Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MAY
20, 1922
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
35
REVIEW
ACTION DEMAND IMPROVING
HOOVER PLANS LUMBER CONFERENCE
ROSEWOOD IS NOW SELDOM USED
F. A. Wessell Reports Continued Activity in
Orders for Small Grand Actions and Steady
Improvement in Upright Action Situation
Requests Comm'.ttee of Lumber Manufacturers
to Report in Washington May 22
Wood Used in the Best Piano Construction of a
Generation Ago Is Now Seldom Seen
WASHINGTON, D. C, May 13.—Following the sug-
Wessell, Nickel & Gross, New York City,
manufacturers of the Wessell, Nickel & Gross
piano action, report continued activity. F. A.
Wessell, president of the company, states that
while small grand actions continue in the
ascendancy the demand for upright actions is by
no means small. A steady increase in these de-
mands is noticeable and presages good business
ahead. Arthur L. Wessell, vice-president of the
company, is in the Middle Western territory,
from which he is sending many encouraging re-
ports.
Wessell, Nickel & Gross are concluding the
forty-eighth year of their business history. From
the very beginning Otto Wessell, father of the
present executives and his associates, laid down
business ideals upon which the marked success
of this piano action house has been built. Per-
haps the most important contributing factor was
the centering of the entire activities of the firm
upon the production of only one grade of action,
and that action the highest grade. No efforts or
expense were spared in this purpose and the
trade-mark of the company, now so familiar
wherever pianos arc sold, "The Standard of the
World," is particularly indicative of the product.
The business was started on a small but firm
basis and the continuous growth which it has
enjoyed in the forty-eight years of its exist-
ence is not only a tribute to the founders, but
to the present men at the helm, Fernando A. and
Arthur L. Wessell, who have so well carried on
and developed the business.
gestion of Secretary Hoover at the annual con-
vention of the National Lumber Manufacturers'
Association in Chicago early in April that he
would welcome the appointment of a committee
of representative lumbermen to confer with him
in Washington concerning standardization, grade
markings of lumber and other trade practices,
meetings are being arranged for the week of
May 22.
At a recent conference in Washington Secre-
tary Hoover requested that the committee of lum-
ber manufacturers report in Washington on May
22. Representatives of lumber retailers, archi-
tects and engineers and also representatives of
railway lumber users will be summoned to meet
with the committee. The conferences will prob-
ably continue throughout the entire week.
The lumber industry proposes to effect a
sweeping reorganization of its system of grades,
dimensions and their simplification that would af-
fect millions of makers, handlers and consumers
of lumber. The most novel proposal is that of
putting the industry as a whole behind the stated
quality of the product of each of its members by
branding grades on every piece of lumber.
This plan of placing identification brands on
every stick and piece of lumber arose from an
examination of the problem of diverse and con-
fusing lumber grades. As with grades in many
other industries, those of lumber have not been
standardized.
One of the interesting woods which was early
identified with the veneer industry, yet is not
frequently mentioned to-day, is rosewood, ac-
cording to Veneers in a brief disquisition on this
valuable wood. In one of the interesting printed
stories we have of the veneer-sawing plant of
Rrunnell, in the outskirts of London, a little
more than 1(X) years ago, mention is made of
sawing rosewood squares into thin, beautiful
sheets of veneer.
Rosewood was made famous in the piano in-
dustry by its use in some of the finest pianos in
the pioneer days of America. And it is still used
more for musical and scientific purposes, but it
does enter into other uses, including furniture and
sporting and athletic goods.
The wood is in some respects suggestive of ma-
hogany, but it is redder in color and it gets its
name from the fact that it has an odor somewhat
like roses. It seems to have been introduced from
the Latin-American countries into Europe along
with, or soon after, mahogany, by some of the
earlier voyagers, yet some authorities claim that
a lot of the rosewood of Europe is brought from
other parts of the world. However that may be,
Brazil is one important source of rosewood, and
there seems to be available from Brazil and from
other Latin-American countries enough rosewood
to serve the present demands. And perhaps one
reason why the demand is limited is because it
rates high in price. We are said to be importing
something like a thousand tons of rosewood a
year, but somehow there is not much enthusiasm
manifested about it.
IVORY SUPPLY DIMINISHING
New Patent Law Would Provide for Quick Reg-
istry and Reduction in Registration Fee
Small Amounts Being Received in Antwerp
Market—Congo Supply Practically Exhausted
WASHINGTON, D. C, May 15.—The world's supply
of ivory—obtained from elephants—is rapidly be-
coming exhausted, according to a report to the
Commerce Department to-day from Consul Mes-
ser Smith at Antwerp.
Ivory production has fallen off considerably
in the Congo, he reported, and while formerly
there have been large stocks on hand in the
Antwerp market at the present only small
amounts are coming in on steamers. The Congo
chiefs have very little to sell, he added, and it
is predicted that supplies will last only for the
next twenty or thirty years.
The E. P. Johnson Piano Co., of Elgin, 111.,
held the formal opening of its new store on
River street recently.
THE
f
^*^ ^_—«T^2
PLAN TO GUARD TRADE MARKS
Patent "piracy" in trade designs will be ended
by the design registration bill prepared for Con-
gress by the Design Registration League, it was
predicted last week at a luncheon of trade asso-
ciations at the Aldine Club, New York.
The bill originally was introduced in Congress
in 1916 and was favorably reported by the Com-
mittee on Patents, but, on account of the war, was
sidetracked by the Senate in 1917. Now it is to
be reintroduced w.ith some changes.
The proposed law would have the registration
of the trade designs administered by the Copy-
right Office. Instead of a fee of $50, with delays
of eight to twelve months before the patent is
issued, there would be a nominal fee of $1, with
immediate issuance of a certificate of registration.
Consult the universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.
ARTNOVELTYCO.
Cxclusive manufacturers
of
II Piaivo BeiveKes
" and Musie Cabinets
Write, for catalog Q,ncL details
GOSH EN
INDIANA
PLAYER MANUFACTURERS
ATTENTION!
We make a specialty of Piano and Player-
Piano Hardware, Transmissions and Gears,
Metal Spool Ends, and so forth. We make
only on special order after designs furnished
us or will furnish designs on request.
"AMSCO" Brand
Tuning Pins
are made of specially tested steel.
Forty years' experience making
tuning pins for the piano trade
assures the guarantee of the most
reliable pins on the market.
Write us your needs.
Elgin Metal Novelty Co.
ELGIN
-
-
ILLINOIS
American Musical Supply Co.
451 Communipiw Arenuc, Jersey City. N. J.
EXPENSE OF CHEAP CONSTRUCTION
It has been well said that the trouble with
cheap things is that they cost too much, says
Veneers, in a recent issue. This applies force-
fully to veneer and panels and to furniture in
which veneer is used. It involves the use of
good raw material and this, together with the ma-
chines and labor, costs too much to make a cheap
job of it. The only way to realize properly from
such effort is to put quality in the workmanship
all the way along the line and eliminate every-
thing that makes for what is termed cheapness.
Cost saving and economy is one thing, but cheap-
ness is a different thing.
MESSAGE
FOR YOU
Are you still wasting your time and go-
ing to the expense of scraping off old
varnish and shellac to eliminate the
checks and cracks in order to secure a
smooth surface for refinishing?
Use Behlen's Vamish Crack Eradica-
tor.
It saves time, trouble and incidentally
expense, at the same time giving you as
fine a body surface for the new finish
as you could possibly wish for.
A sample can for trial awaits your
request.
H. BEHLEN & BRO.
Anilines
Shellacs
Stains
Fillers
10-12 Christopher St., New York
Near 6th Ave., and 8th St.