PRESTO
FACTS FOR PIANO
TRADE EXPORTERS
November 29, 1924.
INTERESTING FACTORY PROCESS
Details of Growth of Business Abroad and Im-
portance of Parcel Post Phase of It Told
in Bureau Report Issued this Week
by Director Klein.
GROWTH OF SERVICE
Piano Manufacturers Relying on Foreign Supplies
of Raw Materials, Provided with Helpful Aid
By Bureau.
Export information, including the details of service
provided for the music industry, with others, by the
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, is con-
tained in the annual report made public this week.
In a letter to Secretary Hoover summarizing the
work of the bureau for the year ending June 30, 1924,
Dr. Julius Klein, director, pointed out that the work
of the Bureau has doubled in the last two years
and during the year just ended the number of in-
stances in which it has aided American business men
have totaled nearly 1.250,000, with an average of
more than 5 000 inquiries a day at the close of the
fiscal year. On the basis of an investigation involv-
ing 3,675 inquiries addressed by business firms to the
Bureau it was found that the resulting business
amounted to about $427 per inquiry. This would
indicate several hundred millions in foreign trade
secured for the United States as the result of answers
to inquiries handled by the bureau during the year.
In certain respects the bureau's services to the Ameri-
can business community have increased as much as
. tenfold since 1922.
Foreign Facts for Americans.
Accurate estimates were given of the extent of the
damage to the economic structure of Japan. Ameri-
cans relying on raw materials from Japan were
advised of the position and prospects. During the
past year the most significant feature of the work is
to be found in this element of intimate contact and
co-operation with American manufacturers, exporters,
financiers, and domestic merchants. The increase in
the number of inquiries received from the various in-
dustries in this country is held by Dr. Klein to be
ample demonstration of the effectiveness of the
bureau.
Europe and South America.
The growing interest of American business men in
Western Europe is demonstrated by the receipt at
the Bureau in 1923-24 of not less than 340,000 in-
quiries relating to that district, as against only 32,000
during the fiscal year 1921-22. Second only to the
interest in Western Europe is that taken in Latin
America, as evidenced by more than 232,000 inquiries,
nearly all of which have to do with practical and
immediate sales problems. In 1921-22, although in-
terest in Latin America was then keen as compared
to previous years, the number of inquiries received
was less than 21,000. A rapidly growing interest in
the Far East is reflected by the 174,000 inquiries
received during the last fiscal year, as compared with
15,000 in 1921-22. In addition to the thousands of
small orders the Bureau obtained for American busi-
ness men, there were individual efforts that brought
results that ran into six figures or more.
Raw Material Facts.
A feature of the year's work has been the comple-
tion of surveys into conditions surrounding the pro-
duction and handling under the control of foreign
monopolies of a number of highly important raw
materials, such as rubber, leather, tanning materials,
nitrogen, agricultural products, and sisal, the studies
being limited to such products as must be imported
into this country in large quantities. Three new for-
eign offices were opened by the Bureau, at Alexan-
dria, Batavia and Bogota, giving it a total of thirty-
two such posts by July 1, 1924. This number has
since been raised to forty.
For the first time in the history of government
trade statistics, figures were made available showing
the export trade of the various states in this country.
These figures were warmly received and will continue
to be issued quarterly.
Foreign Parcel Post.
Another innovation was the publication of figures
on parcel post exports from this country, an item
heretofore completely ignored in compiling statistics
of our shipments abroad and especially significant for
the small manufacturer and exporter. Parcel post
exports were valued at $11,000,000 for the six months
ended June 30. Further progress is also reported in
Making bass strings is one of the most interesting
processes in the factory of the Baldwin Piano Co.,
Cincinnati, O., and as the wrapping of bass strings
is one of the many features of skill that enter into
the making of a piano, this work is carried on with
absolute precision in the Baldwin factories.
"The uninitiated are likely to get the impression
that the strings of the piano give off tones directly,
but this is not the case. When struck by the hammer,
the string vibrates a certain number of times a second
according to its length, weight and stiffness and
imparts its vibration through the bridge to the sound-
board. The air set into vibration by the soundboard
brings to the ear a definite tone. The string deter-
mines the pitch and so plays an important part in the
tone production," says the Baldwin Piano Co. book-
let.
