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THE
ffUJIC TIRADE
VOL. XLVII. No. 8. Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at I Madison Ave., New York, August 22,1908.
ABOUT GOOD AND BAD TUNERS.
Extract from an Excellent Article in the Phila-
delphia Record Which Must Help the Trade.
When writing about pianos the daily papers
invariably publish a lot of "trash." But there
are exceptions. Once in a while some member of
the trade is good enough to supply them with
information which is worth reading, and is help-
ful to the industry as a whole. For instance,
the Philadelphia Record of recent date in giving
advice to readers about "keeping the piano
healthy," made some excellent suggestions upon
the care, repairing and tuning of the piano,
which is good reading. The reference to the
tuner and his importance is very apt, so much
so that we take the liberty of reprinting it for
the benefit of dealers who should get their local
papers to insert a somewhat similar story. If
daily papers or dealers would give such advice as
this, much of the damage done to pianos by
itinerant tuners would be avoided:
"Now we come to the tuner—a most impor-
tant gentleman. Much depends on him—he can
tune your piano so that it is a perpetual joy
to you, and next to no expense; he can fool with
it, spoil it, and cost you as much as you are fool
enough to pay.
"There ought to be a college of tuners, and no
one should be allowed to meddle with pianos pro-
fessionally without a certificate. More pianos
have been ruined by incompetent tuners than
from any other cause I know of.
"Out-of-work singers, music-shop assistants,
teachers without pupils, impecunious organists—
all and sundry add to their incomes by 'tuning,'
and they are mostly humbugs.
"They mess and tool with a piano until it is
approximately in tune; when they have done
with it they take their money, a comparatively
small amount, to be sure, but they have taken ten
times as much out of the piano's value. Tuning
takes years to learn; it is an art, and a fine
tuner is worth his weight in gold.
"A good tuner is not easy to find. The only
safe plan is to take the advice of the pianomaker,
and when you have got your man, never change
him. He will charge you a fixed price for each
visit; if you engage him to come twelve times a
year—once a month—it comes cheaper, and the
money will be doubly well spent. If you do not
care to spend so much, at any rate, never put off
sending for him a day after the instrument
sounds in the slightest degree out of tune."
FEWER IDLE FREIGHT CARS.
A
Decrease
I
of 27,059 Reported for the Last
Fortnight.
The number of idle freight cars in the Uni'.ed
States and Canada on August 5, as reported in
The Fortnightly Bulletin of the American Rail-
way Association, is now 281,681. compared with
308,630 .on July 22, the date of the previous re-
port, which is a decrease of 27,050. The idle cars
are now at the lowest figure since the end of
last. year. Of the cars which have been taken
out of the idle list, 21,195 are coal and gondola
cars, and 6,505 box cars. There has been an addi-
tion of about 1,000 cars to the railroad's surplus
of this class of equipment.
Reports from the various roads of an increase
of about 5,000 cars on the damaged list leave a
net improvement of approximately 22,000 cars in
actual use. The improvement in cars in use is
chiefly among the roads operating in New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiaua and
Michigan, which are centers of manufacturing ac-
tivity. The surplus cars increased in the upper
Missouri Valley, the Western Gulf States, and in
the Southern States east of the Mississippi.
HENDERSON FOR CONGRESS.
The Mayor of Ann Arbor and General Manager
of the Ann Arbor Organ Co. Will be Nom-
inated for Congress on Democratic Ticket.
(Special to The Review.)
Ann Arbor, Mich., August 17, 1908.
It is now pretty well settled in political circles
that James C. Henderson, mayor of this city, and
general manager of the Ann Arbor Organ Co.,
.1. C. HNNIJEltSON.
will be a candidate for nomination for Congress
from the second district on the Democratic ticket
to oppose Charles Townsend, of Jackson. For
some time the friends of Mayor Henderson have
urged that he be a candidate for this office, but
not till this afternoon would he consent. The
Washtenaw Post, a German paper, a few days
ago came out with an article urging the mayor to
allow his name to be used, asserting sentiment
in Washtenaw county is strong against a third
term for Governor Warner and that there is a
like sentiment against Congressman Townsend
for a fourth term.
When seen by the reporter of a local paper,
Mayor Henderson said: "The district is largely
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
Republican, but from what I can learn in the
business world the conditions are now ripe for a
Democratic victory in this district."
Mayor Henderson is the head of the largest
manufacturing concern in Ann Arbor, and was
elected mayor in 1907 by the largest majority
given a mayor of this city in ten years.
"CLASS" AND "COMMODITY" RATES.
A Puzzling Distinction in an Official Statement
as to Higher Freight Charges.
To the average man, a statement made by
President McCrea, of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
this week, was puzzling. Mr. McCrea, in a letter
to the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, declared
that no movement is planned among the rail-
roads in the Central Freight, Trunk Line, and
New England territory to make a general in-
crease in freight rates, the only consideration
thus far having been given to an advance in the
"class rates." Mr. McCrea further stated that
increases in commodity rates have been made in
the last two or three years, adding that business
had not suffered therefrom nor had "substantial
complaints" been made because of such advances.
What are "class rates" and "commodity rates"?
The answer given to this question by the freight
agent of one of the large eastern railroads should
be of interest. He said:
"All commodities are put into classes by the
freight tariffs of the railroads. There are six
such classes, graded and rated according to bulk,
value, etc., and covering all articles shipped on
the railroads of the East. But for various rea-
sons, certain commodities are taken by the rail-
roads out of the class to which they have been
originally assigned and put under what is called
a 'commodity rate,' which is lower than the class
rate would be.
"Sometimes this is done to start a movement
in the particular commodity thus treated, and
various other reasons also enter into it. The
present list of commodity rates on my road is a
long one, and includes some of the most impor-
tant articles moved by us, such as iron and steel
products, brick, petroleum, limestone, sand, waste
paper, etc. This list is constantly changing, and
it gives plenty of work to the freight agents of
the country in keeping up with these changes
as they are announced by the railroads in supple-
mental tariff sheets."
This explanation leaves the mystery unsolved,
however, as to how far Mr. McCrea's qualifica-
tions should be reassuring to the shipper.
GOFF-BRUNSON CO. INCORPORATES.
The Goff-Brunson Music Co., Selma, Ala., have
incorporated with a capital of $10,000, all paid
in, to deal in pianos, organs and musical mer-
chandise. The officers are: J. C. Brunson, presi-
dent, treasurer and general manager; J. W. Goff,
vice-president and secretary, and F. L. Goff, sec-
ond vice-president.
The piano houses of Atlanta, Ga., are planning
elaborate window displays and decorations for
the period of the State Fair, held under the
auspices of the Farmers' Union in October.