June 1, 1929
THIRTY=FIVE YEARS AGO
P R E S T 0-T I M E S
the ready, even eager, way in which the names are
subscribed to the agreement.
The following letters (Music and Trade interests)
were advertised at the Chicago postoffice Saturday,
May 19th:
Arion Music Co.
Buckeye Music Co.
Jacob Bros, (Jacob Bros., New York?)
At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the
Century Piano Co., of Minneapolis, the following
were elected directors: M. A. Paulsen, A. M. Shuey,
C. A. Stickle, John Anderson, W. S. Benton, C. W.
Davison, Wm. Donalson, S. E. Olson and A. C.
Hangan. The directors elected the following officers:
M. A. Paulsen, president and manager; C. W. Davi-
son, vice-president; A. M. Shuey, secretary, and C. A.
Stickle, treasurer.
(From THE PRESTO, May 24, 1894.)
An Eastern music trade gentleman who was visit-
ing Chicago a few weeks ago, expressed his surprise
at the size and completeness of C. G. Conn's band
instrument factory at Elkhart, Ind. He said he had
often heard of it and the brilliant and successful way
in which Congressman Conn conducted his busi-
ness. But not until he had thoroughly inspected the
factory and methods had he any idea that a band
instrument factory of such magnitude existed in the
West.
Let those manufacturers who grumble at the "prev-
alence" of the shoddy piano remember that there is
a demand for them and that the dealers create the
demand. Mere talk will do nothing toward driving
(From THE PRESTO May 31, 1894.)
the rattletrap boxes from the market. More ener-
Mr. Hugh Sohmer is expected in Chicago the first
getic and practical efforts are necessary.
of next week. He is now on his return trip from
Mr. Irving L. Holt, who had charge of the W. California, and will remain in Chicago several days.
W. Kimball Co.'s booth at the World's Fair last
We have heard on very good authority that the
summer, is now located at Bloomington, 111., as the Conn band instruments will be placed on exhibition
representative of the Kimball house at that place.
at the Antwerp Exposition. Such a move would
An unusual case of the office seeking the man in- redound to the honor of this particular branch of
stead of the man seeking the office, is shown by the our musical products.
Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Camp will sail for Europe
repeated efforts to induce Mr. Wm. Steinway to
accept the nomination for Mayor of New York. Mr. June 21.
Mr. A. G. Cone, treasurer of the W. W. Kimball
Steinway has long been looked upon by the Demo-
cratic party as an almost sure winner in any con- Co., who just now is seeking relief from business
test in which he would enter, and offers of the gov- cares at Old Point Comfort, is feeling the benefit of
ernorship of the State, the mayoralty of New York, the rest and will come back in better shape than
aside from other positions of great trust and honor ever to rush things. Strange as it may appear, to
have been made, but all in vain. Mr. Steinway has those fam'liar with Mr. Cone's energy, he is really
steadfastly refused to accept any political office, the resting and religiously avoids even the appearance of
attention to which could draw him away from his business.
business interests). He accepted the position of
A Chinese puzzle is simple compared with the fate
president of the Rapid Transit Commission in the of the Wilson Tariff Bill. The former a man may
interest of the city of New York as it is a non- solve as he has something to work upon, but who
salaried one and he has devoted an immense amount can predict the end of that protectionist measure?
of time to it. But as to salaried political offices Mr.
Mr. A. M. Wright, of the Manufacturers Piano
Steinway refuses to accept them.
Co., is back from the Pacific Coast, as full of inci-
We understand that Mr. Wm. E. Wheelock is to dent and experience as the world is full of sin. His
be one of the guests at the Chicago Music Trade trip extended over seven weeks and in that t'me Mr.
dinner June the 16th. It is possible that Mr. Whee- Wright visited every point of importance from Butte,
lock may be induced to give expressions to h s views Montana, to Los Angeles.
Mr. Geissler, of Sherman, Clay & Co., San Fran-
on some matters affecting the music trade.
cisco, has returned from a purchasing trip to Paris.
