Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1908 Vol. 46 N. 23

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
BALTIMORE TRADE OUIET.
Normal Conditions Expected After Election—
New Electric Lines to Help Business—Wm.
Knabe & Co. News—Stieff Pianos for New
England
Conservatory—Other
Interesting
Items.
(Special to The Review.)
MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
makes a total of 146 pianos which this house has
shipped to that institution since September, 1905.
Manager Williams will spend several days this
week on a business trip, winding up in New
York, where he will attend the conventions of
the manufacturers and dealers. G. W. Stieff will
also be present.
Manager Emil Levy, of the Gilbert Smith
Piano Co., local agents for the Kimball and
Kranich & Bach pianos, was one of the interesting
entertainers at the reorganized Journalists'Club's
first house warming in their new house, 522
North Charles street, last Wednesday evening.
J. P. Caulfield, of the firm of J. P. Caulfield &
Co., agents for the Sohmer, Stultz & Bauer, Pease
and other pianos, and the Mason & Hamlin
organs, has just returned from a business trip.
The announcement was made at Sanders &
Stayman, that the sales of Weber pianos have
been very satisfactory.
This firm, as well as a number of others
throughout the city, started their summer sched-
ule to-day of closing at 5 o'clock in the evening
on week days and at 1 o'clock on Saturday after-
neons.
Baltimore, Md., June 1, 1908.
The quietness which has characterized the
condition of the trade in this city for the last
two weeks of May is still in evidence. The
dealers, in fact, do not look for any material
boom now until after the warm weather passes.
They predict the usual betterment of trade dur-
ing the first part of the fall, but the real return
to normal conditions is not anticipated until
after the Presidential election.
It is the earnest belief of some of the dealers
that the new electric line between Baltimore and
Washington and Annapolis will eventually prove
a good thing for the trade in this city. Already
many more visitors from the two cities and
points along the line are noticed in Baltimore
than heretofore, and many of them have made it
a point to visit the piano stores, as well as the
other business houses here. The dealers believe
ENGELHARDT AMBASSADORS
that many of these visitors, and more of them Make Gcod Reports—O. L. Wright Visited
before long, will become buyers direct at the
Canada—Mr. Peck Toured Cuba and the
local stores.
South—Messrs. Engelhardt at Convention.
It was stated at William Knabe & Co.'s that
O. L. Wright and Ben C. Peck, who so ably
business, both wholesale and retail, has been fair
represent F. Engelhardt & Sons, 47th street and
for the week. Charles Keidel, Jr., manager of
the company, has taken advantage of the last Fifth avenue, returned Monday last from a six
few balmy days by going on a fishing trip along weeks' trip and both were well satisfied with
the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. His friends their pilgrimages. Mr. Wright toured Canada,
expect him to return in a few days rather sun- the Middle West, and en route home the impor-
tant points in the Empire State. Mr. Peck made
burnt and with a big catch of the finny tribe.
Charles McHenry, head salesman for the his second trip through Cuba and the South, and
Knabe house, has returned from Onancock, Va., came back via Cincinnati, Cleveland and Key-
and other points in Maryland after having com- stone State, and both are incidentally ready for
the national conventions.
pleted a most successful business trip.
F. Engelhardt and Walter L. Engelhardt will
Manager J. H. Williams, of the Charles M.
leave St. Johnsville, N. Y., Sunday morning in
Stieff concern, reports the sale of a carload of
Stieff pianos during the week to the New Eng- their automobile for New York, and expect to
land Conservatory of Music at Boston, Mass. This arrive in time for the dealers' convention, which
convenes Monday morning, June 8, at 9 o'clock.
It will be a record trip. The firm will have two
touring cars in commission during the dealers'
conclave.
BEROEN TROOP CELEBRATES
Memorial Day by Participating in Notable
Events—Well
Known
Piano
Men Are
Members of This Organization.
Bergen Troop, of which Henry Nickel, of Wes-
sell, Nickel & Gross is captain, and Charles
Mehlin, of Paul G. Mehlin Sons, is quartermaster-
lieutenant, took an important part in the Memo-
rial Day parade at Hackensack, N. J., 30th ult.
