Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
through which a piano in process of manufacture
passes is performed by men selected for their pe-
culiar
ability to do a special work. Over each
The Remarkable Record of the Cable Company Interestingly Described and Illustrated in a
department, as foreman, is a man who combines
Recent Issue of Leslie's Weekly—A Great Compliment to the Cable Institution, Which Is
executive ability with special technical qualifica-
Winning a New Success Under Its Present Administration.
tions. His duty is to see that the best possible
"The greatest schemes that human wit can high-grade pianos and organs are shipped from results are obtained, not alone from the men of
forge, or bold ambition dares put in practice, de- its factories every year, an average of one hun- that department, but from the material while it
pend upon our husbanding a moment."
dred for every working day. The export business is in his charge. He is the responsible man of
The recorded history of the commerce of the of the company has grown so wonderfully within the department, and, realizing his responsibility,
world contains few surprises. The business de- the last few years that its instruments may now having nothing else to think about but the work
velopment of communities and nations is seen be heard wherever civilization extends. From which is constantly under his eye, and being sup-
only from a statistical point of view, which re- Norway and Northern Russia and throughout plied with men fitted to do that work, he is en-
veals naught but long lines of figures in the ag- Europe, to the farthermost point of South Africa, abled to secure high quality of workmanship and
gregate and summaries that are almost incom- and over the entire North and South American large quantity of output a t comparatively low
prehensible. It is in the unwritten history of continents, the Cable Company's wares are known cost, and have the performance repeated daily
individual enterprises that are found the exam- and appreciated. Besides supplying a thousand with clocklike regularity. Result—order instead
ples of thrift which achieve the most surprising or more of the largest dealers in the United of disorder, and pianos within the reach of the
results—wihich astonish the world with their States with pianos and organs, the Cable Com- millions, instead of only the wealthy hundreds."
rapid and substantial growth. This is notably pany has thirty warehouses of its own, the prin-
It is through the exercise of such perfection of
true in the rise and progress of the Cable Com- cipal of which are located in the following cities:
system that the Cable Company has been able to
pany, of Chicago, which has in less than a quar- Chicago, 111.; New York City, N. Y.; Boston, manufacture high-grade pianos and organs, and
ter of a century grown from a small concern with Mass.; Atlanta, Ga.; Charleston, S. C ; Jackson- supply the trade at a profit to itself and at prices
meagre capital to the greatest piano and organ ville, Pla.; Mobile and Birmingham, Ala.; New within the reach of the masses, the quality and
manufacturing corporation in the world. It is Orleans, La.; Richmond, Va.; Knoxville, Tenn.;
the price being governed almost wholly by the
typically a Chicago institution, founded upon Chi- Cincinnati and Toledo, 0.; Minneapolis and St. immense quantity of the output.
cago capital and energy, and endowed with suc- Paul, Minn.; Detroit, Mich.
It is a lesson in economic science that cannot
cess through the all-conquering Chicago spirit.
The Cable building in Chicago is the most pre- fail to make a lasting impression upon everyone
Its history is a chronicle of progress and perse- tentious of its retail stores. This building is a who grasps its meaning.
verance, with few, if any, parallels in the indus- ten-story fireproof edifice which was completed
An idea of the commercial stability of the
trial annals of the nation, and is a most striking in the year 1900, at an outlay for land and con- Cable Company may be had from the make-up of
its Board of Directors, which is as follows:
George W. Peavey, Frank T. Heffelflnger, and
F. B. Wells, of F. H. Peavey & Co., Minneapolis,
A QREAT AMERICAN ENTERPRISE.
THE CAHI.E COMPANY'S 1'UVNT AT
illustration of business evolution through per-
fect organization and the application of a sound
operating system.
The Cable Company was incorporated Febru-
ary 8, 1881, as the Chicago Cottage Organ Co.,
with a capital stock of $30,000, to which an addi-
tion was shortly afterward made of $40,000 in
cash, making a total cash investment of $70,000,
to which original capital nothing has since been
added by the company's stockholders. The capi-
talization of the company was increased from
time to time through stock dividends from the
earnings, until the accumulations in January,
1898, had reached $2,000,000. The capital stock
was then fixed at that figure, where it has since
remained, although the surplus is now an equal
amount, giving the company a financial strength
of something over $4,000,000 in capital and sur-
plus. Throughout its entire career the company
has paid cash dividends to its stockholders
amounting in the aggregate to over $1,000,000.
