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THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
color photographs or even to take them. In-
deed, it is conceivable that in consequence of
the cheapening of music and art there may be a
Will the Artistic Profession be Superseded by
Mechanical Art?—Some
Interesting " Con- greater demand than ever for musicians and
artists, just as the sewing machine has given
clusions Drawn from Recent Developments
employment to more seamstresses than it ever
in the Musical and Photographic Fields.
displaced.
"Music and pictures of a high order by ma-
In a recent issue of the Chicago Chronicle
there was a very interesting editorial on chinery may be a mere dream, but not so much
"Mechanical Art" which is worthy of reproduc- of a dream as the flying machine and wireless
tion, because of its broad grasp of present ten- telegraphy were ten years ago."
dencies in the domains of music and painting.
The writer says:
BOOMING BIG SHOW.
"Perhaps any musician would consider him-
self insulted if he were asked whether his pro- William M. Geddes Tells What Great Thing
fession would ever be superseded by the orches-
Jamestown Exposition Will be—Uncle Sam's
trion, the pianola, the talking machine and other
Helping Hand—Seattle Is Now Ready to Ac-
musical devices. . In like manner any artist
cept Government Aid to Help Boost the
would take offense if he were asked whether
Country.
photography, colored photographs and photo-
graphing in colors would ever make the painter
When the Government made an appropriation
useless and obsolete.
for a Government exhibit at the Jamestown expo-
"Both of these artists would express great sition there was a vigorous threat in Congress
contempt for mechanical art and yet the day that it would be the last extension of Govern-
may come when there will be no other kind. So ment aid to an exposition. About every Con-
far as their sneers are concerned, every labor- gress is called on by an exposition in some part
saving machine that has ever been invented has of the country, and there is, without doubt, a
at one stage of its development been sneered at. disposition to protest. Jamestown, however, has
"The programme is invariable. First of ail got its allowance, aggregating $1,575,000, and
it is denied that a certain thing now done by now Seattle is here with a committee, says the
hand can ever be done by machinery. Then correspondent of The Globe, and wants the next
comes the invention, but for a long time it is session of Congress to provide for a Government
regarded as turning out poor work, and there exhibit at the Alaska-Pacific-Yukon Exposition
is still a demand for what is 'hand made.' of 1909.
Finally it is realized that the machine-made
William M. Geddes, assistant secretary of the
article is better than the hand made. A list of Government board for the Jamestown Exposi-
the machines that have had this history would tion, and expert in affairs of the big shows, de-
fill a book, and among them would be the cotton clares that Uncle Sam will never see the time
gin, the knitting machine, the nail-making ma- when he will be able to withdraw his assistance
chine, the watch factory, the stamping machine from these affairs. He expects that Seattle will
and the shoe.
gets its money, and urges that the arguments in
"A multitude of others are still in the second favor of the shows far outweigh those against
stage, where not having been fully developed them. Especially interesting is his analysis of
they are regarded as failures, and where they the substantial results of the exposition in re-
are still in competition with the old method, but cent years.
they are improving every day, and it is simply
"I heard Lyman J. Gage say, when he was
folly not to foresee their ultimate success and head of the First National Bank of Chicago,"
superiority. The question is whether artificial said Mr. Geddes, "that but for the Chicago Expo-
music and artificial pictures belong to this class. sition of 1893 Chicago would have been the
"The musician says: 'The mechanical piano hardest hit city in the country by the panic
player! Angels and ministers of grace deliver that began in 1893. He declared, as a matter of
us. It has no expression, no character and no personal knowledge, that without the millions
soul. Its time is perfect, but its very perfection that poured into Chicago through the fair
is an imperfection. It can never take the place visitors that year, the banks of that city
of the living performer.' He is perfectly sin- would have never been able to carry
cere about it, but if five years ago he were told the communty through the stress as they did.
that a machine could be made that might be "Chicago has been said by many people to have
backed up against any piano and play the most suffered by its fair, on the ground that it over-
difficult music on it in perfect time he would built in anticipation of the crowds that did not
have said it was impossible. Now that this has justify the expectations. But, in fact, Chicago,
been accomplished he is certain that expression the new, modern, greater Chicago, dates from
and finish can never be secured by that 'music that exposition, and nobody knows it better than
box,' but he may be as much mistaken now as the Chicago men of great affairs.
he would have been then.
"The reason the Government will not quit
"The painter is just as contemptuous of the giving money, at least for the Government ex-
chromo and the colored photograph. 'Of course,' hibits, is because experience has proved them a
he says, 'the photograph makes a truer and good thing. Most people don't get to see and
more minute reproduction of an object than the study the resources and operations of this Gov-
artist does, but that is rather a defect than a ernment as they are epitomized here in Wash-
merit. A great painting is great because of ington. The Government showing at a great ex-
what it does not reveal. Besides this the value position places it before them. It always proves
of art lies chiefly in idealization, and it is im- the most interesting thing on the grounds. The
possible to photograph the. ideal.'
people all over this big, patriotic country are en-
"No one will deny the force of these objec- titled to a chance to see the things that are
tions, and yet they are no more forcible than, shown at these places; it gives them a concep-
those that were urged against the present state tion of the country and its government that they
of photography. A few years ago anyone who could not get in any other way."
:
ventured to predict the photographing of colors
Speaking of the Jamestown Exposition, Mr.
' would have been regarded as silly, but that very Geddes expressed the opinion that it will be a
' thing has been achieved and i t is possible that great success, and that the city of Norfolk espe-
; every other effect now produced by the painter's cially will derive immense benefits from it.
; pencil may yet be imitated and surpassed by the "There- are 22,000,000 people within a twelve
\ printing press, with the single exception of ideal- hours' ride of this show." he said.
ization, concerning the value of which there is
some difference of opinion. Possibly people
J. H. White, president of the Wilcox & White
would be better off without it.
Co., recently presented a handsame piano to the
"It is not meant, of course, that the musician Bethany Sunday-school of Meriden, Conn. The
and painter would be literally left without jobs. members of the school were highly pleased with
It takes musicians of a high order to manu- the gift and the superintendent conveyed to Mr.
i facture orchestrions and artists of ability to White their sincere thanks.
'MECHANICAL ART.'
Keg. U. S. Pat. OfT.
The Victor
creates new business
The Victor is not destined to
take the place of the piano,
but with its higher aims at
operatic and classical music
and its unusually fine rendi-
tion of all the popular music
of the day, it is a valuable
adjunct to the piano.
No other articles invented
.in recent years have meant
so much to piano-dealers as
Victor Talking Machines
and Records.
Of all the piano-dealers who
handle the Victor not one has
found that it interfered with
his piano business. But dozens
upon dozens have found that
an increasing number of people
came into their stores since
they handled the Victor. They
sold Victor goods to them and
gained many new regular cus-
tomers. Good will and prestige
increased and their piano
business also grew livelier
because of the Victor.
Every month in the year we
advertise Victor goods in maga-
zines that reach 49,000,000 peo-
ple a month. This stirs up an
interest in Victor Talking Machines
and Records that leads right up
to the stores of the dealers.
The Victor business is so
strong and making such big
forward strides that no piano-
dealer can afford to ignore it.
Don't let this splendid op-
portunity slip through your
fingers. Make up your mind to
handle the Victor—at least find
out all about our proposition.
Write today for particulars,
using the coupon in the corner,
of this advertisement.
Victor Talking
Machine
Company
Camden,
N. J.