Music Trade Review
Issue: 1887 Vol. 10 N. 19 - Page 5
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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
BEHR BROS. PIANO MUFFLER.
F
EW, if any, of our piano manufacturers exeel
the firm of Behr Bros. & Co. in enterprise.
This firm is continually getting out new de-
vices towards the perfecting of pianoforte making.
Among others that are of great value, and which
are the sole property of Behr Bros. & Co., are the
Bessemer Steel Action Frame, the Enwood Bridge,
the Finger Guard, the Harmonic Scale, and the two
latest inventions, the Touch Regulator and the Piaio
Mufller. This last invention is calculated to fill a
long-felt want, and, as its name Implies, is for the
purpose of muflling the tone of the piano. I t con-
sists of a strip of felt thrown against the strings by
pulling out a small knob at the right hand of the key
board. Everybody will admit that the ordinary piano
practice is a great annoyance to a household, and to
obviate this dumb plaifos and other practically use-
less contrivances have been invented. The "Muf-
fler" has an advantage over the dumb pianos, as the
person playing on an instrument with it attached is
able personally to hear the sound of the notes with-
out in the least disturbing any other inmate of the
house. It also prevents the hammerfelt from being
worn too much, and is, therefore, in this respect
alone, a great saving to the instrument. We print
elsewhere a number of sketches cleverly illustrating
the practical benefits of the use of the "Mufller."
The sketches originally appeared in the inimitable
comic paper Puck, and are amusing as well as truth-
ful, showing how the ordinary household appears
with and without the "Muffler" to Its piano. The
agents of the Behr Bros, piano write that the " Muf-
fler" is creating quito a stir among their customers,
and the demand for them is consequently in excess
of the supply.
We can assure the trade that this last great inven-
tion of this progressive firm is one which will in a
short time find its way into our households and prove
to be a genuine blessing. The following leading
houses are among those of their agents who have ut-
tered words of praise for the " Piano Muffler" : F. A.
North & Co., Philadelphia ; Otto Sutro & Co., Balti-
more; J. F. Ellis & Co., Washington; Louis Grune-
wald, New Orleans; Estey & Camp, Chicago and St.
Louis; Kohler & Chase, San Francisoo; Mai Meyer
& Bro., Omaha; W. J. Dyer & Bro., St. Paul and
Minneapolis; Wm. Eohlflng & Co., Milwaukee; It.
Dorman & Co., Nashville; George Hall, Cleveland ;
H. D. Munson & Sons, Zanesville; Clough & Warren,
Detroit; Mackie & Co., Rochester; Gallup & Motz-
ger, Hartford; S. R. Leland & Son, Worcester;
Compton, McMaster & Co., Rockport.
Another great invention of this firm is their
"Touch Regulator," whioh allows the performer on
the Instrument without any difficulty to regulate the
depth of the keyboard. It consists of fourscrews>
attached to the panel frames of the key-bottom ; by
using an ordinary tuning-hammer and turning the
screw the keyboard can be raised or lowered without
affecting the action. The simplicity and yet useful-
ness of the invention will be well appreciated by all
musicians and others.
Mr. Paul Gmehlin, a member of the firm of Behr
Bros. & Co., has in great part contributed to its suc-
cess by using his marvellous inventive genius in a
practical manner, thereby enabling the house to
carry out his ideas in such a way as would enhance
the value of their instruments.
SAYING BETTER THAN STRIKING.
TIME will come, it is to be hoped, when labor
societies will consider themselves under obli-
gations, not alone to maintain the rate of
wages, but to see that when earned those wages are
rationally and usefully employed. Hitherto there
has been too much question of what men should re-
ceive for their labor, and too little question of how
they should expend their earnings. Workingraen
insist that the sympathy of the public ought to be
with them in their struggles to improve their situa-
tion. They do not reflect that to deserve this com-
plete sympathy it is incumbent on them to show that
they do not waste their earnings. If a man earns a
thousand dollars a year, and chooses to spend a
fourth of his income in superfluities, and, moreover,
in mischievous superfluities, such as drink, he can-
not make much of a showing in complaining of his
A
r H im't live an 'llirr honrlf that ronfnnntfad piano-thumping pocs on I
293
poverty. I t is alleged that the drink bill of this
country is $900,000,000. To apportion half of that
outlay to the working classes is certainly not an un-
reasonable division. What a fund for the improve-
ment of the condition of labor is here worse than
flung away.
Even a retrenchment of 50 per cent, in this one
source of waste would produce a capital large enough
to establish co-operative industries all over the
country, and to give to organized labor the impetus
which its leaders deelare can only be supplied by
money. But in face of the fact that the working-
men at present prefer to spend this great sum in
drink, is it not nonsense to assert that they are
handicapped in the race for prosperity by any hands
but their own ? Nothing more conclusively demon-
strates the familiar axiom that the capitalization of
wealth implies thrift. The capitalists are not, as
too many workingmen seem to imagine, a class of
wicked men, who, by some unholy means, have got
hold of masses of meney. They are simply the men
who have practiced self-denial; who have saved in-
stead of spending their surplus earnings; who have
put it to interest prudently as opportunity served;
who have always expended less than they earned.
