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THL
ffljSIC TIRADE
COPIES, 10 CENTS.
VOL. XLIII. No. 2 . Published Every Saturday by Edward LymanBill at I MadisonAve., New York, July U, 1906. SINGLE
$2.00 PER YEAR.
ager of the talking machine department, who in
a few words explained how to sell talking ma-
chines. Auditor F. F. Dawson then spoke enter-
tainingly on the best way to obtain results on
PIANOS IN NEBRASKA.
the road. His remarks were received with hearty
applause. G. E. Warrick, manager of the Annis-
Over 11,000 Pianos in State—One County
ton office, spoke instructively on the subject of
Shows Increase of 458 Pianos in Year—A
cash payments.
Good Showing.
Traveling Representative J. S. Phelps, in an
amusing manner, explained how, after he stum-
(Special to The Review.)
bled over obstacles in the road to success, he
Lincoln, Neb., July 9, 1906.
According to the records in the office of Secre- arose again, a sadder but wiser man. Toast-
tary Bennett, of the State Board of Equalization, master McArthur spoke at length on the best
there is no piano in McPherson County. There way to obtain good results, and the benefits de-
was one last year, but a cyclone came along and rived therefrom. Remarks were also made by F.
O. Croy, Birmingham; J. B. Cleveland, D. D.
put it out of business.
There has been a big increase in the number of Dutton, Bessemer; L. L. Herron, Cullman, and
pianos in Nebraska. The total number of pianos R. H. Beveridge, manager of the tuning depart-
in the State last year was 24,572, with an assessed ment.
Those present at the banquet were: J. H. Mer-
valuation of $759,594, or $30.91 each. The num-
ber for the year 1906 will be increased to more rill, L. A. Wakefield, G. E. Warrick, G. S. Staples,
R. J. Arthur, M. F. Davidson, T. S. White, J. T.
than 30,000.
The assessors of the State have valued the Kimbrell, M. W. White, L. A. Morris, A. J. Mc-
pianos at about $150 each, and this is admittedly Veigh, F. F. Dawson, E. E. Forbes, W. R. Mc-
but about 50 per cent, of their cost price. As Arthur, J. B. Cleveland, H. F. Carson, W. L. But-
listed last year, the amount of money invested ler, J. S. Phelps, D. D. Dutton, W. B. Gray, F. L.
in pianos was about $3,500,000. This year the Merritt, J. T. Perry, L. L. Herron, J. E. Bernard,
number of new pianos will add materially to this L. D. Whitson, B. R. McWilliams, F. Denman, R.
figure. It is safe to say from a study of the re- H. Beveridge, D. Perry, Master Simon Sheppard
turns that the amount of money actually spent and R. E. Castleberry, of the Forbes Piano Co.—
for pianos by the people of the State is about Birmingham (Ala.) Ledger, July 5, 1906.
$10,000,000.
DISSOLVE PARTNERSHIP.
A census of forty-five counties shows the num-
ber of pianos to be 11,048, as compared with
By mutual consent the firm of Friend & Clark,
9,203 in the same counties in 1905. In one which has conducted a music and art store on
county, Hall, the number of instruments in- Lake street, Petoskey, Mich., for the past several
creased in a year from 556 to 1,014, a very good months, has been dissolved. S. L. Wixson, who
percentage.
has been keeping his stock of pianos and or-
gans at the same store, and Lyman Clark have
formed a partnership and will conduct music
FORBES EMPLOYES' REUNION.
stores in both that city and Cheboygan. The Pe-
Members of Birmingham and Anniston Selling
toskey store will be situated at 320 Mitchell
Forces Enjoy a Feast at Metropolitan Hotel
street, and the stock has been moved in there.
—Interesting Addresses Made.
Mr. Clark and Miss Anna King will be in charge
while Mr. Wixson will give most of his time to
The members of the Birmingham District Asso- the Cheboygan store.
ciation of the employes of the Forbes Piano Co.
were the guests of the company recently at an in-
formal banquet tendered them at the Metropoli- DISCONTINUES SUIT AGAINST SMITH CO.
tan. Hotel. The object of the banquet was to
(Special to The Review.)
bring the members of the selling force and the
Waukegan, 111., July 6, 1906.
management closer together, and to exchange
The case of the city of Waukegan against the
ideas beneficial to both parties.