The troop was escort to Major Engel, of the
National Guard, at both the unveiling of two guns
in Hackensack Square, and in the parade which
followed. The guns noted were relics of the
Revolutionary war and were presented to the
Hackensack municipality by the United States
government. Following memorial services, Ber-
gen Troop were guests of Major Engel and staff
at a dinner in the Fifth Regiment Armory.
Bergen Troop is one of the strongest and best
equipped organizations in the State of New Jer-
sey, and both Captain Nickel and Lieutenant
Mehlin are extremely proud of its record.
STRIKES HURT PIANO TRADE.
The piano houses of Cleveland, O., as well as
all other business interests, have suffered greatly
through the prolonged and violent strike of the
street railway men in that city. Only those com-
pelled by actual necessity to do so ride on the
cars, and it is next to impossible to get prospects
from outlying districts into the stores. The
Bailey Co., whose piano department is in charge
of B. B. Goodman, solved the problem by sending
automobiles for prospects, thus making a number
of good sales. Other dealers have also adopted
this idea, and find it pays.
C. A. Krahmer has opened a new music store
in Fairmont, Minn.
^
Of Interest to Visiting Dealers
A cordial invitation is extended to visiting dealers to call at the Behning piano factory
and inspect there the
BEHNING PLAYER PIANO
which is different from any other player on the market and many do not hesitate to say
it is better.
It has many individual features which can be best seen when examining and testing the
instruments. Do not overlook the examination of the Behning if you are interested in
player pianos.
The Behning factory occupies the block running from
131st to 132nd Street on Park
Avenue
and can be easily reached either by trolley, by train from the Grand Central Station
or by the "L"
Behning Piano Player Co
wmw
9
MAN UFACTURERS
Pianos and Player Pianos
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
TH
REGARDING LOWER EXPRESS RATES.
Federal Court Enjoins Indiana Railroad Com-
mission from Enforcing Reduced Rates.
A decree has been entered in the Federal Court
at Indianapolis, Ind., enjoining until final hearing
of the case, or until further orders, the members
of the' Indiana Railroad Commission from at-
tempting to enforce the reduced rates provided in
their finding against six express companies. The
commission cut the rates 10 to 12 per cent., after
an exhaustive investigation lasting several
months, of the conditions existing in the State
as to the business and rates of express com-
panies. The testimony before the commission
is contained in more than 1,300 typewritten
pages, and the commission's finding takes 52
typewritten pages. Its inquiry and its decision
have attracted attention in other States that have
sent representatives to Indianapolis to get infor-
mation concerning the express companies.
The commission had found that express com-
pany profits are unduly large, that the companies
have little or no tangible property, that profits
properly chargeable as railroad earnings are di-
verted to express companies, that there is prac-
tically no competition except that of the govern-
ment, and that rates have been practically un-
changed for years. To show how the express
companies have been able to pay immense divi-
dends and set aside unusually large surplus
funds, the commission gives information and re-
ports that indicate that these companies are con-
trolled by railroads and can monopolize the busi-
ness on certain kinds of traffic not desired by the
railroads and raise the prices to suit themselves;
that the companies agree on rates and do not
have the many great expenses borne by railroad
companies. The inquiry demonstrated that the
profits of express business in Indiana are 16
to 75 per cent., the commission says.
The six express companies—the Pacific, Wells-
Pargo, Adams, American, National and United
States—in seeking the injunction contend that
the proposed reduction in rates, as set forth, in
the finding, would prove confiscatory and tend to
take the property of the complainants without
due process of law, in violation of the Constitu-
tion of the United States.
WHY SUIT WAS LOST.
The Duluth Music Co., Duluth, Minn., are the
losers in a suit against Mary Clancy, Superior,
Wis., owing to the fact that the courts have de-
cided that being a Minnesota corporation, con-
tracts made by the company in Wisconsin do not
hold in Wisconsin.
The fact that since the suit was begun the
Duluth Music Co. have incorporated in Wisconsin
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
does not alter the status of the original suit.
The plaintiffs sued to replevin a piano which had
been sold to the defendant on a contract. George
E. Dietrich, attorney for the defendant, moved
for a verdict on the ground that the contract of
the company had no standing there, it being a
foreign corporation that had failed to comply
with the law. The case has been under advise-
ment for some time.
