Music Trade Review

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MUSIC TRADE REVIEW,
FIGURES ABOUT T H E CHICAGO ORGAN
TRADE.
AMERICAN PIANOS AT THE HEAD
AGAIN.
STEINWAY & SONS RECEIVE T H E GRAND
GOLD MEDAL A T T H E GREAT LONDON
EXPOSITION.
AN ACCOUNT OF THEIK EXHIBIT.
T
HE LONDON INTERNATIONAL INVENTOES' EXHI-
BITION began on the first of May last, and
continued until the ninth of November. It was a
great affair; a magnificent show in every respect,with
its wonderful display of man's ingenuity from every
quarter of the globe, and with its fairy-like gardens
and fountains brilliantly illuminated at night by
thousands of electric lights.
Mr. WILLIAM STEINWAY, who was there, describes
It as one of the most remarkable sights he ever wit-
nessed, and he has visited all the great exhibitions
of the world.
',*" '*'*"' " ' ' f ' '""
On the 4th inst. there came a cable dispatch from
London, atating:
"Messrs. Steinway & Sons
received a grand gold medal,
the highest award in the
power ot the jury on musical
instruments to g r a n t for
general excellence in Grand
and Upright Pianos, and tor
several meritorious and use-
ful inventions."
No other piano exhibited received any mention of
improvements or inventions.
This was indeed a triumph for a house which, in
spite of all the glory it has received, is not slow to
recognize appreciation from capable judges.
The STEINWAY exhibit was purposely arranged in
a simple—almost a severe manner. There were
only five pianos in their space; one small parlor
grand, one medium parlor grand, one ooncort grand,
one upright grand and one cabinet grand. Besides
the pianos they had a complete display of the cast-
ings which they make in their own foundry in
Astoria, and of their numerous patents, inventions
and improvements. This exhibit attracted the en-
thusiastic attention of the hosts of spectators inter-
ested in musical instruments, and was an important
feature of the exposition. While many other piano
manufacturers displayed their instruments in greater
numbers, none could show such a variety of valuable
inventions, and where other manufacturers built
canopies over their spaces to reflect the sound,
Messrs. STEINWAY & SONS left their's entirely open
that the tone of their instruments might be tested
entirely on its merits, even in that vast building.
Mr. FKANZ HUMMEL, the celebrated pianist, gave
frequent recitals upon the STEINWAY grand, and was
always listened to by a crowd of delighted people.
It will be remembered that Mr. RUMMEL created a
furore in this country a few years ago, and that he
married the daughter of Professor MORSE, the great
electrician, the inventor of the MORSE telegraph, and
the father of telegraphy the world over.
Messrs. STEINWAY & SONS have good reason to be
proud of their success, and we are confident that not
only the public, but the entire music trade of this
country, will, as we do, give them the heartiest con-
gratulations.
It is a triumph for us all.
I
N SPEAKING of the music trade of Chicago, I
must say that I was impressed with some figures
that were given me by those who ought to know.
According to these authorities, the Chicago Cottage
Organ Company makes an average of about four
hundred organs a month ; Storey & Clark will aver-
age about three hundred a month, Earhuff about one
hundred and Bent about seventy-five. But I have
not mentioned an important factor in the trade.
There is the W. W. Kimball Company, which people,
from whom they purchase supplies, tell me average
close upon 1,250 organs a month. So the figures
stand thus, showing the out-put of Chicago organs
to be:
Storey & Clark
Chicago Cottage Organ Cu
Earhuff
Bent
W. W. Kimball Co
'
Total per month
300
400
. . . 150
75
1250
2175
Someone told me that the W. \V. Kimball Compnny
made one-third of all the organs manufactured in
Chicago, but the above figures prtfve to me that the
Kimball Company make more than one-half of the
total out-put for Chicago, which is no small propor-
tion of the total organ trade of this country. I had
been told at the warerooms of the W. W. Kimball
Company that very recently they had made over one
thousand organs in twenty-three days, but as I like
to have matters confirmed, I did not care to put
such a statement into print until certain supply men
had given me their figures, and I found that their
figures agreed with the statement of tho Kimball
Company.
I was surprised when in Chicago to meet a gentle-
man connected with the Eock Kiver American Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He
showed me, on one of the minutes of that conference,
the advertisement of W. W. Kimball in 18(i2. Mr.
Kimball had then been in business four years, and
was handling the Chickering, the Hallet & Davis and
the Emerson. To-day he is handling those .same three
makes of instruments, and has done more to make
their names known, and to make them popular in the
northwest than any other man.
These facts and figures go to show how great a
factor the W. W. Kimball Company is in the mush:
trade of Chicago.
THAT ALLEGED ANTISELL AWARD.