"The vibrating length of the extreme treble string
is only about two inches and it vibrates over four
thousand times a second. By the theoretical rule, if
wire of the same diameter were used, each string
should be twice as long as the one an octave above
it. This would make the extreme bass string about
twenty-seven feet long. As this is impractical, the
strings are made heavier to compensate for length,
some being covered with a single wrapping of pliable
wire and for the last ten or twelve strings in the bass
a double covering is used.
"Piano wire, sometimes called music wire, is three
times as strong as ordinary iron wire and is always
specified where great strength is needed, as in taking
deep sea soundings and in airplane construction. It
is made by drawing special steel through holes in
hardened plates, reducing the diameter only a few
thousandths of an inch at each pass. For all the
treble strings and for the core of the bass strings
this piano wire is used.
"In making the bass strings, the core wire is flat-
tened where the wrapping begins and where it ends
to prevent the covering from coming loose. The men
at the machines wear gloves and use powdered lime
to avoid tarnishing the wire."
speeding up the publication of all import and export
statistics.
In connection with the distribution of trade infor-
mation, the Bureau tended more and more during the
year toward a specialized service to bonafide Ameri-
can firms through the medium of confidential circu-
lars, a policy that lias the strong indorsement of
American exporters.
STE1NWAY & SONS
NEW LONDON LOCATION
PROGRESSIVE KENTUCKY
FIRM ADDS SERVICE SECTION
The Scott Brothers Piano Co., Ashland, Places John
A. Hewitt at Head of Department.
The Scott Brothers Piano Co., 304 West Win-
chester avenue, Ashland, Ky., has added an up to date
service section as accessory to an efficient tuning de-
partment which has been of considerable value in
pleasing its clientele. This notice has been printed in
the local newspapers:
"Scott Brothers Piano Co. are pleased to announce
to the people of Ashland and vicinity that they have
secured the services of Mr. John A. Hewitt in the
piano department. Mr. Hewitt is a man of wide
experience in the construction of pianos, having
made a careful study of the manufacture of high-
grade pianos which our stock contains. Simply call
phone 216."
Mr. Hewitt is also known in the piano field as a
salesman of great energy and originality in locating
prospective buyers. The dual ability to manage a
service department and plan and execute sales prom-
ises a busy time for him in Ashland.
GEORGE AMES ENJOYS HUNT.
George Ames, vice-president of the U. S. Music
Co., 2934 W. Lake street, Chicago, recently returned
from his home in Michigan, where he indulged in
the great outdoor sport of duck hunting. Mr. Ames
had a very successful trip among the beautiful lakes
of Michigan and bagged the game heartily. He re-
turned to Chicago feeling fresh and ready for active
business ahead.
Company Moves from 115 Wigmore Street to
Remodeled Building at the Intersection
of George and Conduit Streets.
The new Steinway Hall in London, located at
George and Conduit streets, was occupied by the
company last week, according to a cablegram to
Frederick T. Steinway, president of Steinway & Sons,
New York, from William R. Steinway, European
manager of the company.
The new Steinway Hall has the advantage of one
of the choicest locations in the West End and the
shopping district of which it is a center is famed all
over the world. The building was formerly occu-
pied by Broadwood's, an old piano manufacturing
house.
The new quarters are considerably more spacious
than those formerly occupied at 115 and 117 Wig-
more street, where for many years the old Steinway
Hall drew music lovers, native and foreign. The con-
certs given by famous musicians in the recital hall
there were noteworthy London events.
The building has been remodeled and the rear-
rangements of the space provide a large and artistic
main wareroom and special salon for displays and
demonstrations of Steinway instruments.
LIVELY CHRISTMAS SALE.
Weiler's, Quincy, 111., is holding "the greatest piano
sale of all." It is a Christmas sale and this state-
ment in the newspapers carries the appeal: "Christ-
mas is coming. Make provision for music in your
home on Christmas morn and every day thereafter
by selecting your piano at this sale and paying a
very small sum each week until Christmas. Many
have bought on this plan. Don't delay! The sooner
you choose the better, for pianos are selling fast."
The Bovard Music Store was opened recently in
Brownstown, Ind.
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