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Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
VOL. XLI, No. 4.
Pablished Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at I Madison Aye., New York, July 29, 1905.
ONLY AN OLD "SQUARE" PIANO.
A Pleasing Eulogy Which Will be Appreciated
By Those Who Were "Brought Up" With
This Type of Instrument.
The old square piano has been immortalized
time and time again in verse, but we have rarely
read a more timely eulogy than that which ap-
peared recently in an editorial in the Washing-
ton Times. Evidently the writer had pleasant
memories of the old square and appreciated its
influence in the home. The subject is a humble
one, and simply told, and touches a "tender spot"
in the man or woman who was "brought up" far
away from great conservatories and from the big
cities where music abounds on all sides. This is
what our friend says:
"An old piano has stood on a pavement near
The Times office for the past two or three days.
Out the window we could see a little colored boy
sidle up and strike its keys like a sinner looking
into the gates of heaven. Then came two young
ladies, with their noses in the air. Next was a
smart young man with hat on the back of his
head. After him was a messenger with a bicycle,
who tried to see how near the piano he could
come and miss it, and register a big scratch on
one of its legs. All the others of the procession,
like the two young ladies and the smart young
man, looked at the old instrument—if they looked
at it at all—in indifference or contempt.
"Yet that old 'square' has made a great many
hearts light. Its keyboard, now as yellow as
butter, has responded to the gentle touch of who
knows how many small hands? As we looked at
it we could see the parlor where it stood—a
square room carpeted with a highly-colored 'tap-
estry brussels'; furnished with haircloth parlor
'set'; a marble-topped table in the middle, with
an album and the family Bible on it; a 'what-
not' in the corner; a deep oval frame on one
wall with shells in it; two candlesticks and a
clock on the mantel; pictures of 'Evangeline' and
'The Rock of Ages'; and a motto over the door
reading, 'The Lord is My Shepherd.'
"That is a bleak, inartistic, cheerless sort of
a place you say. Well, it was not too bleak or
inartistic or cheerless to contain a great deal of
happiness, and this old piano played its part in
making that happiness. On baking days, when
the bread was all out of the oven, the young lady
of the house would put on her best linen lawn,
iron stiff, and play 'Annie Laurie,' Schubert's
'Serenade,' 'The Last Hope' and 'When This
Cruel War Is Over.' Prayer meeting nights the
family would sit round while this young lady'f
mother, in a silver-gray poplin with angel sleeves,
played hymns—not 'Throw Out the Life-Line' or
'Pass Along the Invitation,' but 'Federal Street'
and 'Come Ye Disconsolate.' And on Sister Judy's
birthday they had a party and danced the racket,
the waltz, the polka, the varsovienne, and the
Virginia reel and Judy's parents went down the
center just to show the young folks some dancing
that was dancing.
"If you have never been to a dance like that,
where the doctor's daughter plays 'The Bell Goes
Ringing for Sarah,' 'John Anderson' and 'Arkan-
saw Traveler,' and the venerable principal of the
academy throws off his dignity and 'shassays'
like the youngest man in the room, you don't
know what a good time is. And neither are you
any judge of old pianos.
"If we could have back the things that went
with the prim 'square' out there on the pave-
ment we would not give it up for all the 'par-
lor grands' that could be manufactured in a
thousand years."
SPECIAL RATES TO NEW YORK
STNGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
agreed to put in the special rate via the St. Louis
gateway: Frisco System, Houston & Texas Cen-
tral Railroad, International & Great Northern
Railroad, Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, San
Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway, St. Louis, Iron
Mountain & Southern Railway.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway, Chi-
cago, Rock Island & El Paso Railway, and the El
Paso-Northeastern System will make the rate
effective via the Chicago gateway. Full fare com-
ing, one-third fare returning.
For Merchants from the Territories of the Mer-
chants' Association and the Trunk
Line
Association—Southern Roads in Line.
THE BALDWIN BUILDING
In Indianapolis Will be Magnificently Equip-
ped at a Cost of $15,000—A Rest Room for
Women One of the Attractions.
