MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1881
Established
1884
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
10 Cents a Copy
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1927
PIANO TOURNAMENT
MADE PERMANENT
Important Action to Hold an Annual Piano
Playing Contest in Chicago Taken This
Week at Special Dinner of Spon-
sors and Active Boosters.
C. E. BYRNE HONORED
Vice-President of Steger & Sons Piano Mfg. Com-
pany, Who Created Contest Idea, Presented
With Clock by Contest Supporters.
The Greater Chicago Children's Piano Playing
Tournament, which was such a stirring closing event
of the recent convention of the music trade at the
Stevens Hotel, Chicago, is to be made an annual
event. That important decision was made at a meet-
ing of the promoters and sponsors this week.
"To celebrate the tremendous success of the An-
nual Greater Chicago Children's Piano Playing
could be materially cut in another year's running of
a contest. Mr. Gerber and Mr. Pratt of the Herald
and Examiner made interesting remarks, and Peter
Meyer, full of enthusiasm for the next tournament,
said that if the same eighteen men who had worked
for the contest this time would be asked to repeat the
work he would guarantee they would "make things
howl another year."
Presentation to Mr. Byrne.
Henry Weisert spoke on the development of the
contest proposition and led up to the presentation to
Mr. Byrne of the gift from the committee and
sponsors. "We have with us the man who started
the contest movement and we ought to do something
with him," said Mr. Weisert. "What shall it be?
Frank Bayley has offered the suggestion to 'crown
him'." Mr. Byrne was then presented with the clock,
and in acknowledgement gave a talk which was
listened to with interest.
Other Talks.
The toastmaster then called on Henry Hewitt,
Walter Kiehn, Chris. G. Steger, Mr. Dowd of the
Cable Co., Roger O'Connor, Gordon Laughead, G. R.
Brownell, M. Moist, Harry Bibb, Clayton F. Summy,
Lathrop Resseguie, Ralph B. Waite, Donald Steger,
G. R. McLaughlin, David Kimball and the trade
paper representatives present, Messrs. Koch, Nealy,
McNab, Meyer and Abbott.
Before the meeting closed it was proposed to make
a move toward a permanent Piano Playing Tourna-
ment; to either incorporate or do something to make
the tournament started this year a permanent, an-
nual event. This will undoubtedly be accomplished
in the near future.
FRED MUEHLHAUSER
DIES IN CLEVELAND, 0.
Treasurer of Muehlhauser Bros. Piano Co.
Had Been Ailing for Considerable Time—
W. G. Agnew Also Dies.
CHARLES E. BYRNE.
Tournament and to honor those to whom honor is
due," the supervising committee of the recent Greater
Chicago Children's Piano Playing Tournament gave
a dinner on Monday evening, June 20, at the Chicago
Athletic Club.
Fifty Guests Present.
There were upwards of fifty persons present, seated
at the long table extending through a suite of two
rooms. The wording of the invitation did not give
much clue as to just what would be done in paying
tribute to any particular person or persons, but when
Charles E. Byrne was given the place of honor at the
table and later on when he was presented with a
beautiful chronometrical clock it was evident that he
was the gentleman to be honored by the supporters
of the playing contest.
At the opposite end of the table was H. H. Fleer,
president of Lyon & Healy, who was toastmaster.
Mr. Fleer's interesting words of introduction de-
veloped into quite a little speech, and he showed a
marked ability as a toastmaster in being able to get
practically every man at the tables on his feet for a
talk of some length before the dinner was over.
Talks From Everybody.
Mr. Fleer introduced C. H. De Acres, the vice-
president of Lyon & Healy, who gave a brief and
cheerful talk. Then in turn the members of the
committee were called on. Eugene Whalen glow-
ingly commented on the tangible success of the con-
test and expressed the desire that it be made
permanent. James Bristol spoke on the financial
aspect of the work and gave something of a financial
report. He expressed the idea that many expenses
The many friends of Fred W. Muehlhauser, treas-
urer of the Muehlhauser Bros. Piano Co., Cleveland,
Ohio, will learn with regret that he passed away on
June 18. He had been ailing for a considerable time,
but it seemed that he was going to recover his health,
for he was enabled to come down to the store in the
spring and resume his duties.