It will be seen, therefore, that the original in-
vestment of $70,000 has been returned to the
stockholders fifteen times in cash, and that the
value of their holdings has been multiplied fifty-
seven times, and all within a period of less than
twenty-four years.
In March, 1900, for the purpose of perpetuating
and honoring the name of the founder, Mr. H. D.
Cable, and also with the view of successfully
prosecuting the, piano business under a name not
indicative of organ manufacturing alone, but
more general in its application, the name of the
corporation was changed from the Chicago Cot-
tage Organ Co. to the Cable Company.
The business of the company has attained pro-
portions which are understood by few persons
even in the vicinity of Chicago. Thirty thousand
THE
struction of $450,000, giving the Cable Company
one of the finest structures for its business to be
found anywhere in the United States.
The position of honor occupied by the Cable
Company at the World's Fair at St. Louis was
indeed an enviable one. The commissioners of
thirty-nine States and several foreign countries
selected and installed Conover pianos in their
various buildings. In the seven months of the
exposition, therefore, the Cable Company's pianos
were tested, examined and enjoyed by several
hundred thousand people, embracing representa-
tives from all parts of the civilized world.
The keynote of the success of the Cable Com-
pany may be found in the sentiment expressed
by its president, Mr. F. S. Shaw, in a recently
published interview:
"The manufacturer who tries to direct his
plant, his sales department, and his collection de-
partment soon discovers that his competitor, who
has found the right men and has given them
charge of these departments, is getting away from
him—not because the competitor is more able
and brainy than he is, but because with a better
organization he is getting better results from
men of the same caliber, and is giving himself
time to think and plan. The employee of a con-
cern, from the office boy to the president, has a
certain amount of brain power, and the house
that gives each employee the largest chance to
use his or her brain power is the one that suc-
ceeds. The manufacturer or dealer who tries to
master details which could be attended to by a
seventy-five dollar-a-month clerk is wasting
money. He is spending the time of a ten-thou-
sand-dollar-a-year man on a thousand-dollar job.
"From the time the tree is cut down and the
crude iron taken to the foundry, every process
CAHLK
II.ANT AT ST.
CHABUCS, ILL.
Minn.; B. B. Walker, manager of the Canadian
Bank of Commerce, Toronto, Ont.; H. A. Ware,
late vice-president of the Eastern Trust Co., New
York City; J. M. Cleland, ex-mayor of Sioux City,
la., now vice-president of the company; D. G.
Keefe, mechanical superintendent of the com-
pany, and F. S. Shaw, president of the company.
MADISON MUSIC CO.'S "OPENING."
(Special to The Review.)
. Madison, Wis., May 8, 1905...,,
The Madison Music Co. are now in possession
of their new quarters at 20 North Carroll street.
On Saturday two concerts were given, one in the
afternoon, and the other in the evening. There
was a large and fashionable assemblage who en-
joyed in a very appreciative way the magnificent
playing of Miss Mary Angell, the distinguished
artist who has appeared recently throughout the
West with the Mason & Hamlin piano. She was
assisted by Wm. A. Willett, baritone, of Chicago.
WYCKOFF PIANO CO. IN SIOUX CITY.
(Special to The Review.)
Sioux City, la., May 8, 1905.
The Wyckoff Piano Co. have leased the second
floor of the Adgate building, formerly occupied
by the Albert Lindholm Furniture Co., and will
open up a new stock of pianos. Sioux City will
be made the distributing point for the three sur-
rounding States. The new company will handle
pianos for both the wholesale and retail trade.
C. M. Wyckoff, one of the firm, as well as E. M.
Nichols, State manager for the Kimball Ptano
Co., and E. R. Scott, of Freeport, 111., who are
also connected with the new firm, will make
Sioux City their future home.