Smith Piano Co. has been dismissed by Justice
The banquet hall was tastefully decorated, ap- Van Deusen. The city sued to collect a license
propriate to July 4, and was graced by the pres- fee on the grounds that the company was not a
ence of the president of the company, E. E. permanent concern in the city, and served the
Forbes, with W. R. McArthur, general manager papers upon D. H. Rogers as agent. The F. G.
of the Birmingham office, as toastmaster.
Smith Co. proved that Mr. Rogers had never
The speaker of the evening was President E. been their agent, and hence the dismissal of the
E. Forbes. Mr. Forbes, in a very practical and case.
forcible manner, showed his employes how, with
only one dollar capital, at the age of 17, when
C. A. WHALE CO. INCORPORATES.
he left his home, he had builded a business of
over $1,000,000 annually. He set forth some
The C. A. Whale Piano Co., of Portland, Ore.,
valuable Ideas relative to selling pianos. Mr. have been incorporated with a capital of $10,000
Forbes gave good advice to his concourse of to sell pianos and musical instruments of all
faithful employes and commended them for their kinds. Incorporators: Charles A. Whale, M. G.
faithful performance of duty. The advice given Matthieu and John C. Matthieu.
was good, and young men in all lines would do
well to adhere to it.
W. H. McDougall has opened a new music store
Mr, Forbes was followed by H. F. Carson, man- in Reston, Man.
delegates, representing locals in thirty-
PIANO WORKERS TO MANUFACTURE? fifty-three
eight cities.
The Union Factory Plant Is Again Being Dis-
cussed by the Piano Workers' International
Union, Which Holds Its Convention in Chi-
cago This Week—Chas. Dold's Views on the
Question—This Has Been Brought Up at
Every Convention for the Past Few Years,
But Has Never Amounted to Anything.
(Special to The Ueview.)
Chicago, 111., July 11, 1906.
Establishing a piano factory in order to avoid
strikes and at the same time combat the efforts
of employers either to reduce wages or make
working conditions undesirable is a novel plan
to toe considered at the annual convention of the
Piano, Organ and Musical Instrument Workers'
International Union, which opens in Chicago
this week.
It is the idea of officials of the organization
who have been working on the scheme to estab-
lish a factory where members of the union may
obtain employment whenever they are dissatisfied
with the wages they receive or the conditions
under which they work. The factory will be
owned and operated by the international union,
which will receive all profits and bear whatever
losses may be incurred. It is intended, if the
conditions warrant, to establish branch factories.
The plan has been under consideration for sev-
eral years, and has been received so favorably
that it is expected that at the coming convention
the matter will be referred to the executive board
with power to prepare plans and submit the
proposition to a referendum vote of affiliated local
unions.
President Charles Dold, of the international or-
ganization, who is the originator of the scheme,
said Saturday:
"I believe it is an entirely feasible undertak-
ing, and one that should be started at an early
date. Whenever an employer becomes unreason-
able and our members feel he is no longer en-
titled to their services, they can secure employ-
ment at our factory at union wages. In this man-
ner we can avoid the usual strike, with its at-
tendant expenses, and apply the money that
would be expended in that way in furthering our
enterprise.
"Even if we make no profits, or even find it
necessary to levy an assessment to pay expenses,
it will be better than conducting a strike. We
can make pianos as cheaply as the factories in the
employers' combine, and our local unions in the
various cities will act as sales agents for us. We
have not yet considered the question of a site
for the factory, but either Chicago or New York
would be a good location.
"The factory would also be an excellent means
of maintaining a uniform scale of good wages, as
the employers would be forced to realize that we
were prepared to resist any encroachments on
our rights. We have already had dozens of of-
fers for sites and loans."
According to President Dold there are less
than 200 piano factories in the country, and of
the 20,000 workmen employed in the industry
more than one-half belong to the union. The
coming convention will be held in the Bush Tem-
ple of Music, and will be participated in by