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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
February Making a Creditable Showing in a Business Way—Mr. Allen Anxiously Awaiting A.
B. Chase Player Piano—Orders for Estey Pipe Organs—Rumors About Big Change of
Agency—H. C. Pressy Sending in Splendid Orders for Pianos on His Pacific Coast Trip.
Church of Oak Lane, and in the new hall of the
Elks at Juniper and Arch streets.
Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 7, 1906.
There is a rumor current in Philadelphia of
The good work experienced all through Janu-
ary has been kept up in February, and from pres- the change of one of the big names to another
ent indications the month promises to be, if any- house, from a firm with which it has been iden-
thing, better than the preceding month, which tified for many years. While the firm in ques-
was a record-breaker at most of the houses. All tion assert that they know nothing about this
the firms are well prepared for whatever may move, therefore the name is withheld for further
come their way, and the stores have never been developments.
stocked with better instruments than they are at
F. A. North & Co. have been held back consid-
present. This is not alone true of pianos, but erably in their work by the slowness of construc-
of all the various lines.
tion of their case factory. They are awaiting ma-
Joseph F. Allen reports that January was one chinery which will enable them to start that de-
of the best months that he has had since he was partment of their factory going. They are get-
in business. He spent several days in Washing- ting a big stock of pianos on hand in the mean-
ton since my last letter, where he had gone to time, and have begun to advertise their Lester
meet Calvin Whitney, president of the A. B. player-piano extensively, the first time that they
Chase Co., which piano is and has been for many have been able to do this since it has been on the
years Mr. Allen's pride and joy. While in the market, for the reason that they have been un-
capital city he had the pleasure of examining able to get any stock ahead. They are also well
several of the inside players of the A. B. Chase prepared for the handling of any business that
Co., and was very much pleased with them. They may come their way in grand pianos, as they
are very fine, he says, and he is anxiously await- have increased that department of their plant
ing his first shipment, which will not be before more than double what it was last year. H. C.
next month. He has had a communication from Pressey, secretary and traveling representative
the Poole Piano Co., saying that they had gotten of the Lester Co., is nearing the Pacific Coast,
out several new styles which they think are far and all the way out, at the various cities at which
superior to anything they have yet produced, and he has stopped, he has found an unusual stir in
business, and is having the best trip of any he
that he will shortly receive some of them.
Charles H. Fischer has been in Chicago for has yet taken in the interest of his firm.
W. S. Stackhouse, the new Heppe manager,
nearly a week. William G. Fischer, who has been
looking after the business in his son's absence, with his wife, will arrive in Philadelphia on the
says that January was a very good month, and 12th or 14th of this month, and will have entire
about 40 per cent, better than the January of last charge of the piano department of that house.
The Heppes are about to open retail warerooms
year.
The Estey Company have taken orders for pipe in Pittsburg, which will be in charge of Foster M.
organs to be placed in the All Saints P. E. Hanna, and are negotiating for a store in Atlan-
Church, of Torresdale; in the new Reformed tic City.
(Special to The Review.)
D. E. WOOLLY ELECTED PRESIDENT
Of the Philadelphia Piano Dealers' Association
at Annual Meeting—Interesting Report Sub-
mitted Which Treats of Many Business Evils
and Remedies Therefor.
(Special to The Review.)
Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 7, 1906.
The Philadelphia Piano Dealers' Association, at
their annual meeting and banquet on last Satur-
day evening, elected the following officers for
the ensuing year: President, D. E. Woolley;
vice-president, August Von Bernuth; secretary,
E. J. Painter; treasurer, P. J. Cunningham; di-
rectors, George Miller, Oscar Blasius, and Gus-
tave Herzberg. There was a fine supper, and all
but three of the Philadelphia houses holding
membership
were
represented.
Interesting
speeches were made following the banquet by
James C. Miller, James G. Ramsdell, August Von
Bernuth, Gustave Herzberg and Mr. Schoeppe.
The president, D. E. Wooley, submitted the fol-
lowing report: "Since the delayed annual meet-
ing of 1905, made necessary through the enter-
tainment of the officers of the National Associa-
tion of Piano Dealers of America at this hotel on
Feb. 20, 1905, the work of the association has
been judiciously confined to practically one per-
son. It was possibly an honor to have the office
of president conferred, but unfortunately the sec-
retary nominated and elected during his absence
was not overjoyed at the honor, and while no
question can be raised as to his interest in asso-
ciation affairs, the work of the office continued to
devolve upon the original incumbent. Unques-
tionably it is unwise to place so great a respon-
sibility on one person. It is not conducive to
good management.
"For this reason it is possible that the asso-
ciation has appeared to be inactive, but this may
be due to the fact that we were too strenuous in
our labors in the early part of the year. If you
will recall, we were forced to grapple with legis-
lative matters and objectionable legislation was
thereby prevented from becoming a law.
