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THE
MUSIC TRADE
pace and follow the line of march directed by piano evolution. No
REVIEW
' I ""HE piano corporation which has adopted this plan recently
drastic and positive
stated that they were not getting results from their men
changes and there are still other changes which will be made for the
which they were formerly. This would seem to give credence to the
other line of business has undergone such
The business has broadened to far be-
belief that the fact of being a stockholder is likely to make the work-
yond possibilities predicted by the leaders in the industry of two
men a bit uncomfortable in the shop. He is hypercritical of the policy
score years ago.
Who then dreamed of a single factory turning
of the management, gives more time to watching others not stock-
out more than fifteen thousand pianos in a single year, to say noth-
holders, than to earning the wage upon which he continues depen-
ing of pipe and reed organs and piano players?
dent and resents in feeling if not in words the sharp reminder of
betterment of the business.
NE dealer in writing to this paper states in line with a sugges-
the foreman that he is neglecting his duty, or discharging it badly.
But the chief and insuperable difficulty is that he cannot suc-
tion made by The Review some months ago, that he holds
They dine together
cessfully disassociate himself from fellowship with the labor which
Saturday night, and they discuss ways and means by which it is
has no ownership in the works, and which is perpetually scheming
possible to accomplish certain business betterments.
and planning to advance the interests of labor at the expense of the
a regular weekly gathering of his salesmen.
The dealer
writes us that he is convinced that these gatherings are of vast ben-
interests of capital.
What the future may develop is of course a matter of specula-
efit to the business.
Good salesmanship can be materially augmented by intelligent
tion, but the present tendency is not in the direction of such an
study of the business, and salesmanship should be lifted to the dig-
alliance between employers and employee and would make it in any
nity of a profession, therefore it requires constant study.
In these days of keeia competition great value can be gained
from regular meetings of salesmen who may discuss the means of
conspicuous degree, mutually advantageous for labor to be more
largely identified than it is now in the ownership of industrial plants.
H p H E grandest tribute to a great and blameless life was evi-
*
individual advancement.
ALESMANSHIP is the quality in a man.
It is true this may
denced in the anxiety with which the civilized world hung
for days upon every bulletin from the Vatican.
Catholic, Protes-
be partly inherent and partly acquired; but it is a quality, the
tant, Agnostic, followers of each and every belief, viewed with
possession of which enables the man to successfully create interest
more than a personal interest all the varying phases of the ven-
in a prospective customer.
erable Pope's illness. This deep concern was not alone due to His
Now the ability to sell goods in a
straightforward manner with satisfactory results to all requires abil-
Holiness' high office, but to his respect compelling attributes as a
ity of no mean order.
man.
Salesmanship is the science of putting into
The universal grief evidenced over his death is a proof of
work honesty of speech, loyalty to employer, the hustle of modern
the admiration and reverence which a noble life can excite even in
civilization, and at all times being a gentleman.
the most worldly heart.
There is always constant advancement for the salesman who
Perhaps the last man identified
with the music trades of
demonstrates the possession of ability and faithfulness in the per-
America who had an audience with the Pope in the Vatican was
formance of his duties.
Take the case of E. VV. Furbush, whose
Chas. H. Wagener, vice-president of the Melville-Clark Piano Co.,
promotion to the vice-presidency of the Vose concern was reported
who related in The Review office how deeply impressed the Pope
in The Review last week.
Mr. Furbush has been for many years identified with this con-
cern as wholesale representative, or in the vernacular of the trade,
traveling salesman, for that would be his title divested of all super-
fluities.
It would be hard indeed to locate a man who has been
more faithful in the performance of his duties than has Mr. Fur-
bush, and his enthusiasm and earnestness in the support of the Vose
cause has resulted in his promotion to a position of great honor in
that distinguished corporation.
It is a position worthily won and one which his legion of friends
in all parts of America know that he will fill with honor.
was with American ingenuity, which had evolved mechanism capa-
ble of producing such remarkable music.
Upon parting, after
listening to the Apollo player, the venerable Pontiff handed Mr.
Wagener a gold medal, and giving his benediction told him to re-
member their meeting.
No doubt the memory of that meeting
will be cherished in Mr. Wagener's memory as one of the most
notable events of his life.
T R E N U O U S efforts are required to keep the business ball roll-
S
ing in anything approaching satisfactory shape during the
heated term.
Piano dealers on the seacoast near the great summer
resorts always have a splendid rental business during the summer
P ) ECENTLY a well known New York piano concern announced
^
that it had admitted a number of wage earners as stockhold-
ers in the corporation. It is still a question whether the schemes for
admitting wage earners to the stockholding privileges in industrial
corporations are as successful as those who devised them hoped they
would be. The plan of the U. S. Steel Corporation is too well known
to need comment. In other corporations results have been such as to
warrant reports which were interesting reading, and from which
the superficial student of the great problem of identifying the in-
terests of labor and capital, might very well get the impression that
the solution of every difficulty would be found in making labor a
partner with capital in the ownership of plants.
months.
It, however, requires nothing short of heroic efforts to
keep business going the right way during the season usually given
over to recuperation and rest.
A good many dealers rather lean to the idea of making strong
reductions in certain lines of pianos in order to get them out during
the summer. Forceful advertising, too, will win even when busi-
ness is usually dull.
Publishers who are issuing editions de luxe invariably offer
some special inducement to their summer customers; even in New
York in the summer months the book business is forced to a pretty
good volume by certain special inducements. Good retailing calls
for a decisive clearing of stock and the stock must be kept moving.
In order to do it retailers should not stop at reasonable expense