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FEBRUARY 7,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1920
THREE FIRMS TO CONTROMVELTE REPRODUCING PATENTS
M. Welte & Sons, Amphion Piano Player Co. and Auto Pneumatic Action Co. Consummate
Important Arrangements—New Music Roll Factory Acquired by Kohler Industries—Am-
phion Co. Has New Action to Be Marketed—Several Existing Patent Deficiencies Adjusted
An arrangement of vast importance to the
entire piano industry was consummated this
week between George W. Gittins, president of
M. Welte & Sons., Inc.; Frank E. Wade, presi-
dent of the Amphion Piano Player Co., of Syra-
cuse, N. Y., and Richard W. Lawrence, of the
Kohler Industries.
The arrangement was completed after several
months of negotiations and investigations and
after many conferences attended by representa-
tives and attorneys of the concerns involved.
The arrangement is based upon the Welte
patents on reproducing player actions, which are
believed to cover broadly every type of repro-
ducing player action now in use. These above
three interests will stand hereafter as the con-
trolling licensees under the patents.
The music rolls, for the reproducing player-
pianos and actions made by these parties will
be cut from the great Welte library, which in-
cludes thousands of records made from the
playing of the world's famous artists, such as
1'aderewski, Hofmann, De Pachmann, Ganz,
Lhevinne, Busoni, Debussy.
The Auto Pneumatic Action Co., New York,
William J. Keeley, president, which makes the
Auto de Luxe Welte Mignon reproducing ac-
tion, comes into the arrangement on behalf of
the Kohler Industries. This company will short-
ly greatly enlarge its facilities for manufacturing
reproducing player actions.
The Kohler Industries have acquired from M.
Welte & Sons a Welte Mignon recorder, upon
which many of the greatest pianists of the
world have recorded their playing, and in ad-
dition a complete music cutting plant for the
manufacture of rolls to be played upon the Auto
de Luxe Welte Mignon player action. The Kohler
Industries have leased an entirely new plant
for this branch of music roll manufacture, which
is located at Broadway, Seventy-fifth street and
Amsterdam avenue, a remarkably convenient lo-
cation.
The Amphion Piano Player Co., under the
new arrangement, has ready for the market a
reproducing player action developed by its in-
ventor, Lewis B. Doman.
The American Piano Co. has adjusted its dif-
ferences with M. Welte & Sons with respect to
the Ampico structure and admits the validity of
the Welte Bockisch patents.
INDUSTRIAL CENSUS ON MARCH 1
Complete Facts to Be Gathered by Government
Covering Nation's Manufacturing Resources
—Biennial Census Planned for Future
WASHINGTON, D. C, February 2.—Enumera-
tion of the nation's industries, including manu-
facturing plants, mines, quarries, oil and gas
wells, forestry and forests products will start
March 1, it was announced to-day by Director
of Census Sam L. Rogers.
PUBLISHERS FORM COMPANY TO CONTROL WORD RIGHTS
George H. Bliss Appointed General Manager of New Corporation, Which Will Act as a Clear-
ing House for the Word Rights Held by a Number of Prominent Music Publishers
During the past few months there have been
countless rumors to the effect that a number
of music publishers had pooled their interests
and were about to enter the music roll manufac-
turing field in order that they might reap the
profits from the manufacture of mechanical re-
productions as well as from the sales of the
sheet music.
This week came the big announcement sup-
porting the rumors to a certain extent, to the
effect that seven of the leading publishers of
sheet music had formed the Consolidated Mu-
sic Corp., incorporated under the laws of Dela-
ware with liberal capital stock, with a view to
controlling, through one central office, and one
central organization, the word rights to their
songs for mechanical reproduction purposes.
George H. ("Jack") Bliss, who recently re-
signed as general manager in Eastern territory
for the Q R S Co., and who has spent a life-
time in the music roll field, has been appointed
general manager and vice-president of the new
corporation and will shortly open offices in the
mid-town section of New York, where arrange-
ments may be made by the various music roll
manufacturers for the use of the words of the
songs controlled by the publishers interested in
the new project and who include Leo Feist,
Inc., M. Witmark & Sons,. T. B. Harms & Fran-
cis, Day & Hunter, Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.,
Irving Berlin, Inc., Waterson, Berlin & Snyder,
all of New York, and Forster the Music Pub-
lisher, of Chicago.
