Presto

PRESTO
FRAUD ORDER ISSUED
ON N. Y. SONG SHARKS
Post Office Department Closes Mails to
Swindling Group Whose Principals Are
Already Under Federal Indictment.
A fraud order closing the mails to the New York
Melody Corp., Broadway Composing Studios, and
World Music Corporation, of New York City, was
issued by the Postoffice Department on October 30,
following a hearing held in the office of the Solicitor
General in Washington on September 19, when
charges were presented by Inspector R. P. Allen,
of the New York post office. The principals of the
above firms, Albion S. Keller and Geo. Graff, Jr., are
already under indictment in federal court for using
the mails to defraud, but until now the song sharks
have continued to operate. Their activities are now
stopped by the fraud order.
This is the second group to be stopped within the
month, the other being in St. Louis, operating under
the names of the New Era Music Company and
Music Sales Company, both owned by R. A. Bell.
The St. Louis case disposed of the chief offender
outside of New York and Chicago, and except for a
few small operators the remaining song sharks are
operating from New York.
The reputation of Geo. Graff, Jr., as a song-writer,
was used to promote the scheme to take money from
unsuspecting amateurs. Graff was advertised as
"Chief Composer and Lyric Editor," and although
he was known in the legitimate field as a writer of
words, he was presented to the amateurs as composer
of music. Thousands of ambitious writers of song
poems are listed in the copyright records as having
collaborated with Graff—"Words by
," "Music
by Geo. Graff, Jr."
About 6,000 of these amateur song-writers paid
money for the Graff "music," in amounts ranging
from $30 to $96. If the larger amount could not be
secured, a systematic follow-up offered the "services"
until the price got as low as $30. None of the songs
was ever successful.
The first letter to the victims who sent in a song
poem said that "in our opinion the subject or idea
contained in it will be suitable, after a few revisions,
for use in a song," and it was to be revised and the
melody for it composed by Graff. The booklet
advertised Graff as follows:
''Mr. George Graff, Jr., our chief composer and
lyric editor, was born in New York City thirty-six
years ago, the son of a retired Methodist clergyman.
His ambition to become a musician and song-
writer was due to the fact that his father was often
visited by such famous hymn makers as Ira D. San-
key, of Moody and Sankey, D. B. Towner and Fannie
Crosby.
"Mr. Graff has has songs published by most of the
leading New York publishers of popular songs, and
this fact is a testimonial to his standing as a song-
writer of national reputation. Several years previous
to his signing a contract with us, Mr. Graff was under
contract to allow the sole publishing rights of all his
songs to the firm of Waterson, Berlin & Snyder,
where he was a member of the writing staff together
with Mr. Irving Berlin and Mr. Jean Schwartz.
"All of Mr. Graff's song successes have been repro-
duced by all the principal manufacturers of phono-
graph records and playerpiano rolls."
CREDIT BUREAU AND
COLLECTION SERVICE
Value of Work Performed for Industry Ex-
plained to Chamber Directors by Manager
Beach Barrett.
At the meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Music Industries Chamber of Commerce held in
New York last week much interest was expressed by
the directors in the work of the credit bureau and
also in the collection service which has recently been
established in connection with it. Beach Barrett,
manager of the Credit and Collection Bureau, sub-
mitted a report of its work during the past year:
The Credit Service is in active and constant use by
two hundred and fourteen members of the music
industry.
"The present number of users is sufficiently large
to make the service thoroughly comprehensive," ac-
cording to Mr. Barrett, "and yet not so large as to
make it unwieldly.
There are only occasional
changes in the list of users, although the service is
made available to any new members of the chamber
who wish to use it. On the other hand, those who
are not willing to give their full co-operation are
refused the facilities of the bureau.
"Up to the present time the bureau has compiled
files of information on over 18,000 retail music dealers
in the United States and four hundred and fifty in for-
eign countries. Last month the bureau received 1,757
requests for credit reports and compiled 783 new
reports. Many of the reports issued contain records
of the experiences of from twenty to thirty users of
the bureau.
"A collection service was established about a year
ago in connection with the credit service, and up to
the present time it has received 223 claims, amounting
to a total of $52,407, of which it has collected 44
claims, amounting to $5,287.00 through its own efforts
and a still greater proportion through its attorneys.
Claims collected by the bureau itself constitute ap-
proximately twenty per cent in number and ten per
cent in amount. This record, although it leaves room
for future improvement, compares favorably with col-
lection bureaus of other associations during their first
year of operation."
RECENT ACTIVITIES OF
STORY & CLARK AIDS
November 8, 1924.
ERECTED TO MEMORY
OF ALFRED DOLGE
Handsome Monument in the Little Cemetery
at Dolgeville, N. Y., to Remind Poster-
ity of Its Founder.
In the little cemetery at Dolgeville, N. Y., a hand-
some monument pointing skyward bears testimony to
the affection and esteem in which the founder of that
thriving community is held. When the sorrowing
widow of Alfred Dolge returned to this country she
brought with her the urn containing the ashes of her
distinguished husband. Shortly thereafter it was
announced that the citizens and associates of Mr.