Reduced fares have been arranged for mer-
chants and their representatives by the Mer-
chants' Association of New York from the terri-
(Special to The Review.)
tories of the Central Passenger Association and
Indianapolis, Ind., July 25, 1905.
the Trunk Line Association (except from points
D. H. Baldwin & Co. have just closed contracts
less than 100 miles from New York). To New
with the contractors whereby the building which
York, full fare; returning, one-third fare.
they will occupy at 18-20 North Pennsylvania
CENTRAL PASSENGER TERRITORY.
street, this city, will be entirely remodeled. A
Points west of but not including Buffalo, Niag-
number of unique features will be embodied in
ara Falls, Suspension Bridge and Salamanca,
the structure, notably a very handsomely
N. Y.; Pittsburg and Allegheny, Pa.; Bellaire, O.;
equipped and comfortably arranged rest room for
Wheeling, Parkersburg, Huntington and Charles-
women. This will be on the ground floor and
ton, W. Va.; north of the Ohio River and east
conveniently reached from the street. It goes
of the Mississippi River, and south of a line from
without saying that it will become very popular
Keokuk, la., to Chicago, 111.; Chicago, St. Louis,
with shoppers. It will take about a month to
Louisville, all points in Kentucky on the Chesa-
complete the alterations in the building. The
peake and Ohio Railway, and Canadian towns on
scheme of decoration throughout will be elabo-
the Michigan Central Railroad and Wabash Rail-
rate. There will be rooms for special display.
road in the Province of Ontario are included in
The front will be of solid glass. Nothing will be
Central Passenger Territory.
Dates—Tickets
spared to make these premises one of the most
with reduced rate return trip certificates, good
attractive in the country. The alterations will
only for points in Central Passenger Territory,
cost $15,000.
will be sold July 22 to 26, inclusive, Aug. 19 to
23, inclusive. Tickets bought in this territory
on other dates are worthless for return reduc-
tions. Return limit, 30 days from date of ticket.
H. S. PATTERSON FOR EUROPE.
TRUNK LINE TERRITORY.
From Buffalo, Niagara Falls. Suspension
Bridge, Dunkirk (via Erie Railroad) and Sala-
manca, N. Y.; Erie (via Penna. Railroad), Pitts-
burg and Allegheny, Pa.; Bellaire, O.; Wheeling,
Parkersburg, Huntington and Charleston, W. Va.;
and points on and north of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Railway, east thereof to the New England
Line. (N. Y. & Harlem Railroad not included.)
Dates—Tickets with reduced rate return trip
certificates, good only for points in Trunk Line
Territory, will be sold Aug. 19 to 23, inclusive,
Sept. 3 to 7, inclusive. Tickets bought in this
territory on other dates are worthless for return
reductions. Return limit, 15 days from date of
sale.
Reduced rates will be made to New York from
Texas over the Southern Pacific System Houston
& Texas Central Railroad, via the New Orleans
gateway on the dates mentioned herein, under
the certificate plan.
The Southern Pacific Co. offers the same re-
duced rates from points reached by its system in
Texas in connection with the water trip to New
York from New Orleans on the Southern Pacific
new passenger steamships. The special fare by
rail and steamer also covers meals and state-
room while on board the boat.
Up to this date the following railroads have
The
Weil-Known Member of the Mellor Co.
Will Seek "Pointers" Abroad.
Harvey S. Patterson, of the C. C. Mellor Co.,
Pittsburg, Pa., left on Wednesday last for Europe,
accompanied by his wife and family. He will
be absent about two months and will visit all of
the principal points of interest in the Old World.
He will especially look into the methods of re-
tailing pianos abroad; in fact, he will gladly
pick up "pointers," if any exist, that will be help-
ful to him in the development of the Mellor busi-
ness, with which he has been connected for some
twenty-nine years.
PIANO DEALERS OF HARTFORD ORGANIZE
(Special to The Review.)
Hartford, Conn., July 24, 1905.
The piano dealers of this city have organized
the Hartford Piano Dealers' Association in which
practically every dealer in the city is represented,
with the exception of L. Barker & Co., who are
expected to fall in line in the near future. The
officers elected at their meeting, held last week,
were as follows: President, Emil C. Wander, of
Wm. Wander & Sons; vice-president, John M.
Gallup, of John M. Gallup & Co.; secretary, A. F.
Wood, of Woods-McCann & Co.; treasurer, F. A.
Sedgwick, of Sedgwick & Casey.