Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
fflJJIC TRADE
VOL. XLVI. No. 1 8 .
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 1 Madison Ave., New York, May 2,1908.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
BRINSMEAD'SJJHERICAN VISIT.
FREIGHT RATES TO 0 0 UP.
RUDOLF DOLGE RETURNS
Gives His Views on His Visits to the Angelus,
Simplex and Foster-Armstrong
Plants—
Amazed at the System of Costs in Vogue at
the Latter Place—Interesting Chat.
Eastern Trunk Lines Now Said to Have Come
to an Agreement.
From Venezuela and Chats About the Troubles
Which the Orinoco Corporation Have Had
With the Authorities of That Country.
Herbert J. Brinsmead, of J. & J. Goddard, of
London, who has been on a flying trip to
America, visiting New York, Meriden, Boston,
Worcester, Rochester, Chicago, Portland, Van-
couver, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where
he visited Alfred Dolge's new hammer felt plant,
and Riverside, where he stayed with his brother,
Reginald, who owns an extensive orange grove
in that part of the country, has been giving out
some interviews to the London trade papers on
his experiences since his return home. When
asked by our London namesake to give a detailed
description of his visits to the various piano
factories he said:
"In Meriden I had a most enjoyable day going
over the Angelus player factory. Here I found
a very fine factory, producing work of the high-
est character, and noticed particularly the care in
the selection of the best materials. When busy
this firm turns out one hundred players a week.
"At Boston I visited several houses in connec-
tion with the firm of J. & J. Goddard, and also
some of the retail depots (not shops, please),
where I found the windows set out very attract-
ively, in some a turntable was fixed, upon which
was a piano that revolved, showing the interior
and back portions, an attraction that well repaid
the outlay.
"In Worcester I visited more houses on behalf
of my firm, and had the pleasure of being taken
over to the Simplex player factory by the presi-
dent of the company, Theodore Brown. Here I
was much interested in seeing many experiments
in hand for improving this well-known player,
and saw many novelties on the way that will soon
be in the hands of Mr. Heiden-Heimer, the agent
in this country."
"You mentioned Rochester as one of your
places of call?"
"Yes! and I here found a regular 'eye-opener'
while visiting the Foster-Armstrong factory—or
rather factories—known in the States as 'The
Great Four.' The origin of this title is tnat there
were four large makers cutting each other in
price, and eventually they amalgamated. Fancy
an output of 20,000 pianos per annum, an average
of 386 per week, and this is not the largest
piano factory in the States. The figures were a
revelation to me. I was much interested in the
splendid system of costs in vogue here; they can
tell to a nicety what each piano costs. Another
feature was the specializing. Even the 'finishing'
is divided into three or four branches. This firm
was astounded at the low prices at which our
cheap pianos are sold in our country, and queried
the policy of turning out such articles. The
cheapest 'Foster-Armstrong' pianos were about-
double the price of our low-priced instruments."
Mr. Brinsmead traveled some eight thousand
miles in thirty-two days—a record, by the way,
worthy of a full-fledged Yankee. His mother, who
was visiting Reginald Brinsmead at Riverside,
Cal., returned home to London with him.
It was stated in usually well-informed quarters
in Wall Street Thursday that the presidents and
traffic officers of the trunk lines east of Chicago
have finally agreed to an advance in freight
rates both as regards class and commodity
freight. Schedules of new rates are being pre-
pared in accordance with the ideas of the trunk
line people, upon which an agreement has already
been made. It is expected that these schedules
will be filed within a few weeks. It is said that
the advance in class rates will amount to from
10 to 12y 2 per cent. There is no intention of
making a sweeping advance in commodity rates,
but the price of transporting a large line of com-
modity freight under the new schedules will be
increased.
Railroad officers think that the advances will
be scarcely noticed by the general public, but
they will considerably increase the revenues of
the railroads. For instance, it is understood that
under the new schedules the revenue of the Penn-
sylvania will be increased $3,000,000 a year. It
is said that one of the foremost men in bringing
about the rate advance was F. B. Underwood.
