Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
OBITUARY
Ernest D. Moore
Ernest D. Moore, treasurer of the Moore
& Fisher Mfg. Co., Deep River, Conn.,
manufacturers of piano and organ supplies,
and widely known as an ivory trader and
author, died at his home in Chester, Conn.,
on June 5, from a heart attack.
Horn in Boston on January 18, 1884,
descendant of several generations of ivory
traders, Mr. Moore went to Africa in 1908
to carry on the family tradition as repre-
sentative of Arnold Cheney & Co., of New
York. He helped to entertain Theodore
Roosevelt at Mombasa when the former
President visited there on his African hunt-
ng trip and sent back the first photographs
I : Colonel Roosevelt from Africa, showing
i/\m riding on the pilot of a train.
Mr. Moore also was stationed at Zanzibar
an^ for a time at Aden. The story of his
contacts and of the history of ivory gathering
wa i told in "Ivory: Scourge of Africa," pub-
lished last year by Harper & Brothers. He
wrote of himself that he had handled as
much ivory in his time as any man living.
He also published many magazine stories
about the romance, adventure and misery in-
volved in gathering ivory.
In 1912 Mr. Moore returned to the United
States to become secretary of Pratt, Read
& Co., of Deep River, Conn., makers of
pianos. Later he became vice-president of
the company. About a year ago he resigned
from that company to organize the Moore
& Fisher Mfg. Co.
Soon after his return to the United States,
Mr. Moore married Miss Elsie Warner of
Chester. He is survived by his widow and
five children and by two brothers.
Howard Bailey Moremus
Howard Bailey Moremus, for many years
prominent in the piano trade as a salesman
and executive, died at his home in LaPorte,
Ind., on May 22, after a short illness. He
was in his sixty-third year.
Mr. Moremus was born in New York
State and in 1893 married Martha Strong
Cable, the daughter of the late Hobart M.
Cable. When the latter resigned from the
Cable Company, to organize the Hobart M.
Cable Co., Mr. Moremus joined him and
became vice-president of the new concern,
which post he held for over twenty years.
During that period he traveled throughout
the United States and developed a host of
June-July,
1932
15
friends among the dealers in all sections of
the country.
During the last few years Mr. Moremus
maintained an office in LaPorte and engaged
in the wholesaling of the Vogue piano, which
was made especially for him. He was a mem-
ber of the Masonic and Elks fraternities
and of the LaPorte Country Club. He is
survived b\ a son, Richard C. Moremus.
Charles H. Addams
Charles H. Addams, who was associated
with the Aeolian Co. for nearly thirty years,
died at his home in Westfield, N. J., on May
26 after a short illness. He was in his fifty-
ninth year.
Mr. Addams was born in Canton, O., and
upon his graduation from the Webb Acad-
emy became a naval architect, working for
the United States Government for a number
of years. In 190+ he joined the Aeolian Co.
as a member of the outside force of the retail
department and so promptly proved his abil-
ity that he was soon transferred to the whole-
sale department, where he remained to the
time of his death.
During his career Mr. Addams traveled
through every part of the country many times
and developed a host of friends among the
dealers with whom his pleasing personality
and genial character made him very popular.
Surviving Mr. Addams are his widow,
Mrs. Grace Spear Addams; a son, Charles
S., his father and a sister. A large dele-
gation of his former associates attended the
funeral services.
Sey
Furth
Seymour Furth, well-known writer of
popular songs and librettos for musical come-
dies, died at his home in Boston on May
22. He was 55 years old and is survived by
his widow, his mother and one brother.
Probably the best known of Mr. Furth's
songs were "No Wedding Bells for Me" and
"My Old New Hampshire Home." He had
also written a number of other songs that
attained a fair measure of popularity.
Philip H. Pierce
Philip H. Pierce, for many years engaged
in the retail music business in Lawrence,
Kans., died in that city on June 2 following
an operation. He was seventy-five years old.
Mr. Pierce was born in Indiana, but came
to Kansas when a young man. About thirty
years ago he started a drygoods business and
later added pianos and other musical instru-
ments, which he handled exclusively during
recent years. He is survived by his widow.
A DEMONSTRATION PLAN
(Continued from page 10)
''Following the serving of food we let the
guests look over the merchandise, and the
salesmen of the different departments are on
hand at the displays in much the same man-
ner as at a radio show. An attempt is made
to find out just what each visitor is interested
in, and the contact achieved at this time is
followed up at a later date.
"Three days after the meeting we send a
letter to each person who attended the dem-
onstration. The letter thanks them for their
interest, and again calls their attention to the
commission offer. Then five days afterward
the salesmen call at the home. At this time
prospects are closed, and suggestions of
friends who might be interested are obtained.
Many of these leads are of course worthless,
but out of the lot of them we always get
some good ones.
"Meanwhile, the contact woman has been
telephoning the president of the group from
time to time and reminding him of the possi-
bility of the organization making some addi-
tional money through suggesting prospects.
We put a time limit on the commission offer,
however, in order to avoid complications that
might arise from prolonging it too much. At
the same time the time limit is a stimulus to
the individual to turn in names immediately,
for as the days go by the enthusiasm dies
down.
"We do not need to advertise the meetings,
for they advertise themselves. The cost of
holding them is negligible. To bring in fifty
people will cost only about $15. And out of
this number there are sure to be at least two
or three hot prospects. We might spend $500
on advertising to get people into the store
and out of this get comparatively few real
prospects. Of course, we have carried on our
regular advertising, and have used the dem-
onstrations as a form of publicity in them-
selves. And results show that this is a val-
uable way to get business. Often we find
individuals coming in months afterward and
buying something, declaring that they had
been at the store during one of the demonstra-
tions and had been sold on it at that time."
SpinetGrand at Convention
The Mathushek Piano Mfg. Co. had the
distinction of having the only trade exhibit at
the Commodore Hotel, New York, during the
recent meeting of the Board of Control of
the National Association of Music Merchants.
One of the company's Spinet Grands was lo-
cated in the lobby of the hotel where it is
played in concert with the hotel orchestra.
STARR PIANOS
STARR ELECTRIC REFRIGERATORS
CHAMPION and GENNETT RECORDS
ELECTRICAL TRANSCRIPTIONS for RADIO BROADCASTING
THE STARR PIANO COMPANY
ESTABLISHED 1872
RICHMOND, INDIANA