PRESTO
10
MOVING INTO THE
QULBRANSEN PLANT
Brief Description of Some of the Labor Sav-
ing Devices and Plans That Have Been
Inaugurated at Great Chicago Player-
piano Industry.
The Gvilbransen-Dickinson Company is gradually
moving into its new factory at Chicago and Kedzie
avenues, Chicago, which occupies the front parts of
the grounds, eclipsing the old plant.
When a Presto representative called at the plant
on Friday afternoon mechanics were just finishing
the installation of the three big boilers and connect-
ing them up with the 175-foot stack. The contractor
September 18, 1920.
material is automatically stored and automatically
put back into the furnace when needed.
The electrical equipment for the entire establish-
ment is handled from a control board about 25 feet
long; it is a very intricate proposition. In the main
plant the finishing department has moved into its
quarters on the sixth floor, and some other depart-
ments are already moving in. A number of girls
began work on Thursday in the finer work in the
action department where the deftness of touch counts
for more than strength. In the mill room the ma-
chinery is being placed, and the blower system is
being connected up.
One of the wonders of this vast new plant is the
immensity of the drying room on the fifth floor. The
air is fed in by a big pump and the exhaust is to
the roof. Experts who have seen it declare that it
is the biggest single unit dryer in the country.
Lumber Stays on Trucks.
A lumber conveying system has been established
which gives the men great advantage in getting the
lumber from the Spalding avenue yards, where there
is a complete system of side-tracks. By means of
the conveying cars the lumber is handled only once
from the cars on which it arrives in the city to the
stock cutter. This single handling involves the stor-
age yards. The lumber is kept on the trucks all
the way through the drying kilns; it is dried on the
trucks in the kiln. It is a very interesting process.
But this is only one item in the modernity of this
new and gigantic factory.
The last three weeks have been painting weeks
at the new factory. All of the interior has been
painted white, until the' great rooms are dazzlingly
bright. The huge pillars of cement are white; the
walls are white.
Nor is beauty confined to the interior appearance
of the structure. Outside, its symmetry appeals to
the eye and brings the thought that here is not a
factory building, but a vast institution of some kind.
One might think of it as a state normal school at
first glance, it is so pretty. There is no denying
that it is a vast institution, however, an institution for
the production of more Gulbransens.
George McDermott, purchasing agent of the Gul-
- bransen-Dickinson Company, has moved into new
.offices on the east side of the new building. Mr.
^cDermott was formerly freight agent of the Den-
ver & Rio Grande and the Western Pacific. In the
same office is the desk of WL H. Wright, traffic
manager of the house. These two young men are
full of "pep," and their offices are among the busiest
places in the Gulbransen establishment.
FREDERICK KRANICH, OF
KRANICH & BACH, DIES
President of Well-Known New York Piano
Manufacturing Industry Passes Away at
Country Home in New Jersey.
New York, and indeed the entire piano trade,
deplores the death of Frederick Kranich, president
of the old house of Kranich & Bach, who passed
away at his summer home in Hoboken, N. J., on
Friday of last week. A thoroughly trained piano
expert and a musician of high attainments, Mr.
Kranich had inherited the love of artistic instru-
ments from his father, the late Helmuth Kranich,
one of the founders of the industry that bears his
name.
Frederick Kranich was fifty-seven years old, and
had been in piano manufacturing since 1881, when
he was graduated from the College of New York
City and entered the business of his father as an
apprentice. He made a keen study of piano con-
struction, becoming an expert on piano woods and
veneers and development of tonal quality. He ac-
quired his knowledge of the art under the direct
tutelage of his father, and he had evidently also in-
herited his father's inventive faculties. He was the
inventor of a number of piano improvements,
among which is the "Isotonic" pedal, which does
away with the shifting of the keyboard in grand
pianos, and the "Violyn" plate for upright pianos,
which has been widely advertised by Kranich &
Bach with much success.