Hundreds of them began poor; not seldom by day
labor. But even when they only earned $1.50 a day
they saved something, and this rule of life has
brought them competence.—Cincinnati Artisan.
THE Wilcox & White Organ Co., Meriden, Conn.,
are constantly adding to their large list of agents.
Among the latest are Theo. Pfafflin & Co., Indian-
apolis, Ind.; Barclay & Cooper, Evansville, Ind.;
Wm. Rohlflng & Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; Gilbert Car-
ter, Birmingham, Ala., and Hume, Miner & Co.,
Richmond, Va.
THE Brand Manufacturing Co., New Britain, Conn.,
are having a large trade in piano and organ hard-
ware. It will not be long before this firm will be in
a position to supply the organ trade with reeds.
DECKER & SON, N. Y., are having an excellent
trade. They made a heavy shipment to points in
California two days ago, whioh shows that Califor-
nians will have the Decker & SOB at any cost.
" I hold four aces. By the way, for n wonder, that pliuio down-stairs does not set us crazy
to-night-"
"They are lining the ' Ilchr I'iauo Muffler.' "
' TTnw nice! Baby can go to bed now, while Albert and Ethel are practising duets."
'Ophelia, I am plucl you do not annoy the people down-Btairs any more with your prHctliliife.'
I wish aomebody would kill that girl up-stairs, elsu I 'II nover learu t o ; part I"
-A.
" Come on, Macduff, and accursed, be bo wliu »ays the ' l i e h r P i m m .Miilllcr ' la not
aRreat lnvontlon!"
GBBAT
A PATENT PIANO MUFFLER IS THE LATEST INVENTION PLACED ON THE BEHR UPRIGHT PIANO. OBVIATES ALL ANNOYANCE FROM PRACTICING, WHILE EACH TONE IS
DISTINCT TO THE PERFORMER.
DOES NOT ALTER THE TOUCH NOR WEAR THE HAMMER FELT.
BEHR BR0S..& CO., MANUFACTURERS OF PIANOS.
WAREROOMS. 15 E. 14TH ST.
FACTORY. 2 9 2 - 2 9 8 11TH AVE. AND 5 5 0 W. 2 9 T H ST., N. Y. CITY.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
BEHR BROS. PIANO MUFFLER.
F
EW, if any, of our piano manufacturers exeel
the firm of Behr Bros. & Co. in enterprise.
This firm is continually getting out new de-
vices towards the perfecting of pianoforte making.
Among others that are of great value, and which
are the sole property of Behr Bros. & Co., are the
Bessemer Steel Action Frame, the Enwood Bridge,
the Finger Guard, the Harmonic Scale, and the two
latest inventions, the Touch Regulator and the Piaio
Mufller. This last invention is calculated to fill a
long-felt want, and, as its name Implies, is for the
purpose of muflling the tone of the piano. I t con-
sists of a strip of felt thrown against the strings by
pulling out a small knob at the right hand of the key
board. Everybody will admit that the ordinary piano
practice is a great annoyance to a household, and to
obviate this dumb plaifos and other practically use-
less contrivances have been invented. The "Muf-
fler" has an advantage over the dumb pianos, as the
person playing on an instrument with it attached is
able personally to hear the sound of the notes with-
out in the least disturbing any other inmate of the
house. It also prevents the hammerfelt from being
worn too much, and is, therefore, in this respect
alone, a great saving to the instrument. We print
elsewhere a number of sketches cleverly illustrating
the practical benefits of the use of the "Mufller."
The sketches originally appeared in the inimitable
comic paper Puck, and are amusing as well as truth-
ful, showing how the ordinary household appears
with and without the "Muffler" to Its piano. The
agents of the Behr Bros, piano write that the " Muf-
fler" is creating quito a stir among their customers,
and the demand for them is consequently in excess
of the supply.
We can assure the trade that this last great inven-
tion of this progressive firm is one which will in a
short time find its way into our households and prove
to be a genuine blessing. The following leading
houses are among those of their agents who have ut-
tered words of praise for the " Piano Muffler" : F. A.
North & Co., Philadelphia ; Otto Sutro & Co., Balti-
more; J. F. Ellis & Co., Washington; Louis Grune-
wald, New Orleans; Estey & Camp, Chicago and St.
Louis; Kohler & Chase, San Francisoo; Mai Meyer
& Bro., Omaha; W. J. Dyer & Bro., St. Paul and
Minneapolis; Wm. Eohlflng & Co., Milwaukee; It.
