opening a branch factory across the Harlem bridge. At that time
\t became necessary to lay off a few of their men, but rather than
do this, they gave them an opportunity of fitting up the branch
establishment. The workman who brought suit selected his own
task, made the scaffold from which he fell, and brought suit against
his employers for injuries which he received at that time. The
suit was at once appealed, and finally resulted in a verdict which
seems to the ordinary man an excessive one to the manufacturers,
who did not seek to place their workmen in an extra hazardous
position.
Some dealers who have made a careful analysis of piano
making and figure out just what it costs to build a piano from
every standpoint, do not include such unlooked-for items as just
mentioned. They usually figure the cheapest veneers, and there
is as much difference in veneers as there is in trade papers—and
the Lord knows the gap is wide enough between some of the al-
leged trade publications. The same may be said of lumber and
labor and still some of the dealers who are eternally trying to
hammer down prices figure they know all about the cost, when
as a matter of fact they know but precious little.
A DVERTISING is steadily improving. At one time in the
* * somewhat remote past, the flamboyant style was in high
favor, but at the present time the most successful advertisers are
careful to exclude everything of the fake order from their an-
nouncements. They realize that their most valuable asset is the
reputation for square dealing and reliability.
There are some cases which have been recently cited in The
Review where dealers have advertised pianos carried by their com-
petitors at ridiculously low rates, simply to kill the reputation of
their rivals in their respective localities.
This kind of advertising has a retroactive effect. It oftentimes
kicks a little harder against the man who uses it than it injures
his rival.
S~\ NCE a piano merchant has fairly won the confidence of the
^ - ^ public he has become possessed of an asset more valuable
than coin of the realm and he realizes full well that in order to
retain this confidence he must fulfill every promise and make good
every claim addressed to the public. He cannot advertise pianos
of other makes than he carries, simply as drawing cards, and then
refuse to sell to callers without running the risk of losing his rep-
utation.
The fact that judicial tribunals are emphasizing the. responsi-
bilities of the advertiser is tending also to make advertisements
statements of facts rather than works of fiction.
HE Supreme Court has just handed down a decision to the
effect that promises made in an advertisement are legally
binding. A Minnesota cold storage company advertised "uni-
form and even temperature," and a patron whose stock of celery
stored in the company's plant was spoiled by too high a temper-
ature was awarded damages because he relied upon the statement
of the advertiser, which is held to be binding.
Honesty in business announcements is becoming more and
more a policy which should be as rigidly adhered to as honesty
in business dealings with manufacturers. The man who would
use a fraudulent advertisement certainly should be looked upon
with suspicion by the man from whom he asks credit. The hon-
est advertiser should fulfill every promise and sell every piano as
advertised. He certainly should be compelled to make good every
claim made in the columns of his local publication, not because
it is sound business to do this, but because it is honest.
T
A DDING this sum of money, together with legal expenses in-
* * curred in defense of the suit, to the cost of manufacture
cf the Krakauer pianos for 1902, and it would mean a material
advance in each instrument, and the manufacturers did not figure
this item in the cost of manufacture.
We cite this instance, because the decision is recent and forms
HE authorities of the St. Louis Exposition—which, by the way,
a substantial item of expense which the manufacturers of the
just now is receiving much publicity at the hands of the
Krakauer piano did not count upon when adjusting their whole-
press through the work of President Francis in Europe—state that
sale prices.
the exposition will open on time.
This is only one of many expenses which piano manufacturers
This, indeed, will be a rare exception in expositions, but the
are frequently called upon to bear.
T

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