Music Trade Review

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THE
AUGUST 29, 1925
MUSIC TRADE
45
REVIEW
SUPPLY BRANCHES OF THE INDUSTRY
Difficulties in Securing
Supplies of Mahogany
How That Valuable Timber in British Honduras
Is Handled Is Explained by U. S. Vice-Consul
at Belize in a Recent Report
Some interesting facts relating to mahogany
and its importance to the economic activities
in British Honduras were made public recent-
ly in a report of Vice-Consul E. A. Bonnet, in
Belize. This colony, it seems, was originally
settled and established by wood cutters, who
were attracted by the richness of the tropical
forests. It is certain, Mr. Bonnet tells the Bu-
reau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, that
mahogany has been exported from the country
for more than 200 years and, since the decline
in the value of logwood, has been the chief
product.
"Transportation between Belize and other
ports on the coast of British Honduras and the
mahogany-producing areas in the interior is re-
stricted to shallow-river craft and pack mules,"
Mr. Bonnet reports. "There are no vehicle
roads or railways in the colony over which ma-
hogany logs can be transported, or by which the
necessary supplies for the logging camps can
be taken. Supplies are handled by the river
boats.
"The mahogany logs must be felled in the
dry season, trucked or skidded by cattle teams
to the banks of one of the streams and driven
to the sea on the first flood. The loose logs
are collected at booms near the mouth of the
river, rafted, and towed to the steamer in open
bay which is to deliver them at the seaboard
market in the United States or England.
"The uncertainty of the floods occasion great
losses to the mahogany contractors and to the
exporters. When the rains break, usually the
first or second week in June, there appears a
tension in Belize, which docs not disappear un-
til word is received that the mahogany logs are
in the booms. The several important rivers
have been known to rise forty feet and return
to normal within less than twenty-four hours.
Unless sufficient men are on hand when the
flood comes, so that the loose logs can be driven
down midstream, the rapidly falling waters of
the rivers, which have inundated the country for
miles on either side of the low river banks, will
deposit a part or all of the drive so far from
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the normal river bed that the logs can never be
recovered. These losses are nominally borne
by the 'contractors' and not by the exporting
lumber companies."
Investigating Imports
of Foreign Pig Iron
Local Producers Seek Government Aid Against
Foreign Competition Which Is Declared to
Be on the Increase
A matter of some slight interest to piano
plate manufacturers from the angle of price de-
termination has developed recently in Wash-
ington, D. C, when a special detail of Treasury
Department men began an inquiry into the pig
iron import business. The purpose of the in-
quiry was to determine if the anti-dumping pro-
visions of the Fordney-McCumber tariff are be-
ing violated. The probe is being made at the
request of the smaller domestic pig iron manu-
facturers, who protested through their associa-
tion that their business had been greatly trou-
bled in recent months by increasingly keen com-
petition. They supported their claims by point-
ing out that shipments showed an advance of
226 per cent in the first half of 1925 over last
year.
It is alleged that some of the largest of the
domestic concerns dealing in pig iron have been
active in bringing in the foreign product. It
was said that several mergers accomplished re-
cently have prompted the smaller independents
to devise a plan to promote seizing control of
the industry through overloading the market
with imported pig iron that was just as cheap.
Imports of Linseed Oil
Worry British Producers
Depression in Oil Industry in Great Britain De-
clared to Be Due to Overproduction in and
Dumping by Continental Countries
Reports from London indicate that the crush-
ing and vegetable oil industry of Great Britain,
which supplies the United States with most of
the paint and varnish making materials, is pass-
ing through a period of depression, due to other
causes than the seasonal ones. One of the
chief reasons seems to be the heavy importing
of linseed oil during the past season.
It is many years since Great Britain imported
linseed oil in such large quantities, and for-
tunately it is a very unusual occurrence, re-
membering that England herself is a big pro-
ducer "and exporter of this commodity. In the
first five months imports actually exceeded ex-
ports, a fact that can be explained by over-
production on the Continent during the period.
Standard Player Actions
Standing Up Abroad
Reports From Mexico and Australia Show Sat-
isfaction These Actions Give to Foreign
Owners
One of the best evidences of the world-wide
distribution of the Standard pneumatic actions
can be found in the steady stream of mail com-
ing to the New York office of the company
from foreign lands. Especially gratifying are
the favorable reports in regard to the satisfac-
tory manner in which the Standard player
action operates under diverse climatic condi-
tions. The following letter is from Ed Cachiero
who recently returned from Mexico. He writes:
"Not long ago, while in Mexico, 1 was called to
adjust a player-piano in a saloon in Tampica
Tamps. The climate in this district is hot and
damp and very severe on pianos.
"The player-piano 1 had to adjust was fitted
with a Standard player action and had been in
use in a bar-room at least ten hours a day for
several years. There were ten screws missing
in the secondary pouch board and wooden plugs
had been used to replace them. Several pouches
had been replaced with discs of rubber and of
light oilcloth—and still the player-action func-
tioned.
"This is, I think, one of the best testimonials
of the durability of a 'Standard' under hard
usage and severe climatic conditions that one
could find. I am writing you this because 1
admire the Standard player-action very highly
and I thought that this might be of value to you
as demonstrating the high quality of the Stand-
ard player-action.
"I have traveled as tuner and salesman in
Cuba and Mexico and wherever I went I found
that the 'Standard' is the only player-action
which stands up and gives satisfactory service
in the damp, hot climate."
Another letter from a tuner in Australia is
instructive in showing the interest of the trade
in foreign lands in learning more about the
Standard player action from the company's in-
structive house-organ. The letter is as follows:
"I have just returned from a six months' trip
through the western districts of Queensland
During my tour I have come in contact with
many makes of players with Standard actions
installed and have found them standing up to
the climatic conditions far better than many
other makes of actions."
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.
New Simplex Patent
WASHINGTON, D. C., August 15.—An important
patent for a pneumatic player action has been
secured recently by the Simplex Player Action
Co., Worcester, Mass., upon assignment by the
inventor Theodore V. Brown, of Worcester,
Carle C. Con way, of New York; Earle E. Con-
way, of Boston, and the inventor, were the
assignees to the patent upon its issuance. The
first specification or description of the patent
is as follows: "In a player for musical in-
struments the combination with a valve mechan-
ism for controlling a pneumatic player action
and a suction creating device, of means con-
trolled by said suction device, for preventing
the connection of said valve mechanism to said
device until after the creation of a predetermin-
ed amount of suction by said device."
STYLE N O . 221
"ART LINE" PIANO BENCHES
Make Satisfied Customers
Send for Your Catalog.
THE ART NOVELTY CO., Goshen, Ind.
PHILIP W. OETTING & SON, Inc.
213 East 19th Street, New York
Sole Agents for
WEICKERT HAMMER AND DAMPER FELTS
GRAND AND UPRIGHT HAMMERS
Made of Welckerl Felt