Mr. Muehlhauser was active in the trade associa-
tion, both local and state, and was a man highly re-
spected for his ideals. He was a member of the
Kiwanis Club, the Knights of Pythias and the
Masonic order. He was fifty years of age at the
time of his death, and is survived by his widow and
two children, Ada and Carl, and his two brothers,
Adolph G. Muehlhauser and Otto C. Muehlhauser,
president and secretary respectively of the firm. The
funeral was held from the residence on Tuesday
afternoon of this week, which was attended by a
large number of men of the trade.
Death of Veteran Piano Man.
The second death in the music business this week
was that of W. G. Agnew, a veteran piano man, who
passed away suddenly on Friday. He was with the
May Company's piano department at the time of his
demise. He had been connected with the Hallet &
D*avis store and Dreher Piano Company before going
to the May Company about twelve years ago, and
had been in the piano business for over a quarter of
a century. He was a member of the Cleveland Music
Trades Association. Burial was on Monday, June 20.
Mr. Agnew was sixty-seven years of age and is sur-
vived by his widow and two daughters.
DETROIT TO BE HOST.
The members of the Cleveland Music Trades Asso-
ciation are to be the guests of the Detroit Music
Dealers' Association some time about the middle of
July. The latter has extended the invitation and the
Cleveland members have accepted it. Frank Bailey
and Roy Maypole of Detroit will head the welcoming
Detroiters and members of both organizations will go
on a private yacht to an island up the Lakes, where
the day will be spent. A business session is on the
program, at which the piano playing contest that is
to be put on this fall will be discussed.
$2 The Year
ANNOUNCE PLANS •
FOR DETROIT MEET
Tentative Program of Activities Includes
Talks by Experts in Construction, Sales
and Publicity and Grand Finale Will
Be Closing E v e n t s of Contest
CITY INTERESTED
FopuJance, to Distinguish Piano, Honor Playing
Champion and Do it Joyfully in a Two-
Night Celebration.
The third annual convention of the Michigan Music
Merchants Association will be held in the Book-
Cadillac Hotel, Detroit, Monday, Tuesday, Wednes-
day and Thursday, August 15, 16, 17, 18.
Suggestions for program are being considered,
among which are demonstrations of group school
piano instruction, a piano-player contest under the
direction of A. K. Gutsohn of The Standard Pneu-
matic Action Co., New York, who also is president
of the National Association of Piano Technicians,
who will be assisted by the local tuners' association.
The "carrying charge" will be explained and demon-
strated by competent authorities on the subject.
President Roberts Invited.
President C. J. Roberts of the National Association
of Music Merchants has been invited to attend and
officiate from the "Presidents' Suite" as guest of
honor. The Cleveland Music Trades Association has
been formally invited and members are expected to
attend in a body together with other members of
Ohio State Music Merchants Association. Edward
C. Boykin, executive secretary of Manufacturers' Pro-
motion Committee, has been invited and has accepted
a place upon the program, as also has C. H. Tremaine
of the National Bureau for the Advancement of
Music. It is intended that all plans current for the
promotion and extension of the use of the piano shall
form a part of the program.
Publicity will, of course, be an important feature
of the event, and enough activity will be created to
provide "news" for the piano that will be far-reaching.
Invites to Canada.
Incidentally, entertainment features for the dele-
gates will be sufficient to satisfy the most critical.
The Windsor Board of Commerce has extended a
formal invitation to the convention. A trip to Canada,
however, will be quite unnecessary, since the news
of the prohibition amendment has not yet reached
Detroit.
It may be interesting and novel for a music trade
convention to have the opportunity to join with the
populace of a great city in celebrating the piano and
honoring the little girl piano champion as a great
local heroine for a two-night celebration in the center
of town, and to be offered reduced railroad fare for
the event.
Everybody Welcome.
Detroit extends a most cordial invitation, not only
to Michigan piano merchants but to those of the
whole nation to come and witness the climax of a
publicity campaign to popularize and promote the
piano, based upon the activity of a piano playing con-
test conducted in the complete school systems of the
fourth city of the nation and sponsored by the leading
newspaper. Detroit is planning on two celebrations
this summer, one over Lindbergh and the other and
more important locally over the little girl champion
piano player.
"BUD"
FISHER, PIANO MAN.
"Bud" Fisher, creator of the "Mutt and Jeff" comic
strip, had associations with the piano trade in his
pre-newspaper days. His father was for a long time
connected in the music trade in Chicago. He did
special outside work, often assisted by "Bud," for the
W. W. Kimball Co., and some of his work and trade
experiences have not been forgotten by the older
men of the trade in Chicago.
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