St. Lucia—1 case organs, $200.
Savanilla—1 case pianos and material, $350.
Singapore—7 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $325.
Southampton—12 cases organs and material,
$339.
Stockholm—5 cases organs and material, $292.
Sydney—20 cases piano players and material,
$6,000.
Tampico—1 case pianos and material, $400.
OUR FOREIGN CUSTOMERS.
Pianos and Other Musical Instruments Shipped
Abroad from the Port of New York for the
Week Just Ended—An Interesting Array of
Musical Specialties for Foreign Countries.
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, June 1, 1908.
The following were the exports of musical in-
struments and kindred lines from the port of
New York for the week just ended:
Berlin—14 cases piano players and material,
$4,200.
Buenos Ayres—5 cases piano players and ma-
terial, $1,456; 9 cases piano players and material,
$1,313; 186 pkgs. talking machines and material,
$5,529; 7 cases pianos and material, $1,214; 2
cases organs and material, $138.
Callao—2 cases music, $141; 5 cases piano
players and material, $629.
Curacao—2 cases pianos and material, $254.
Hamburg—1 case pianos and material, $500.
Havana—2 cases pianos and material, $650;
4 pkgs. talking machines and material, $100.
Havre—1 case pianos and material, $400.
Hobart—7 cases organs and material, $250.
La Paz—5 pkgs. talking machines and mate-
rial, $128.
Liverpool—12 cases organs and material, $402;
4 cases music, $265; 1 pkg. talking machines and
material, $236; 6 cases music, $647; 83 cases
organs and material, $22,499.
London—39 pkgs. talking machines and mate-
rial, $1,649; 9 cases organs and material, $990;
7 cases piano players and material, $1,950; 12
cases music, $966.
Manila—26 pkgs. talking machines and mate-
rial, $13,038.
Melbourne—5 cases pianos and material, $1,-
314; 165 pkgs. talking machines and material,
$5,100.
Montevideo—43 pkgs. talking machines and
material, $4,000.
Odessa—10 cases organs and material, $750.
Paramaribo—5 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $385.
Rio de Janeiro—8 cases music, $1,069; 1 pkg.
talking machines and material, $200.
Rotterdam—3 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $250; 4 cases organs and material, $400.
G. D. B. PRESCOTT'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY.
George D. B. Prescott, president of the Pres-
cott Piano Co., Concord, N. H., recently cele-
brated his fiftieth anniversary in the musical
instrument manufacturing business, having first
become associated with his brother, A. J. Pres-
cott, in organ manufacturing on May 6, 1858.
The organ business was the outgrowth of a
melodeon manufactory established by their father
in 1809. Mr. Prescott, while well advanced in
years, is hale and hearty, and is actively en-
gaged at present with his son in marketing the
Prescott pianos.
PREPARING FOR THE RUSH.
In anticipation of a heavy fall trade, the vari-
ous large business interests in Pittsburg, Pa.,
have notified their employes that all vacations
must be taken early in the summer, and some
even have gone so far as to state that no vaca-
tions will be allowed at all after July 15. Sev-
eral piano houses have also taken steps to have
a full staff on hand when the expected fall re-
vival materializes.
SOCIALISM IN OKLAHOMA.
The new bill just passed by the Oklahoma
Legislature providing that all wages in the State
be regulated according to the profits of the em-
ployers is viewed by the majority of business
men as a decided joke on the labor party, who
took such strenuous measures to have the bill
passed. As the new law appears, it would seem
to mean that as profits decreased so would wages
decrease proportionately. Whether, when a con-
cern can prove it is losing money, its employes
would have to work for nothing or contribute
toward the necessary expenses of the business is
a point that at present is not clearly decided
upon. The new law provides that all concerns
shall submit detailed reports of their business to
the Labor Commissioner, who is invested with
absolute power to set the scale of wages. Even
some of the laboring element are beginning to
doubt that they will be benefited in any way by
its passage, and look upon it as a sort of boom-
erang.
Winter $ Co. OUR EXHIBIT
PIANOS
AND THE
master
Player
Piano
will be found at our factory
Corner Southern Boulevard and Cast B7tb Street
and we will be glad to show it
WINTER & CO.

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