PHILIP WERLEIN^ FOR MAYOR.
The Prominent Piano Man of New Orleans May
be So Honored.
According to reports from New Orleans, La.,
there is a strong probability that Philip Werlein,
the prominent music dealer of that city, will be
nominated for Mayor of the city on the Demo-
cratic ticket, a number of the ward leaders being
in favor of him. Mr. Werlein is quite active in
local politics, and is a member of the State Cen-
tral Committee.
COMPLAIN OF RAILROAD SERVICE.
The piano houses of Denver, Col., have many
complaints to make regarding the railroad serv-
ice in that section and the excessive rates
charged. The Columbine Music Co. recently or-
dered a carload of Lester pianos, which had been
sent by mistake to Pueblo, Col., forwarded to Salt
Lake City. The railroad notified them that the
pianos had left Pueblo, and shortly after sent in
a bill for $125 for storing the pianos in Pueblo.
The music company will fight the case in court.
THE HARDMAN IN LOUISVILLE.
Fred. W. Lohr, traveler for Hardman, Peck &
Co., recently placed the agency for his line with
the Crippen-Allen Co., Louisville, Ky., who al-
ready handle a very strong line of pianos.
KIMBALL PIANO FOR STOCKHOLM.
Andrews, Schubert & Co., Milwaukee, Wis.,
recently shipped a Kimball piano to Stockholm,
Sweden, having sold the instrument to S. Bdling,
chief engineer of the Atlas Machine Co., of that
city. The piano was cased in tinfoil and se-
curely packed to stand the long and hard trip.
Rudolf Dolge, son of Alfred Dolge, and who,
with a number of prominent piano men, is in-
terested in the concession held by the Orinoco
Co. in Venezuela, and which has resulted in some
differences with the authorities of that country,
arrived in New York on the steamship "Zulia"
Tuesday. It is his intention to give the Presi-
dent and Congress all the information he has
gathered about the disagreement between his
company and the authorities of that country.
Chatting of the fight which the Orinoco Co. is
making for the validity of its concessions Mr.
Dolge said:
"The Orinoco Corporation since 1901 is the ex-
clusive legal owner of the famous Fitzgerald con-
cession, which embraces a very valuable grant of
8,000,000 acres of rich mineral and timber lands
in the Orinoco Delta. Its rights under the Fitz-
gerald contract were recognized by the interna-
tional tribunal which passed upon that question
in 1903, as well as in 1906 by the Venezuelan
Federal and Cassation Court, which is the high-
est court of that country.
"In spite of this recognition and of the fact
that the Orinoco Corporation and its predecessor
companies have at all times strictly complied
with the letter and spirit of Venezuelan law and
international law, a certain powerful political
clique has placed practically insurmountable diffi-
culties in the way of the Orinoco Corporation,
which has firmly resisted these efforts at every
step and has appealed to President Castro and his
Ministers, and also petitioned the last Vene-
zuelan Congress. It has always been ready to
have its rights tested in the courts, but all its
conciliatory efforts have been disregarded and
its rights overridden.
"Therefore, no other remedy remained for the
Orinoco Corporation but to appeal to its own
Government for help. It has submitted a state-
ment of the facts to the Department of State
which referred it to the Senate. Congress now
has the matter under consideration, and I feel
confident that an equitable and satisfactory ad-
justment of the company's difficulties will be
brought about."
MICHAEL SONNENBERG'S WILL.
The will of the late Michael Sonnenberg, of
New Haven, Conn., was filed for probate last
week. Included in the bequests was $2,000 to
Mrs. Effie Metzger, his sister; $5,000 to Louis M.
S. Sonnenberg, a son; $500 to the New Haven
Orphan Asylum, and the balance to be held in
trust, one-half of the income to go to the widow
and the other half to the children. The estate
has been estimated at $100,000 to $150,000.
A Stieff piano has been donated to the Amer-
ican Salvation Army Home, Harrisburg, Pa., by
the manufacturers through their local branch.
Hern & McDonald are a new firm of piano
dealers In the Rand Block, Taunton, Mass.