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66818A
THE
ffUJIC TIRADE
VOL. XLI. No. 1.
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 1 Madison Ave., New York, July 8, 1905.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
MUST PAY TO DO BUSINESS
WILL MAKE THE GORDON PIANO.
HARD TO GET GOOD MEN.
In the Province of 'Quebec—Traveling Men
from the United States Must Pay an An-
nual License Fee of $300.
The Gordon Piano Co. Buy the Piano Interests
of Hamilton S. Gordon.
Skilled, Capable Piano Workers Are in De-
mand, but Not Easy to Find—The Unions
Should Make Ability a Test of Membership.
The Gordon Piano Co., of which Leslie A. Gor-
don, son of Hamilton S. Gordon, is vice-president,
have taken over the piano business formerly con-
ducted by Hamilton S. Gordon, and have estab-
lished a factory at 162-164 West 27th street,
where they will manufacture pianos under the
name of "Gordon." Mr. Gordon's fellow incor-
porators of the company (as reported in The Re-
view at the time of the formation of the con-
cern) are Chas. Marcell, president, and Edward
Johnson, secretary and treasurer.
Hamilton S. Gordon will in future devote his
entire attention to the publishing of sheet music
and the handling of musical merchandise.
"Piano workers have had steady work; that
is, the best of them, this year," observed a manu-
facturer noted for the care he exercises in the
construction of his product. "There is an abun-
dance of so-called skilled men, but notwithstand-
ing it is the most difficult matter to get a real
artisan—one who can be trusted to go ahead and
finish up his special work without constant in-
spection or ceaseless prodding to keep him down
to the task, as if he were reasonably interested
in his labor. Every day a bunch apply at our
office for employment, and after looking each
applicant over we have been compelled to turn
every one of them away because they showed
their incompetence In their talk, or were alto-
gether unsuitable material to shape up to our
standard.
"We have been looking for really good men
for six months. Not one of the small army pass-
ing in review has come up to our requirements.
Occasionally we have been so pushed for just
such skilled workmen that we have actually
made extra inducements to men of known repute
employed by other manufacturers. Even this is
no easy undertaking, for the good men have good
jobs, receive the best of treatment, and are ex-
ceedingly loath to making a change, no matter
what may be offered them in the way of a pre-
mium. Just now, in our grand department, un-
able to obtain the man absolutely necessary for
the work, we have had one in training, and ex-
pect to have him educated up to the mark after
a while, but this has been only accomplished at
our expense.
"It has occurred to me that if the union would
establish a preferred class of workmen—artisans,
I mean, for such all that kind of men must be
classed who have a thorough knowledge of piano
making, or even some distinct or special class
of work—who knew their trade thoroughly, and
worked at it conscientiously and with pride,
what a blessing it would be to piano manu-
facturers who are equally proud of their product
from every standpoint—mechanical and musical.
You better believe such men would never lack
employment, nor would a question of wages ever
arise between employe and employer. Then, an-
other thing, when the union demanded double
pay for overtime and holidays, where our men
formerly earned from $12 to $15 and even more
a week extra, we could not stand the pressure,
and cut this out completely by putting on extra
men, and our old men were deprived of the addi-
tional money, much to their disgust, as we hap-
pen to know. Good men are scarcer than you
think, and they are always welcome in every
factory should they ever be at liberty. On the
ether hand, the ranks of mediocre or worse kind
are crowded, and they are employed only when
the pressure of business actually demands help
of any old kind."
The Province of Quebec has just put in force
an amendment to the license laws which affect
piano ambassadors and commercial travelers
generally. The law now provides that any non-
resident traveler or agent soliciting orders for
goods, other than intoxicating liquors, for firms
or corporations having no place of business in
Canada, shall be compelled to pay a license cost-
ing $300, renewable the first aay of May in each
year.
Any failure to obey this law lays the party
open to a penalty of not over $1,000 and not less
than $500 for each infraction thereof, and any
party loaning his license to another will have to
pay a penalty of $300.
Traveling men in the United States will have
to be on the lookout in future when they plan
to do business in the Province of Quebec.
SELECTED THE KURTZMANN.
Coincident with the enlargement of the music
department of the J. N. Adam Co. and William
Ehgerer Co., these up-to-date stores, came the
realization by the management that they should
be equipped with the best of everything, and es-
pecially with, the best of pianos. After careful
consideration, "the old reliable" Kurtzmann was
chosen, not only because of the great beauty of
its tone, perhaps, but also on account of its well-
known wearing qualities. These instruments
have recently been placed in position, and are
much admired by the immense crowds that
throng these busy centers every day.—Buffalo
(N. Y.) Courier, June 25, 1905.
CAPTURING CANADIAN TRADE.
Colonel Daniel F. Treacy has been securing a
considerable amount of Canadian trade for the
piano factory of Davenport & Treacy at 1905
Park avenue, New York, during his present trip.
His last communication from Newcastle, N. B.
indicates that the Canadians look for a good
fall trade in pianos, and that he does not intend
to let them suffer from the lack of those instru-
ments.
GUEST'S FIFTIETH BUSINESS YEAR.
The Guest Music Co., of Cedar Rapids, la.,
celebrated their fiftieth business year by the
opening last week of their new store in that
city. There was a magnificent musical pro-
gramme. The new establishment is one of the
handsomest in the city, the decorations being
most appropriate to the line of pianos handled,
which include the Chickering, Gabler, Starr,
Packard and Huntington.
R. S. Howard, of the R. S. Howard Co., was
one of the various members of the trade who at-
tended the recent convention of the Mystic Shrin-
ers held at Niagara Falls.
HOW HE PLAYS THE PIANO.
One of the favorite properties in a Fifth ave-
nue photograph atelier is a piano. It has fig-
ured as a background for many persons who
l:now nothing about the instrument. One of the
recent pictures of this kind shows leaning
against the instrument an actor who knows lit-
tle more about a piano than that some of the keys
are white and some of them black.
"I didn't know that you played the piano,"
one of his colleagues said the other day at the
Lambs. "Why don't you play for us here some
time?"
"He doesn't play here," said Wilton Lackaye,
who was sitting near the two, "because he can't.
The only place he knows how to play the piano
is in a photograph gallery."
STRICH & ZEIDLER SMALL GRAND.
Among the many manufacturers in the trade
to feel the increasing demand for small grands
are Strich & Zeidler, of Alexander avenue and
132d street, New York. Since they put their
new style M on the market, they have had diffi-
culty in keeping pace with the increasing de-
mand for those instruments. Paul Zeidler says
that they are anticipating a tremendous demand
for them with the opening of the fall trade, and
are preparing accordingly.
BUSY TIMES WITH KELLER.
Henry Keller, of the firm of Henry Keller &
Sons, of Rider avenue and 141st street, said to
The Review on Thursday that they had had a
sudden revival of business the past week, most
of the demand being from the central west and
nearby points. He stated that the coast trade
seemed to be on a vacation, as orders from there
were very slack.' He regards the general busi-
ness as far ahead of last year, and as comparing
favorably with any preceding year.
Edmund Gram, who represents the Steinway
piano in Milwaukee, has issued a notice warning
the public against the employment of a fake
tuner who has been soliciting orders, stating that
he is a representative of Steinway & Sons.
Matthew B. Lamb, who represents the Kranich
& Bach piano in Worcester, Mass., has returned
home after a month's outing in California. He
has been much benefited by his trip.