Music Trade Review

18
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
January aoth, 1881.
who used an ordinary wooden foot lathe in which nice adjustment of tension
was almost impossible, and by which only a few strings could be turned off
in a day even by a clever workman.
WRIGHT & BOUND, Liverpool, England.
Now we see all that changed, and with the advent of these and kindred
'JSTae improvements it may be possible to have pianos with interchangeable parts
H. ROUND. Four easy Trios for two Cornets and Euphonium.
Luck," Scotch Air variefor Cornet Solo, with Pianoforte Accompaniment. like
2s. a Waltham watch or a Springfield rifle, each one of which will have pre-
cisely the same power, quality of tone, and capability for remaining in tune
"•The Plough Boy," old English Air varie for Cornet, with Piano Accompani-
as the 99 or 999 predecessors from the same factory. The progress of this
ment. 2s. '•'•Jenny Jones," Welsh Air varie for Cornet, with Piano Accom-
paniment. 2s. We hope that our cornet soloists, Arbuckle, Levy, Liberati, young and enterprising firm since they established themselves in this city
Shuebruck, Bent, and all the others, may find something which suits their has been rapid and the testimonials which they have received from first class
taste and individual talent among these selections. Summer is soon coming, manufacturers of pianos and other musical instruments, as well as the large
orders which they have for their goods, are evidences that the trade gener-
and new cornet solos will be in demand.
ally is appreciating their good work.
BRENTANO'S LITERARY EMPORIUM, New York.
Messrs. Morse & Emerson within a few months passed through a disas-
DB. JOSE GODOY. "Be at the window, darling." Song. 40 cts. Very trous fire to which we have before alluded in a former issue, and by which
plain and simple. As the song is unpretentious, it will find favor in the the earnings of many months of hard work were swept away, but they are
now in better and safer quarters with more room to increase their facilities,
eyes of many who like little dainties without difficulties.
which the proportions of the business render imperative in the near future.
DK. JOSE GODOY. "Pachita Habanera." 60 cts. Written in the usual
style of this kind of music; can be sung by one voice or as duet, and has
English and Spanish words.
CELLULOID PIANO KEYS.
CHICAGO MUSIC CO., Chicago, 111.
SHORT time before the close of the year just passed, the President and
EDGAR H. SHERWOOD. "Naiad of the Rapids." Galop for Piano. 75
Vice-President of the Celluloid Piano Key Company, of 216 Centre
cts. A composition with dash and fire, which will give a great deal of street, New York, made a thorough tour of the Middle and Western States,
pleasure to pianists who are fond of brilliant style.
and found everywhere among the music trade the most gratifying evidences
increasing popularity of celluloid piano keys.
J. E. ROHRBAUGH. " Sylvan Dell." Valse. 35 cts. Too insignificant of the
The only objection which has ever been made against the use of cellu-
to deserve more than a mere notice of its existence.
loid for piano keys, by unprejudiced persons, Avas that it was liable to warp,
but that objection only applied to the keys manufactured from celluloid
HARRY DAVIS. " The Colored Regimental Guards." Character Song.
40 cts. One of those songs the success of which depends more on the made when alcohol was used as a solvent for the raw material. The com-
words and the accompanying gestures than on the music. Artistic work pany ceased to use alcohol as a solvent several months since, and, as often
happens in similar cases, they found a solvent which is better than the
would be entirely out of place in a minstrel show.
original one, and which helps to correct this very difficulty, viz., warping of
LESLIE WATSON, Syracuse, 111.
the keys. We have seen a set of piano keys made from unseasoned wood,
WATSON, " Christmas March," for piano. 35 cts. The composer which has been exposed to a dry atmosphere for a long time, and gives no
shows in this march to advantage. It is a very good musical work, although signs to the naked eye of deviating from a level. Of course, in introducing
a comparatively new article in any branch of manufacture a vast deal of ig-
the melodic invention is of limited character.
norance and predjudice has to be overcome, and all sorts of foolish objections
are urged against its use by predjudiced workmen and parties interested
MORSE & EMERSON'S STRING FACTORY.
it, but the advantages from its use are so manifest that it is steadily
I 1^VERY department appertaining to the manufacture of musical instru- against
gaining
favor with piano and organ manufacturers as may be judged from
J j j ments is of interest to the mechanic and inventor, and to those who the fact in
that
are now over 230,000 sets of celluloid keys in use and
are interested in the fine machinery and nice labor-saving contrivances with their number there
is
constantly
There is no purpose among the
which of all countries in the world our own is especially fruitful at this many for which this valuable increasing.
invention is used, which seems to us more
time; and this is particularly the case in the manufacture of strings for fitting and proper than its adaptation
to the manufacture of piano and organ
musical instruments of all classes—not only those which are intended to keys; it possesses qualities which render
it far better for the purpose than
vibrate on being struck, but also those which give out sound by friction. ivory, for as at present manufactured, it never
yellow or becomes in
In the difficulties to be overcome and the nice manipulation required by the any way discolored, is less liable to crack, and its turns
flexibility renders
workman, as well as the many elements which have to be considered by the its adaptation to any wooden surface easy. It is extreme
in its fourth year of
successful manufacturer, we are inclined to think that, although in respect use for this purpose; no well-founded complaint now
against it has yet been
to the magnitude of the business this manufacture occupies a subordinate made, and we look forward to the time when its use
for piano and organ
place, yet, in view of the skill required, it must be accorded a place (mechan- keys will became almost universal.
ically speaking) in the front rank.