Mr. Wm. Tonk is expected to arrive at Chicago
J. O. Kops, in the Fargo "Forum"; "We have
this week.
been thinking for some time of re-opening our music
Invitat'ons are now being sent out by Lyon & store in Fargo. We have quite a number of stores,
Healy for the informal opening of their new store and there is not quite enough of us to go around—
which will begin on the 28th of the month and ex- one of the family in each city—so it will depend on
tend over a week. It is very probable that the majority whether we can get the right man to look after the
of Crrcago's professional musicians and amateurs have business."
already seen a portion of the new warerooms, but
The magnificent new home of Lyon & Healy at
the general public will, during this time, be given a Wabash avenue and Adams street has presented a
chance to view all the beauties and to open their gay scene the past few days, and will be thronged
eyes at the magnitude of the establishment.
during the rest of this week as never before. The
There were many disappointed purchasers at the crowds of music lovers have gathered in response to
Behr Bros. Co.'s sale on Monday of last week when the invitation sent out last week.
the bargains they had severally bid on were sold en
Here's something that partakes somewhat of the
bloc to Mr. G. R. Turnbull for $16,200 according to a nature of a mystery. One day recently a card, bear-
condition of sale which allowed the lots after being ing every evidence of a connection with some secret
sold separately to be finally disposed of in one lot. order, was picked up in a prominent Chicago res-
Among those attending at the first day's sale were taurant. By a circuitous route this card came into
Messrs. John Weser, H. Paul Mehlin, F. Muehlfeld, the possession of THE PRESTO, and after much
J. R. Graham, R. M. Bent, A. P. Roth, Fred Stieff, deliberation it is decided to try to solve the mystery.
O. K. Houck, Peter Duffy, A. and C. Jacob, and Here is the card referred to in fac-simile and reduced
Jack Haynes. At the sale of the pianos and fix- about three-fourths:
tures among those present were Messrs. Charles
The Ancient, Reckless & independent Order
Metzger, of Gallup & Metzger, J. E. Healy, of Lyon
& Healy; Alfred P. Roth, of Roth & Englehardt;
of Prevaricators.
Peter Duffy, of the Schubert Piano Co.; Alfred
LIAR'S LICEN
Meinberg, of William Knabe & Co.; Jack Haynes;
H. Paul Mehlin, Jr.; A. H. Fischer; Emile Levy,
Jhis is to ©cvtifij, that ^y
/Q 0
of the Weber Piano Co.; Emil Winterroth; Frank
is entitled to Lie from the 1st day of January to the SHt day of'
King; F. Muehlfeld; Frederick Stieff; A. Jacob; C.
December, he being a, duly qualified Liar, and having satisfied the L C ,
Jacob; John Weser; James Hollyer, of Mason &
A. R. $ I. O. of P. that he is a fit anfa proper person to hold a. License.
Hamlin; De Volney Everett; James Cumston; P. P.
.4S WITNESS my hand this . / # ~
day of ^^^4-
18'J j /
Lockhart; Abram Smith; William Mylius; George
C. Crane, of the Krell Piano Company; Robert
Proddow; O. Houghton; Francis Bacon and I. I.
Cole.
Mr. H. C. Dickinson of the Hamilton Organ Co.
Messrs. Strich & Zeidler have every reason to be informs us that business with them is very good, all
pleased and proud of the record their pianos are things considered, and that a survey of the field
making and their growing popularity. The pianos convinces him that they are having their share, and
are young yet on the market, but are appreciated by perhaps a little more.
Jay Bartlett, general traveler for the W. W. Kim-
a discriminating class of dealers.
Bro. Freeborn G. Smith's residence in Brooklyn, tall Co., tells a good story on Emil Wulschner of
had a narrow escape from sharing the same fate as Indianapolis. It is so gcod that PRESTO may relate
the Brooklyn Tabernacle when that edifice was it later.
Forty per cent of the product of the Steinway fac-
burned on Sunday of last week. Some pieces of blaz-
ing wood, carried from the Tabernacle by the wind, tory are grands.
set his house on fire, but prompt action by Mr.
Smith kept the fire under control until the firemen
SOME FINE CHIROGRAPHY.
reached the building and saved it.
The Arcade Piano Store awarded a Kimball piano
A tender smile of joy illumines the classic face of to the winner of a contest which it conducted re-
Platt P. Gibbs, for he has made his yearly round cently. The piano was won by the individual who
and has collected the signatures of the Chicago music wrote the sentence: "Arcade Piano Store Sells Kiln-
houses to close up Saturday afternoons at 1 o'clock ball Pianos" the greatest number of times in legible
from June 2 to Sept. 2, exactly three months, as Sep- form on a post card or sheet of paper of equal dimen-
tember 1 comes on Saturday. This work is a labor sions. The winner succeeded in writing the sentence
of love with P. P. G., and he appreciates to the full 1,289 times.
