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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Appreciate Value of Technical Instruction.
I
NCREASED interest is being manifested in the school for in-
struction in player-piano mechanism and repair worle which is
being conducted in the Murray Hill Evening Trade School, in this
city. As before remarked in these columns, some of the New York
manufacturers have been most liberal in their support of the enter-
prise by supplying models of player actions and the necessary
equipment, so that the members of the class may be enabled to get
the fullest instruction regarding the construction of the various
players and go forth at the end of the season equipped with a proper
understanding of the mechanism of the player.
Out-of-town manufacturers who have visited the school are not
only impressed, but enthusiastic over the work that is being ac-
complished and the results that will accrue through the inculcation
of a knowledge of the construction and operation of the various
pneumatic actions used in player-pianos.
The instructions are particularly valuable to tuners, many of
whom have found the repair of player mechanism something quite
beyond them because of their lack of knowledge. As a result the
present class at the Murray Hill Evening Trade School is com-
posed very largely of tuners, and there are a great many of them
on the waiting list. This is perfectly natural, for with the growth
in popularity of the player-piano, the tuner is in touch with these
instruments every day, and it is most essential that he should be
not merely a master of the art of tuning, but of the various player
mechanisms with which he comes in contact.
The admirable work that is now being accomplished by this
class is not only of benefit to those who have the privilege of attend-
ing, but it has a much wider significance. -If the player-piano is
to be a success it must be cared for after it is sold by men of intelli-
gence, for the reputation of many players has been injured by in-
competent tuners belittling the instrument, because some minor
defect in the player mechanism mystified them.
There is no question to-elay of greater interest to the player
manufacturer than the care and maintenance of the player-piano
after it is sold, and it will continue to be a topic of vital importance
for some years to come. As a matter of fact, there is no reason
in the world why player manufacturers should not insist, as a con-
dition of granting the agency for their line to any dealer, that the
man who has to look after these instruments on the outside or in
the wareroom, shall be duly qualified by a course of instruction in a
school similar to that conducted at present in New York, or by
instruction in a player factory.
If this be impracticable it will be economical for each player
factory to employ a corps of traveling experts to visit dealers, and
look after the instruments of their make which are sold in the
dealers' territory.
A still better plan would it be to have a technical school, con-
ducted somewhat along the same lines as the Murray Hill Evening
Trade School, or perhaps on some broader plan, to be established
at some central point in the West, like Chicago, where instruction
in the construction and repair of the player might be given free to
all who would come and ask for it, and where specimens of every
pneumatic action now on the market may be studied.
In this connection it is interesting to note that A. G. Gulbransen,
of the Gulbransen-Dickinson Co., Chicago, 111., who recently visited
the Murray Hill Evening Trade School, expressed the opinion,
as recorded in The Review, that he would advocate the establish-
ment of such a school in Chicago, and believed that such work
should have the support of every piano and piano player manufac-
turer and dealer in the country.
This is the right spirit. We should at least have two or three
schools of instruction in this country established at central points
where tuners, and, better still, salesmen, may be enabled to study
the various player mechanisms, so that any problems that arise in
regard to repair or constructive work may be adjusted with a com-
plete knowledge of the requirements.
The opinion prevails that many tuners are antagonistic to the
player-piano—that they are opposed to the acquirement of player
knowledge.
As a matter of fact this is not true.
We know this to be the case, because from the very earliest
days of player construction this office has given special attention to
the production of technical literature regarding the construction, care
and operation of the player-piano. The thousands of tuners who
have purchased these works, and who have written making inquiries
for new publications along this line, indicate how keen is their
interest and desire to familiarize themselves with the various
mechanisms now on the market.
If the Chicago manufacturers absorb the enthusiasm of Mr.
Gulbransen and establish a school either under their own auspices,
or that of the Board of Education in Chicago, where instruction
in the construction and repair of the player may be taught, it will
do much to establish a better appreciation of the merits of the
player-piano throughout the West. It will equip the tuners and
others interested in these instruments to handle all problems that
may arise. And in conjunction with the great work that is now
being done in New York it will certainly mean much for the player
business as a whole.
As we said before, this is not a local question, but one of
national importance for the entire industry. The increased de-
mand for player-pianos necessitates a thorough knowledge on the
part of tuners and other workmen associated with the warerooms
of the constructive features of the instruments so that they may be
able to solve all repair problems without difficulty.
Instalment Legislation in New York State.
I
N the various State legislatures throughout the country there
seems to be a desire prevalent to regulate sales made on in-
stalments to a point that is destined to work a serious injury to
those engaged in business in such industries as the piano, furniture,
book anel other trades where business is done very largely on the
instalment basis.
In. Ohio, the piano merchants are working strenuously against
instalment restrictions on the part of the legislators, and in New
York State there are bills before the Senate which, if passed, make
it impossible for instalment sales to be made with any degree of
safety to piano merchants. As a matter of fact there are in all
some four bills before the New York Legislature, all bearing upon
the regulation of the instalment business.
Two of the most dangerous bills, which call for immediate
consideration of the piano merchants of New York State, are the
bills Nos. I 6 I and 1322. The first provides that no instalment
seller can foreclose a lien after fifty per cent, of the purchase has
been paid.
The second bill provides that \i repossession is made under
conditional sales contract eighty per cent, of the money paid must
be refunded, a provision which, if enforced, would mean the
ruination of all merchants selling on instalments.
These bills are manifestly unfair on the very face of them, and
we are surprised that they should receive serious consideration from
the legislature; yet year after year bills of this kind are introduced
in the interest of the "peepul" with the desire apparently to harass
the business man.
Fortunately those interested in the instalment business in
the State and especially the furniture and piano men are recog-
nizing the dangerous character of the bills and are taking action
to combat them.
The members of the New York Piano Manufacturers' Associa-
tion as well as the piano manufacturers and dealers not members
of that organization, will be strongly represented by commit-
tees "at the hearings on the bills to be held at an early date in Albany
and it is confidently expected that the measures will be defeated
when the strong opposition to their passage is realized by the
legislators.