In the factory of Messrs. Morse & Emerson (a young but fast-growing
firm in this line of business), at 328 and 330 Seventh avenue, in this city, we
OBITUARY.
find mechanical appliances for the making of all kinds of strings for musical
MEYER,
senior
member
of the firm of Conrad Meyer & Sons,
instruments, which must be well worth a visit from every one connected
with the musical manufacture who really takes an interest in the mechanical \J and said to have been the oldest manufacturer of pianos in the United
part of his business, and does not simply look at a musical instrument as a States, died on the evening of Jan. 11th, at his residence in this city, in his
88th year. He was born on the 18th of September, 1793, in Marburg,
piece of merchandise to be bought and sold.
Hesse Cassel, Germany. He served with distinction in the war against
Here may be found machines at work on the manufacture of strings for Napoleon
1814 and 1815, and was wounded at the siege of Thionville.
pianofortes by which all the difficulties which have heretofore puzzled piano In 1821 he during
was decorated by the Elector William II. with the medal of
makers are completely overcome, the tension of the string while being Remembrance
and Honor, instituted for the Hessian military who had
wound and the tension of the covering wire being so nicely adjusted by the passed the Rhine
participated in the wars of 1814-'15. The medal was
machine and the skill of the workman, that what is technically called " back- cast of metal from and the
guns. Leaving Marburg, May 14, 1818,
throw," or twisting of the string when finished, and false intonations arising to sail for America, he captured
was shripwrecked off Calais; and it was not until
from unequal tension in winding, are entirely obviated, the string, when it August, 1819, that he arrived
in Baltimore, Md.
comes finished from the machine, hanging almost as straight as a plumb
Immediately after his arrival in that city he commenced work as a piano
line; and of the thousands of piano strings which the firm has turned out,
we believe they have yet to hear of one that has proved unsatisfactory. maker. While there he had as a fellow-workman the late James Lick, of
Such mechanical results can only be obtained by men who have made a San Francisco, Cal. In January or February of 1823, he came to Philadel-
study of their business, and have not only theorized on it, but have worked phia, and established himself in business. In 1832 he invented the full iron
at the difficulties to be overcome with their hands as well as their brains; plate frame for pianos, which, it is stated, was the commencement, or rather
and an intimate acquaintance with the head of this firm not only proves his founding, of the present American system of piano-making. It is also
knowledge of the string manufacture itself, but of the scientific facts in claimed for him that he was the first to use glass as an insulator on piano
other branches which have a bearing on this. There are many things to be legs, and that he was inventor of the reversed top for pianos.
Mr. Meyer was the oldest member of Hermann Lodge, No. 125, F. and
considered in the manufacture of a perfect string for a musical instrument
which would hardly be thought of by one unfamiliar with the business; for A. M., and was connected with the Franklin Institute and the German and
instance, a covered gut string should be made in the climate in which it is Marburger Societies, and other organizations. He was active in all musical
intended to be used, because a change in the atmosphere causes a change in enterprises of moment, and was the intimate friend of Wallace, Vieuxtemps,
the string, an expansion or contraction occurring which loosens the covering Dempster, Herz, De Meyer, Thalberg, Cross, and other leading musical
wire, and thereby rains the tone. To this circumstance is owing the fact celebrities. His wife died in November, 1880. He leaves two sons, who
that so many strings manufactured in Europe prove unsatisfactory in this have for a number of years taken active charge of the business of the
country, as well as to the use of cheap material, which the desperate effort concern.
made to overcome our tariff renders necessary on the part of the foreign man-
COMPLIMENT TO AMERICAN ORGAN BUILDERS.—The new Ininan Line
ufacturer.
steamer
of Rome, now being constructed on the river Clyde in Scotland,
We are informed that the success of Messrs. Morse & Emerson in the and said City
to
be
finest steamer ever built for the transatlantic trade, is to
making of perfect strings, besides the excellence of their machinery, is due to have erected at the the
end of the magnificent dining saloon, 75 feet long, a
the excellent quality of the raw materials for the business which may now grand American organ,
be procured in this country.
ENGLISH TRADE.—The Christmas holidays in England, opened with a
The gut can be obtained of a more homogeneous quality, and the raw
silk manufactured here now is better for string making purposes than any better trade in music and musical instruments than for some time. Home
imported ; the wire (body as well as covering) is also of better quality than orders were plentiful, and the export trade steady. The government report
the imported, a result which has only been brought to pass within a few shows an increasing trade for the whole country.
years and in which it is hinted that the senior partner in the firm of which
OBITUARY.—The death is announced at Paris, of M. Emile Pfeiffer, for
we are writing has also had a hand.
many
years a partner in the house of Messrs. Pleyel, Wolff. The death is
Not the least feature in the working of these string making machines is also announced
M. Etienne Girod, music publisher, and head of the well
the rapidity with which the work is executed ; here are machines for making known house ef of
of Paris. Also the death at Turin, of Achile Strada,
covered piano strings from which 20 sets of perfect strings are turned off a member of the Launer,
music publishing house of Guidici & Strada.
every working day, each one of which will be precisely like the other, not
STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.—J. J. Held, of Bence, Germany, received the
only when measured with the callipers, but by the more delicate test of tone
when in musical use. Such results seem marvelous when we consider that bronze medal for string instruments, shown at the recent Diisaeldorf Exhi-
only a few years have elapsed, since string covering was done by a workman bition.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A