FIRST NATIONAL CONTEST
OF SCHOOL ORCHESTRAS
Grand Trophy Won by Lincoln High School.
Lincoln, Neb.—C. M. Tremaine
in Attendance.
The first annual contest on a national scale for
school orchestras, which was held in Iowa City, Iowa,
on May 17 and 18, was an unquestioned success, ac-
cording to reports received by the National Bureau
for the Advancement of Music, which cooperated in
the meet. Fourteen of the finest school orchestras
in the country, representing winners in various state
contests held prior to the national meet, took part
in the competition for the bronze and silver national
trophy awarded by the Bureau.
The contest was held under the auspices of the
University of Iowa and was in direct charge of Prof.
E. H. Wilcox. The competing school organizations
were from states as widely separated as Florida, Min-
nesota, Indiana and Michigan, seven states in all
being represented.
The grand trophy was won by Lincoln High
School of Lincoln, Neb., C. B. Righter, Jr., directing.
The standing of other contestants in this class was:
Hammond High School, Hammond, Ind., Adam P.
Lesinsky, director, second; Flint Central High
School, Flint, Mich., Walter Bloch, director, third;
and East High School, Waterloo, la , G. T. Bennett,
director, fourth.
Mt. Clemens High School, Mt. Clemens, Mich.,
Paul H. Tammi, director, won first place in Class B;
Michigan City High, Michigan City, Ind., Palmer H-
Myran, director, second; and Decatur High School,
Decatur, Mich., Aileen Bennett, director, third.
The judges of the contest were: George Dasch,
conductor of the Little Symphony Orchestra, Chi-
cago; Joseph E. Maddy, School of Music, University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Sandor Harmati,
conductor of the Symphony Orchestra, Detroit, Mich.,
and Vladimir Bakaleinikoff, assistant conductor, Cin-
cinnati Symphony Orchestra.
C. M. Tremaine, director of the National Bureau
for the Advancement of Music, under whose rules the
contest was held, attended the meet. From Iowa
City he went to Denver, Colo., where the National
School Band Contest was held on May 23, 24 and 25.
FIRST CHICKERING SHOWN.
Ampico Hall, Chicago, presented as its window
display during the pre-convention week the first
dickering, the work of Jonas Chickering, founder
of the company. It was sold June 23, 1823, the
original bill of sale being available for display in con-
junction with the old square pianoforte. The sale
price was $275.
A show card informs passersby: "Its remarkable
condition today testifies to the thought and care that
the young artisan put into its construction, for its
tiny voice is still clear and resonant."
Contrasted with this original Chickering is the
piano displayed alongside, one of the company's latest
models, as remarkable for compactness and artistic
design as for excellence of tone.
TALKS WITH D. G. PFEIFFER.
Presto-Times Eastern correspondent spent a pleas
ant half-hour while in Washington with D. G. Pfeif-
fer, assistant to the president of the Homer L. Kitt
Company, "The Complete Music House," 1330 G
street, N. W., Washington, D. C, recently. This
house is the Knabe representative, handling the
Knabe piano and the Ampico. Mr. Pfeiffer is a vet-
eran in the piano business, having been known for
years as a traveler from coast to coast, and has been
in his present position for several years. He said
that business in Washington was now coming along
fairly well and the outlook for future trade improves
from day to day.
OUT-DOOR CIRCUS, CHICAGO
The first showing of the big free Outdoor Circus
at White City, Chicago, was held on the night of
May 25, when the four Haas Brothers climbed their
way up the treacherous rigging to their perilous
perches high above the heads of the spectators. These
famous daredevils performed their death-defying feats
up in the dizzy altitudes with many a gasp for the
thrill seekers Chicago's summer gayety seems all
wrapped up in this outdoor mecca.
RECITALS AT WATKIN'S SALON
Watkin's Salon of Music, Dallas, Tex., was host
recently to three groups of pupils, the students re-
spectively of Lorelei Rapley and Mrs. Dora Starling
of De Mond Conservatory. Lazelle Light and Juanita
Blair Price. The pupils were presented in piano and
violin recitals. Chickering and Mason & Hamlin
pianos were used.
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