LTHOUGH somewhat late, " i t is better late
than never," and we beg the indulgence of
those of our readers who are already familiar
with the details of the matter, while we give the
facts that none of our readers may go wrong on the
record. We refer to the alleged New Orleans award
to the T. M. Antisell Piano Co. The senior member
of the company certainly belied his name, which
should be changed from Anti-sell to Pro-sell, for he
certainly sold several parties, including ourselves,
by his statements to the effect that his corporation
" had been awarded the highest honors at the World's
Fair." This statement would have been correct but
for the absence of the essential element of truth, and
was made ridiculous by the simple fact that it was a
downright falsehood founded on sand an,d destined to
be exploded like a soap-bubble. The facts were as
follows : The T. M. Antisell Piano Co. had two pi-
anos on exhibition but not in competition, and there-
fore not subject to award. The regular jury in the
piano class awarded the gold medal to Messrs. Behr
Bros. & Co., of New York city. As a measure for
personal vantage, Mr. T. M. Antisell then enlisted
Col. Andrews, of California, in his behalf, and the
result was an award written on a wine jury blank
and signed by the wine jury. Even these wonderful
judges of the juice of the grape did not examine the
Antisell pianos, but the blank already signed was
secured by some hocus pocus, and filled up as the
jury would have to be before it would " medal " the
Antisell piano. Then, through the intercession of
the Colonel, the congratulatory letter signed by
eighteen United States commissioners was received,
the said commissioners signing with as little thought
of the object as is usually bestowed on a signature
to a petition for notary public's position, and with
about the same knowledge of its contents. These
facts have been freely acknowledged and confessed
by the "wine jury," and several of the "roped in "
eighteen. Mr. Antisell undertook to play what he
considered a sharp trick, but too thin to work well,
although for a short period the imposition was suc-
cessful.— Chicago Indicator.
A
[I am glad that my contemporary has at last taken
such a decided stand in this matter. The Musio
TRADE EEVIEW exposed the Antisell humbug at the
very beginning, so that all who had endorsed it were
obliged to throw him over. It now only remains for
Antisell, if he has any elements of decency in him,
to make a humble apology to the public for the fraud
he attempted to impose upon it. Then let us hear
no more of the matter.
CHARLES AVERY WELLES.]
REED & SONS VS. HALE, CHICKERING ET EL.
CASE of some note has been decided before
Judge Tuley, involving some $6,500. It ap-
pears that at the time of the A. Keed & Sons'
failure in 1879, the firm were indebted to Chickering
& Sons to the amount of $10,000, to J. P. Hale $20,-
000 and about the same amount to the Wilcox &
White Organ Co. Messrs. Reed & Sons transferred
to the parties named real estate with improvements,
on the corner of Van Buren St. and Pacific Ave.,
under an agreement to the effect that when the
property should be sold, all excess over orignal debt
should be divided between the parties to the agree-
ment, Reed & Sons receiving one half. The debt was
about $50,000 and the creditors took up a $20,000
mortgage leaving a total debt against the realty of
$70,000. The property was recently sold for $83,000,
and Messrs. Reed & Sons claimed $6,500 divided on
surplus. The other parties to the contract, however,
claimed this surplus was more than offset by taxes,
interest assessments, etc., the result being a recourse
to the law, and a decision in favor of tho plaintiffs.
The court allowing the claims, solicitors, masters,
receivers and real-estate brokers' fees, but not for
taxes and assessment, claiming an offset as the de-
fendants had the use of property rents, etc. By this
decision Messrs. Reed & Sons find themselves clear
of every dollar of indebtedness resulting from the
failure, and a balance of some $6,500 now coming to
them. They have proved the truth of their assertion
that there was ample assets to pay all debts. The
usual motion for a new trial was entered.—Chicago
Indicator.
A
PATENTS AND INVENTIONS.
Upright piano case, No. 327,714, H. S. Parmelee.
Music leaf turner, No. 327,698, C. H. Lindeman.
Musical instrument key-board, No. 327,628, W. T.
Wier.
Exercising device for musicians, No. 327,!)18, J.
Brotherhood.
Automatic musical instruments, No. 328,503, J.
McTamany.
Organ stop-action (reed,) No. 328,647, E. P. Carpen-
ter.
Organ stop knob, No. 328,418, R. Alden.
Piano, No. 328,566, B. B. Bradbury.
Piano string plate, No. 328,455, J. W. Brackett.
MR. CHARLES AVERY WELLES, well known in music
and dramatic journalism, has written a drama, which
we had the pleasure of hearing read during his visit
to Chicago. It is well written and has a strong plot
well worked out. Mr. Welles is not over-sanguine as
to its success, and for this reason has not tried to
have it produced ; but actors of judgment have pro-
nounced it meritorious, and we hope he may be pre-
vailed upon to make an effort to present it to the
public.—Chicago Indicator.
[Thanks.—CHARLES AVKRY WELLES.]
MR. CHARLES AVERY WELLES returned to his home
on Thursday, after a pleasant and we trust profitable
visit in our city.—Indicator.
AMONG many well known Eastern faces I saw in
town last week was that of Charles Avery Welles, of
that ably-edited and newsy paper, the Music TRADE
REVIEW, of New York. Some time ago, it may be
remembered, Mr. Welles was threatened with several
lawsuits by his brother editor-actor, Mr. J. C. Freund.
But Freund, apparently remembering that Truth lies
at the bottom of a Well, and therefore of Welles, has
thought better of it, and Mr. Welles is left free to
develop his untiring energy and acknowledged talents
and enterprise undisturbed by the terrors and delays
of law.—Chicago Music and Drama.
[ The above is not exactly the state of the case with
Freund, but the article is written in a kindly spirit,
and I thank the writer.—CHARLES AVERY WELLES.]
PRATT, BEAD & Co., Deep River, Conn., are per-
fectly contented with the volume of their business.
They are furnishing some of the best piano and organ
manufacturers in the trade with keys, and their work
never fails to give entire satisfaction.