Dolge, in the city of the Adirondacks would honor
his memory by the erection of a suitable memorial
stone.
And there, within sight of the little city in which
Alfred Dolge had invested so large a share of his
R. A. Burke Returns from Visit to Kansas City and
G. H. Beverly Reports at Headquarters.
R. A. Burke, sales manager of the Story & Clark
Co., 315. South Wabash avenue, Chicago, returned
from a short visit to Kansas City, Mo., last week, and
described trade conditions in that city as being in
fine shape.
The fine Story & Clark instruments, which are well
represented in the Missouri city, have been consist-
ent sellers throughout the year and by the present
trend of the trade a big fall and winter season is pre-
dicted.
George H. Beverly, eastern wholesale manager,
spent part of last week at the Story & Clark head-
quarters, and reported great possibilities for the
Story & Clark Co.'s line in that section of the
country.
MUSIC HOUSE PROVIDES
ATTRACTIONS AT BIG FAIR
Famous Old Fair at Danbury, Conn., Occasion for
Publicity for White Music Co., Inc.
The famous Danbury Fair held recently in Dan-
bury, Conn., was again the occasion of a striking
music goods display by the White Music Shops, Inc.,
whose fine store at 155 Main street also had a
special showing of the fine piano, general music goods
and radio lines carried by the firm. This fair is one
of the oldest and among the largest events of the
kind in the country, and the White Music Co., Inc.,
again rose to the occasion with a notable exhibit.
The Cable-Nelson, York and Gulbransen pianos and
players ard the Duo-Art are carried by the Danbury
firm, and special demonstration of the instruments
provided the fair with one of its most appreciated
features. The booth of the White Music Co., Inc., in
the main building was admirably located and the
music and radio service attracted pleased crowds at
all times.
MUSIC EVENT IN SAN FRANCISCO.
Final arrangements for the Second Spring Music
Festival in San Francisco are being made in which
the music trade and music organizations are taking
part. Mayor James Rolph, Jr., has appointed a large
committee of citizens, with Supervisor J. Emmett
Hayden as temporary chairman, to carry out the
plans for the big event to be held under the auspices
of the city and county of San Francisco, the San
Francoisco Symphony Orchestra and the Musical
Association of the San Francisco Community Service.
ROCKFORD STORE CHANGES HANDS.
The Jackson Talking Machine Srop, 114 West State
street, Rockford, 111., has changed hands. The new
organization consists of Guy W. Deetz, president and
manager; Paul Stich, secretary, and R. P. Alexander,
treasurer. Mr. Deetz is well known in the trade in
the East and Middle West. Mr. Stich has been en-
gaged in the accounting business for the last eight
years in Rockford, and Mr. Alexander is an experi-
enced music merchant and resides in Chicago.
ALFRED DOLGE S MONUMENT.
life and energies, the stone was placed to remain a
reminder of what one man may do if he is endowed
with the hope, the ambition and the genius, of a real
builder and leader of men. On the side of the mem-
orial stone is the following inscription:
"Alfred Dolge
1848—1922
The Founder of Dolgeville
Auguste Anna Dolge
His Wife
1849—
The expense of placing the monument in the little
cemetery at Dolgeville was shared by most of the
citizens of the town, many of whom were at one time
employed by the founder of their community. It is
an offering of love, to remind posterity of the story
of the struggles of a long and manly life.
Alfred Dolge, founder of two cities called Dolge-
ville, separated by almost the entire breadth of this
country, died two years ago in Milan, Italy, when on
a tour of rest and recreation. His last work was in
the business he loved—that of pianos. He had for
several years been doing splendid work for the Had-
dorff Piano Co., in the. far West.
NEW INCORPORATIONS
IN MUSIC GOODS TRADE
New and Old Concerns Secure Charters in Various
Places.
James Dunphy and Rockwell Gray are owners of
a new music store recently opened at 163 Massachu-
setts avenue, Boston, under the style name, Gray-
Dunphy & Gray. Mr. Dunphy was formerly with M.
Steinert & Sons' Arch street store, and Mr. Gray
also was formerly a salesman in the Steinert store.
The Caswell Mfg. Co., Milwaukee, Wis., to manu-
facture all kinds of musical instrument cases; $5,000;
Joseph G. Bach, Herbert F. Massopust and L. B.
Casagrande.
The A. B. Sauer Music Co., Lorain, O.; $45,000;
E. W. Schneider, E. Hasselbein and L, S. Sauer.
Mulford's Music, Brooklyn; H. Sacher and J.
Krigcr; $5,000.
The second floor of the building of the Burkham &
Stamm- Piano Co., 82 Eleventh street, Wheeling,
W. Va., is being remodeled.
Chas. M. Stieff, Inc., was represented at the Caro-
linas Exposition held recently at Charlotte, N. C,
where the house has a branch.
NEW BOSTON FIRM.
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