"We passed through the unpleasant experience
of losing as members of the association a firm
that was particularly active in its organization,
but for this we should not be discouraged.
"During the past year our president took up
actively the gyp or private house advertising
evil, and for a time, and even up to the present,
there is an absence of this class of advertising
from the columns of most of our leading papers.
Each one assured us of their best efforts in elimi-
nating this evil, but unquestionably the persons
who thrive by this class of advertising take ad-
vantage of all sorts of methods to secure its in-
sertion; in some cases they even wait until the
business office is closed and take their ads. to the
composing room. In order to entirely eliminate
this class of advertising it requires constant
watchfulness and frequent letters to the news-
paper publishers.
"During the past year the Legislature of the
State of Delaware passed a landlord's notice law,
similar to that existing for a number of years
in our own State, exempting pianos and organs
from seizure for rent if the landlord is notified
when goods are delivered to the lessee.
"The special list of undesirable customers has
proved a very satisfactory feature of our associa-
tion. During the past year 109 undesirable les-
sees have been reported. In many instances our
members have been saved expenses and loss by
receiving the information in time to prevent a
delivery of another instrument.
"Uniform rates for cartage and tuning adopted
some time ago have been very generally lived up
to, and they are believed by our members to be
a success. Why, then, can we not extend this
line of usefulness to other branches of our busi-
ness?
"Shortly before the close of the year your
president took the liberty of suggesting to the
members the adoption of certain reforms, many
of them possibly a little radical, but we are most
surely confronted by a condition which indicates
we must adopt stringent methods to stop some
of the evils which surround us, or we will even-
tually suffer great losses. It is hoped that before
we retire this evening we will be able to thresh
out some of the subjects which place us in an
unfavorable light before the piano-buying public.
Among the topics which we hope to have time
to consider are the following:
" 'Discontinuance of the Payment of Commis-
sions.'
i
" 'The Adoption of the One-Price System.'
" 'Limiting the Amount to be Allowed for Sec-
ond-hand Square Pianos and Parlor Organs.'
" 'The Collection of Interest on Lease Ac-
counts.'
" 'The Adoption of a Schedule of Monthly Pay-
ments According to the Value of the Pianos
Leased.'
D. E. WOOLLEY."
These subjects were not discussed to any ex-
tent, but it was decided that during the next year,
instead of having monthly meetings of the direc-
tors, that these meetings should be open to all
members of the association.
MASON & HAMLIN PIANO DELIGHTS
At a Concert When Played by Miss Mary
Angell—Some Flattering Words from a
Charleston Paper.
(Special to The Review.)
Charleston, S. C, Feb. 1, 1906.
At the Freundschafts Bund Hall last night a
large audience composed of the cultured people
of this city, nearly all patrons of music, enjoyed
a very beautiful programme given by Miss Mary
Angell and Mrs. Carrie Jacobs-Bond, of Chicago,
and the Excelsior Glee Club, of Charleston. The
concert was under the auspices of the Cable
Company, and all who were present felt that
Charleston is deeply indebted to this corporation
for bringing to the city these talented and charm-
ing ladies. The News and Courier, one of the
oldest and most conservative newspapers in this
section, said:
"Not in a long time has an audience been more
generally pleased; seldom has a Charleston audi-
ence had the privilege of a more thoroughly de-
lightful evening. There was ample variety in the
numbers and an air of friendliness spread all
over the hall almost with the first number—and
audience and entertainers seemed to understand
each other at once. The ladies did all that was
promised for them, and more, and the Glee Club
sang just the right selections, and sang them
well.
"Miss Angell's playing was a delight. Her in-
terpretation of Chopin was enthusiastically re-
ceived, and she was obliged to respond to numer-
ous encores. Her numbers included Chopin's
Sonata in B flat minor, the impromptu in F
sharp, Mazurka in B flat major, Etudes in G flat
major and C minor; two numbers by Claude
Debusy (played for the first time in this coun-
try, from manuscripts), the Schubert-Liszt "Sere-
nade" and Liszt's "La Campanelle." In each Miss
Angell displayed a wonderful technique and great
breadth of tone. The singing qualities of the
Mason & Hamlin concert grand were brought out
exquisitely. In the "Funeral March" and finale
of the Sonata her shading and tone building were
subjects of comment by all of the many musicians
in the hall. The Debusy numbers, while little
understood, were interesting from their novel
development. The Schubert-Liszt "Serenade" was
daintily played and Liszt's "La Campanelle" bril-
liantly closed her portion of the programme."
Mrs. Jacobs-Bond also made quite a hit with
her audience, her songs and stories delighting and
entrancing all. A number of requests have been
made that the two ladies return to Charleston
after filling their engagements in the South, and
J. V. Wallace, manager of the local branch of
the Cable Company, intimated that there might
be a return date.
C. S. York, piano dealer, and J. F. Ward, piano
dealer, suffered a loss by the fire which occurred
in the McGreggor Opera House Block at Brazil,
Ind., last week.