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TH
MUSIC TRADE
only the most superficial study to" talking machines, who is not in
sympathy with it, knows nothing about it and talks depreciatingly
of it, even when asked by a customer about its merits.
Sound-proof rooms should be a feature of the talking machine
store, where records can be listened to -without interference to other
lines o'f business. It should be understood that the record end is a
very profitable one. The sale of records bear the same relation to
the talking machine that music rolls do to the piano player, only
they are purchased in larger quantities and often at higher prices.
P
IANO manufacturers who conduct an interstate business will
be interested in the recent decision of the Supreme Court
that a labor union boycott against a manufacturer who manufac-
tures go'ods and disposes of them in interstate commerce is against
the Sherman anti-trust law. That such a boycott is a combination
or conspiracy in restraint of interstate commerce, abundantly justi-
fies the warning repeatedly given that the law was broad enough to
include the combinations and conspiracies of labor as well as capital.
The boycott, whether it be a boycott by employers or by
employes, has long been discountenanced and denounced by those
who seek the general good and condemn general evil, whether it
be evil of employers Or employes. And the illegality of the boycott
has been pronounced by State courts. In a way, therefore, public
opinion has been prepared for this federal view, though now that it
comes it marks a new era, a new order, in the status of trade union-
ism. If the misdeeds and machinations of Organized labor whenever
they are directed against a manufacturer who sells his goods in
interstate commerce can be arrested and controlled by the federal
government, clearly the grip of public authority is so strong that
the power which puffeth up high-handed combination must shrink
to much humbler proportions.
The decision apparently establishes a most valuable principle—
that mere acts of this kind, by whomsoever performed, may be
interdicted by the general government. May we not say that boy-
cotts by combinations of every kind if they restrain interstate com-
merce may be prohibited, that the boycotts of trusts and of labor
organization are within federal control? The trust will no longer
have power to say to the local dealers: "You must buy all your
goods of us. Otherwise you shall have none of our goods v they
will all be given to your rival." It will be prohibited from boycot-
ting. And if boycotting, whether by capital or by labor, can be
reached, the way seems clear for the termination of other and
equally pernicious abuses in which both indulge. From this point
of view the decision is to be warmly welcomed.
I
N the death of James C. Miller the piano industry has lost the
influence of a high-minded gentleman whose entire business life
had been devoted to splendid business ideals. He well sustained
the dignity of the trade to an eminent degree. The influence of
men of character in any industry is considerable and when one
builds up he is doing infinitely more for the trade or profession in
which he is engaged than the man who tears down or drags certain
cherished ideals in the dust.
James C. Miller, after completing his education, devoted all
of his energies to the furtherance of the business founded by his
father. There has always been loyalty among the "Miller boys,"
as they are termed. The first break occurred some years ago when
Walter Miller's death occurred. Now the family circle is again
saddened by the sudden taking away of another talented member.
The "Miller boys" have always stood shoulder to shoulder and
another such an illustration of five brothers pulling together for
many years in the upbuilding of the business founded by their
father cannot be found in this or any other industry. The brothers
who remain, although saddened by their great loss, are inspired by
the splendid records made by those who have gone, and the influence
o'f James C. Miller will long be felt not only by those who were
closely bound to him by ties of blood and affection, but by the
entire trade with which he was identified and of which he was a dis-
tinguished member.
Mr. Miller was modest, courteous, low-voiced and tactful. H e
was an ideal type of the modern American business man who never
for once forgot his duties to his family and to his profession. As
a result perhaps of the over-strenuous and earnest work of such
men they are cut o'ff by the grim Reaper in the very prime of life,
when it seems to us all that they should have many years of use-
fulness before the breaking of the earthly strand.
REVIEW
Not to-morrow—but now.
Somehow or other "near-truth" doesn't wear very well.
Luck seldom turns of its own accord.
It must be pried over.
Don't sway too far back in any direction. Just keep your balance.
Substitutes are generally gold bricks that have to be sold quickly.
We find that the man who has really good sense invariably agrees
with our own opinion.
Don't follow—be original.
can tell what to do next.
The world is waiting for the man who
Usually the man with something to sell smiles more pleasantly than
the man with something to buy.
The more difficult the undertaking, the more worthy the effort and
the more glorious the achievement.
The man who works his way up to the top manages to get a better
hold than the man who is shoved up.
Usually a man who is putting up a job on somebody else forgets to
look behind to see who is putting up a job on him.
TO BEGIN WITH.—"Now, my children, what is an absolute neces-
sity for family prayers?"
Boy—A family.
JUDGING BY HAIR.—Patience—Don't you think great pianists are
born?
Patrice—Well, I don't believe any child is born with as much hair as
a pianist has to have!—Yonkers Statesman.
MERELY A SUGGESTION.—Pat (to farmer)—I say, boss, do you
know what we used to do when there was no pasture for the cows?
Farmer—No.
Pat.—Well, we used to put a pair of green goggles on the cows and
make them eat shavings—but the milk had the taste of antique furniture.
FULFILLING ITS MISSION.—The stranger from Damascus, who
never had been in Rhodes before, was looking at the great Colossus.
"I wonder what that thing is. for?" he said.
"That's what it's for,"explained one of the natives. "You guessed it
the first time."
Casually remarking that there were six other wonders in the world
without counting the Singer Building, he strolled away and left the
stranger still wondering.
CRUSHED.—Pale and dejected, he took his seat by her.
With her womanly sympathy, she asked him what was the matter.
"I'm crushed," he said sadly, "completely crushed!''
She looked at him with inquiring anxiety.
"Is it because of what I said last time?" she asked. "You know your
proposal was so sudden and
"
He shook his head. "It isn't that," he said. "It was that awful jam
in the subway!"—February Young's Magazine.
NEARING THE END.—Joe Lincoln, whose Cape Cod folks are well-
known characters, recently attended a lecture. When asked how he liked
it, he related this little story:
A stranger entered a church in the middle of the sermon and seated
himself in the back pew. After a while he began to fidget. Leaning over
to the white-haired man at his side, evidently an old member of the con-
gregation, he whispered:
"How long has he been preaching?"
"Thirty or forty years, I think," the old man answered. "I don't
know exactly."
"I'll stay, then," decided the stranger. "He must be nearly done."—
Everybody's Magazine.
HOW THE NEWS SPREAD.—New Arrival at the Suburban Tavern
—Part of the roof of the old brewery in the city fell in a while ago and
hurt three men.
First Lounger to Second—Hear that? ' Old brewery in th' city just
fell in an' nearly killed three men.
Second Lounger to Third—Gosh! Th' old brewery down in th' city
just tumbled down an' killed three men.
Third Lounger to Fourth—Gee whiz! Th' old brewery in th' city's
collapsed an' squashed four men t' death.
When the first newspaper containing the correct account of the acci-
dent reached them, however, the most they could make out of it was
only one man hurt,