Funeral services for Frederick Kranich were con-
ducted Monday of this week at 11 a. m., from the
West End Presbyterian Church, 91st street and
West End avenue, New York City. He leaves a
widow, who was Miss Olga A. Rohe, two sons an>i
one daughter. He was a member of the New York
Athletic, Oakland Country and Ridgewood Coun-
try Clubs.
BEST SELLING RECORDS.
Columbia Records.
"In Sweet September" and "Sweet Sugar Babe."
"Manyana" and "Happy."
"O, Judge" and "He Done Me Wrong."
Edison Records.
"Pickaninny Blues" and "Underneath the Moon."
"Red Rose"' and "A Rose, a Kiss, and You."
RECOMMENDS BUSH & LANE.
"I Love to Be a Sailor" and "We'll All Go Home
The Ross C. Kiningham Music Co., Danville, 111., the Same Way."
had just finished that day the installation of two
Emerson Records.
has the ambition to become "the best little music
500-KVA. direct connection Corliss engines and gen-
"The Moon Shines on the Moonshine" and "The
store in Vermilion County." The means to the end
erators. They have enormous fly wheels, 15 feet in
Dardanella Blues."
is progressiveness in everything. The firm printed
diameter.
"In Sweet September" and "Red Fox Trot."
the following in the week preceding the County
The men had also installed one 190-KVA direct
"A Young Man's Fancy" and "Scandals of 1920
connected steam generator, a turbine. It is a 1,960 Fair: "We invite you to make our store your head-
Medley."
quarters while attending the great I. & I. Fair. You
horsepower machine when running at its full capa-
Gennett Records.
may park your car in front of our store, without
bility.
"Pretty Little Cinderella" and "Pretty Kitty
fear of being arrested for leaving it there too long.
There is also a large amount of equipment out-
Kelly."
We are in the unrestricted district. We want you
side of the boilers to be taken into account. There
"Kawaii Waltz" and "Hawaiian Hula Medley."
to come and stay as long as you like. Leave your
are the water pumps—one for the boiler and one for wraps and parcels with us. We carry a full line of
"Silver Moon" and "Emmet's Cuckoo Song."
the boiler feed. Also a complete house-cleaning
high grade pianos, playerpianos, also cabinet phono-
Victor Records.
equipment for collecting the dust and shavings from
graphs, that play all phonograph records correctly.
"Pretty Kitty Kelly" and "Drifting."
the plant. This work is done with a compressed air
We especially recommend the famous Bush & Lane
"La Favorita."
pump.
line of Cecilian metal action players."
"In a Three Horse Sleigh."
Girls Move In.
If a surplus of sawdust and shavings happens to
J. H. Coombs, secretary of the Toledo Music
"If you can't talk play a musical instrument and
have been gathered, it is automatically set aside and
Trades Association, has had a new honor thrust
be popular," says the R. L. White Music Co., Cleve-
refed as soon as the furnace has appetite for it. In upon him. Mr. Coombs is now state secretary of
land, O., advertising its line of string and band in-
other words, when the feeder has become filled, the the Affiliated Retail Trade Associations of Ohio.
struments.
BJUR BROS. CO.
ESTABLISHED 1M7
Makers of
Pianos and Players of Quality
Manufacturert of Bjur Broi. Piincs
The Sign of
The Sign of
HONEST
PIANOS
LIBERAL
VALUES
WESERBHOS.Iac.
NEW Y0RK
705-717 WHITLOCK AVENUE, NEW YORK
HALLET & DAVIS
Grand
Small Grand
Upright
Playrr Piano
—^ _ ^
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1 J. .f^ 1H V^ O
Handled by the
most successful
retailers in the
country.
HOME OFFICE, 146 Boylston St., Boston
WAREROOMS, Boston, New York, Chicago
FACTORY: Boston
BRINKERHOFF
Player-Pianos and Pianos
lit* Lln« That Sells Easily and Satisfies Always
BRINKERHOFF PIANO CO. •"tWSBK-?*- CHICAGO
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