Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
R. M. WALTERS.
A WORTHY CITIZEN AND A FAMOUS PIANO
MAKER.
N
O more popular man than Richard M»
Walters can be found in the ranks of
the New York music trade. Perhaps
one of the reasons of this is that Richard is
always himself. His individuality is clearly
marked, both in his'personal appearance and
in his public actions. He is erect, and self-
reliant; keen, and kindly; original, yet with-
out an atom of egotism. In his almost
deferential modesty he differs from many
other "self-made" men. The superiority of
his nature and the liberality of his ideas and
opinions are observed upon your very first
contact with him. But Richard M. Walters
cannot be imposed upon, any more than he
can impose upon others. This was made
apparent by us some weeks ago, when we de-
scribed how gallantly he defeated the storage
men who detained one of his pianos upon
which only two or three instalments had
been paid.
jjj^Mr. Walters is a native of New York, and
one of the most prominent and public-spirit-
ed citizens of the Empire City. His mental
endowments are of a high order. His edu-
cational advantages were great. Add to these
his energy, tact, and moral courage, and the
honored and successful business man and
member of society are the result. His career
as a piano-manufacturer dates from the time
of his purchase of the Narvesen factory,
which was established forty-two years ago.
The former proprietors, Messrs. Narvesen,
Hangaard, and Bergman, are now in Mr.
Walters' service, acting as superintendents
of their respective departments of the con-
cern. The renowned Walters pianos have
met with extensive and deserved recogni-
ion. These fine instruments are used in the
public schools of New York ; also in the
academies of Mount St. Vincent, St. Gab-
riel, St. Joseph, and St. Mary, the Man-
hattan College, the Princeton schools, the
Flushing public schools, the armories of the
Twenty-second and Seventy-first Regiment
of New York State ; by the Union Boat
Club and the Harlem Democratic Club; and
frequently at the Metropolitan Opera House
and the Academy of Music. In all of these
institutions they have given unbounded sat-
isfaction and delight. Among further testi-
monials to the merits of these beautiful in-
struments we may mention those of the late
General Graffula, band master of the Sev-
enth Regiment, who for many years used
one of these pianos in his home ; Adolph
B;rnstein,the musical director ; Dr. William
Berge, the celebrated organist; the versatile
Congressman, S. S. Cox, ex-Minister to
Turkey, who compares the tone of the
Walters piano for sweetness of melody to
the harp of David ; Mr. F. B. Thurber, Cap-
tain Warren C. Beach, U. S. A. ; Miss Hen-
rietta Markstein ; Congressman Amos J.
Cummings, ex-President of the New York
Press Club, and editor in chief of the New
York Herald;Gzr\e.ra\ Jar. R. O'Beirne; Mr.
George D. Carroll, of Demp c ey & Carroll,
the eminent stationers and printers of Union
Square ; ex-Sheriff Peter Bowe, president
of the United Life and Accident Insurance
Association ; Mr. C. C. Shayne, President of
the New York Fur Manufacturers' Associa-
tion ; Erdelyi Naczi, the famous Hungarian
Leader of the Eden Musee orchestra, Mr. E.
D. Farrell, the well-known furniture maker;
Mr. Thomas E. Crimmins, Mr. Zachariah J.
Halpin, and a host of others.
Mr. Walters' zeal in the cause of education
is matter of common notoriety. His annual
presentation of the Walters Gold Medal to
the public school which he attended in his
boyhood has about it the ring of the true
metal.
Though most assiduous in his attention to
R. M. WALTERS.
his own business, this energetic citizen is
too valuable a man to be allowed to remain
all the time under his own roof. His judg-
ment, counsel, and assistance are every-
where largely sought, and as readily grant-
ed. Thus it is that Mr. Walters is an im-
portant member of several public bodies,
among them being the New York Chamber
of Commerce, the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, the N. Y. Press Club, the Union Boat
Club, and the N. Y. Athletic Club. Should
any public celebration of a worthy kind be
mooted, he is expected to be to the fore.
Last spring he served on the staff of Gener-
als Sherman and Sickles, on the occasion of
the United States demonstration in honor
of the memory of the distinguished Ven-
ezuelan patriot General Paez. He was one
of the hundred distinguished citizens ap-
pointed by Mayor Grace to attend the obse-
quies of General Grant. In the most gener-
ously cosmopolitan spirit he subscribed,
through Mr. Eugene Kelly, to the Irish par-
liamentary fund. He it was who presented
to Mr. Gladstone the beautiful silver testi-
monial subscribed for by the American ad-
mirers of that immortal Englishman. The
occasion of his departure on this mission
was marked by tremendous popular en-
thusiasm. A photograph of the presenta-
tion, which occurred at Lord Aberdeen's
mansion at Dollis Hill, near London, may be
seen in Mr. Walters' warerooms, University
Place and Twelfth street, New Yoik city.
His part in the organization of the recent
piano trade parade is fresh In the memory of
our readers.
We have given but a faint description of
the virtues and merits of this most brilliant
and worthy citizen. Nor is it necessary to
enlarge upon the subject, pleasant as it is, in
this place. Mr, Walters is one of those men
whose acts of honor and usefulness speak
aloud for themselves. Our epigrammatic
and condensed opinion of him is that he be-
longs to the order of men who constitute
the glory of States, the strength of society,
and the hope of mankind. May men of his
genus increase and multiply to the end of
time!
WILLIAM BARTON STONE.
ICHARD M. WALTERS, of Univer-
sity Place, New York city, the well-
known piano-maker, being a good
and wise man, naturally surrounds himself
with men of the same character. It is for
this, among other reasons, that his business
manager for the past five years has been
Mr. William Barton Stone. For this po-
sition Mr. Stone is very eminently fitted,
on account of his thorough business training
and capacity, his honorable nature, and his
musical taste. Moreover, his courtesy and
amiability are proverbial, and have operated
as important factors in his success.
Mr. Stone is a native of Indiana. For
several years prior to 1882 he was connect-
ed with the piano trade in Indianapolis, in
which city he also acquired considerable
fame as an organist and pianist. Finding
the need of a wider field in which to de-
velop his energies and gifts, he moved in
1882 to New York, where he soon became
widely known, and where he has attained
decided artistic and business success. His
compositions are numerous, and have given
him much reputation. Among the most
popular of them are the Drover Waltz, the
Lambs' Polka, and the Cliquot Waltzes.
Mr. Stone's prospects are indeed bright, and
whatever honors and rewards may be in
store for him will have been well and justly
earned. Mr. Stone acted as one of the mar-
shals in the piano parade last Wednesday
and showed that he could ride a horse with
as much grace and ease as he can sell
pianos.
R
WILLIAM BARTON STONE.