The new corporation will not manufacture
rolls, neither will it be the plan to release word
rights to certain manufacturers and refuse them
arbitrarily to others. The pooling of the pub-
lishers' interests follows several attempts, at
meetings held in New York during the past
couple of years, to reach an agreement between
the publishers and the roll men in the matter of
royalties for the use of words. By having
Mr. Bliss handle this end of their business the
publishers will be relieved of an important de-
tail and feel that the plan will work out to the
gc-neral satisfaction of all concerned.
The publishers feel particularly gratified to
have been able to secure the services of Mr.
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Mfg. Co., of New
York, has acknowledged the validity of the
Welte patents and has taken a license to use
these important inventions in the particular
combination instruments made by it.
Backed by the millions of capital invested in
the companies going into this arrangement, it
is believed that the reproducing player-piano
will be shortly placed on such a basis as will
make the same the standard of the industry.
No effort will be spared to make the reproducing
player-piano as popular in homes as the phono-
graph is to-day.
Not only will this enterprise be backed by
the present great Welte library of upward of
four thousand master records of the playing of
great European and American pianists, but ar-
rangements have been and will be entered into
with the great artists of the day to produce •
further records.
Louis W. Southgate, patent counsel for the
Kohler Industries, has been retained to con-
serve and defend the important patent rights
involved in the arrangement, which runs until
1938.
For the purpose of this census the country
has been divided into 589 districts, and 1,200
men will be needed to make the count. A force
of ninety-eight special agents from the Wash-
ington office will be in charge of the head-
quarters in the various States.
Complete statistics covering the industries
are to be gathered and these will show accu-
rately the economic situation of the country.
Figures on the numbers of workers employed
and hours and wages will be compiled. There
are about 400,000 manufacturing plants listed by
the Census Bureau.
Men only will be employed to take industrial
census, the director stated, and payment will
be made on the basis of $1 for each plant
enumerated. Former soldiers, sailors and ma-
rines will be given the preference for this
work.
Hereafter the industrial census will be taken
every two years, Mr. Rogers said, instead of
only at the time of the decennial population
ccunt.
WANAMAKER'S HISTORIC TABLEAUX
Chickering Ampico and Original Jenny Lind
Piano Featured in Historic Tableaux in Wana-
maker Auditorium During Music Week
Among the interesting and unusual Music
Week features were the "Tableaux Historiques
de Musicque," given in the auditorium of the
Wanamaker store each afternoon during the
week. There were three tableaux in the series,
the first showing the boy, Mozart, playing at
Court on an old eighteenth century spinet; the
second, a nineteenth century square piano in
Jenny Lind's music room, the original Chick-
ering piano, made for Jenny Lind, being used
in the tableau, and the third, the music room of
to-day with a handsome Chickering Ampico re-
producing piano installed therein.
Louise Bennett, the soprano, appeared as
Jenny Lind, with Claire Rivers as accompanist,
and 1 an eight-year-old prodigy, Jerome Rappa-
port, appeared in the role of Mozart. Dancing
by Lindley Lenton and Beatrice Squires was
also made a part of the program that served
to pack the Wanamaker auditorium at every
performance. The tableaux were liberally ad-
vertised in the daily papers throughout the week.
George H. Bliss
Bliss, whose long connection with the music
roll game enables him to understand the re-
quirements and desires of its members. The
new arrangement will make available for use
on word rolls the works of publishers who,
heretofore, refused to grant these rights under
anv conditions.
PIANOS
BURSTING PIPEJFLOODS WINDOW
WATERBURY, CONN., February 2.—Many gallons
of water poured into the store of Fulton-Driggs
& Smith recently when one of the pipes con-
necting the sprinkler system burst. The break
occurred directly over the display window, but
quick work on the part of the sales force pre-
vented much damage to the pianos on display.
ORGANS
E5TEY PIAND COMPANY NEW YDRK CITY
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