Dorman & Co., Nashville; George Hall, Cleveland ;
H. D. Munson & Sons, Zanesville; Clough & Warren,
Detroit; Mackie & Co., Rochester; Gallup & Motz-
ger, Hartford; S. R. Leland & Son, Worcester;
Compton, McMaster & Co., Rockport.
Another great invention of this firm is their
"Touch Regulator," whioh allows the performer on
the Instrument without any difficulty to regulate the
depth of the keyboard. It consists of fourscrews>
attached to the panel frames of the key-bottom ; by
using an ordinary tuning-hammer and turning the
screw the keyboard can be raised or lowered without
affecting the action. The simplicity and yet useful-
ness of the invention will be well appreciated by all
musicians and others.
Mr. Paul Gmehlin, a member of the firm of Behr
Bros. & Co., has in great part contributed to its suc-
cess by using his marvellous inventive genius in a
practical manner, thereby enabling the house to
carry out his ideas in such a way as would enhance
the value of their instruments.
SAYING BETTER THAN STRIKING.
TIME will come, it is to be hoped, when labor
societies will consider themselves under obli-
gations, not alone to maintain the rate of
wages, but to see that when earned those wages are
rationally and usefully employed. Hitherto there
has been too much question of what men should re-
ceive for their labor, and too little question of how
they should expend their earnings. Workingraen
insist that the sympathy of the public ought to be
with them in their struggles to improve their situa-
tion. They do not reflect that to deserve this com-
plete sympathy it is incumbent on them to show that
they do not waste their earnings. If a man earns a
thousand dollars a year, and chooses to spend a
fourth of his income in superfluities, and, moreover,
in mischievous superfluities, such as drink, he can-
not make much of a showing in complaining of his
A
r H im't live an 'llirr honrlf that ronfnnntfad piano-thumping pocs on I
293
poverty. I t is alleged that the drink bill of this
country is $900,000,000. To apportion half of that
outlay to the working classes is certainly not an un-
reasonable division. What a fund for the improve-
ment of the condition of labor is here worse than
flung away.
Even a retrenchment of 50 per cent, in this one
source of waste would produce a capital large enough
to establish co-operative industries all over the
country, and to give to organized labor the impetus
which its leaders deelare can only be supplied by
money. But in face of the fact that the working-
men at present prefer to spend this great sum in
drink, is it not nonsense to assert that they are
handicapped in the race for prosperity by any hands
but their own ? Nothing more conclusively demon-
strates the familiar axiom that the capitalization of
wealth implies thrift. The capitalists are not, as
too many workingmen seem to imagine, a class of
wicked men, who, by some unholy means, have got
hold of masses of meney. They are simply the men
who have practiced self-denial; who have saved in-
stead of spending their surplus earnings; who have
put it to interest prudently as opportunity served;
who have always expended less than they earned.
Hundreds of them began poor; not seldom by day
labor. But even when they only earned $1.50 a day
they saved something, and this rule of life has
brought them competence.—Cincinnati Artisan.
THE Wilcox & White Organ Co., Meriden, Conn.,
are constantly adding to their large list of agents.
Among the latest are Theo. Pfafflin & Co., Indian-
apolis, Ind.; Barclay & Cooper, Evansville, Ind.;
Wm. Rohlflng & Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; Gilbert Car-
ter, Birmingham, Ala., and Hume, Miner & Co.,
Richmond, Va.
THE Brand Manufacturing Co., New Britain, Conn.,
are having a large trade in piano and organ hard-
ware. It will not be long before this firm will be in
a position to supply the organ trade with reeds.
DECKER & SON, N. Y., are having an excellent
trade. They made a heavy shipment to points in
California two days ago, whioh shows that Califor-
nians will have the Decker & SOB at any cost.
" I hold four aces. By the way, for n wonder, that pliuio down-stairs does not set us crazy
to-night-"
"They are lining the ' Ilchr I'iauo Muffler.' "
' TTnw nice! Baby can go to bed now, while Albert and Ethel are practising duets."
'Ophelia, I am plucl you do not annoy the people down-Btairs any more with your prHctliliife.'
I wish aomebody would kill that girl up-stairs, elsu I 'II nover learu t o ; part I"
-A.
" Come on, Macduff, and accursed, be bo wliu »ays the ' l i e h r P i m m .Miilllcr ' la not
aRreat lnvontlon!"
GBBAT
A PATENT PIANO MUFFLER IS THE LATEST INVENTION PLACED ON THE BEHR UPRIGHT PIANO. OBVIATES ALL ANNOYANCE FROM PRACTICING, WHILE EACH TONE IS
DISTINCT TO THE PERFORMER.
DOES NOT ALTER THE TOUCH NOR WEAR THE HAMMER FELT.
BEHR BR0S..& CO., MANUFACTURERS OF PIANOS.
WAREROOMS. 15 E. 14TH ST.
FACTORY. 2 9 2 - 2 9 8 11TH AVE. AND 5 5 0 W. 2 9 T H ST., N. Y. CITY.
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