Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
The Wheelock Combination
Succumbs.
THB CRASH OF A COMBINATION WHICH EM-
BRACED
VAST
INTERESTS
WHOLE COUNTRY
CONCERNS IN NEW YORK
OF
THE
COVERING
THE
THREE MANUFACTURING
VARIOUS
A STATEMENT
COMPANIES
AF-
FAIRS—RECEIVERS APPOINTED.
T
HE all-absorbing topic of conversation
in trade circles this week was the fail-
ure of the various companies in the Wheel-
ock combination—The Weber Piano Co.,
the Stuyvesant Piano Co., Wm.E. Wheelock
&Co. ,the Manufacturers' Piano Co.,Chicago
and the branch interests in Denver, Pitts-
burg, Richmond, known respectively as
The H. D. Smith Music Co., The Henricks
Music Co., The Hume-Minor Co.
THE WEBER PIANO CO.
Application was made to Judge Law-
rence, of the Supreme Court, Monday, Feb.
3, by Arnold, Greene & Patterson, for a
temporary receiver for the Weber Piano
Co., with warerooms at No. 108 Fifth
avenue, and factory at Seventh avenue and
Seventeenth street. The application was
made at the request of the directors of the
company—-William E. Wheelock, president;
William Foster, vice-president; Robert F.
Tilney, treasurer; Henry W. Beebe, Robert
Vidaud, Albert Weber and A. Britton
Havens.
It was said that trade during the last
year had been greatly curtailed, while the
cost of production had increased. Large
losses had been incurred during the year,
obligations to the extent of $86,000 would
fall due in the next four months, and there
were not sufficient funds to meet them.
Taxes on real estate owned by the company
to the amount of $5,000 are unpaid. It was
found that the assets, while nominally large,
were not immediately available.
The liabilities as they appear in the
papers are $364,806, of which $200,000 are
bonds secured by mortgage on the factory,
$95,587 bills payable, $54,523 contingent
as endorser on bills receivable, balance for
merchandise, etc., and a contract with
Albert Weber for $8,000 a year until 1897.
Whether this contract can be legally
classed among the liabilities is an interest-
ing question.
The assets are valued at $150,000 exclu-
sive of the factory, which has been generally
estimated as worth $300,000. The assets
consist of a large stock prepared for use at
an expense of $100,000, fifty-nine pianos in
course of construction, 290 pianos rented,
$20,940 due for pianos on installments,
$16,005 bills receivable, $11,785 open
accounts, $4,708 cash, and eight lots in
Seattle, Wash. All the employees have
been paid to date.
Among the creditors are the Chemical
National Bank, whose claim is $30,000;
Gansevoort Bank, $15,000: National City
Bank of Brooklyn, $20,000; Sprague Na-
tional Bank of Brooklyn, $10,000; William
E. Wheelock & Co., $9,300. Bradstreet's
report says the company was incorporated
in August, 1892, with a capital stock of
$700,000, of which $300,000 was preferred
and $400,000 common. It succeeded to the
estate of Albert Weber. The estate trans-
ferred the factory to the company, and the
legacies of Mr. Weber's widow and daugh-
ters were secured by mortgage on the
property for $200,000. William E. Wheel-
ock & Co. held $195,600 stock in the
company, and the partners individually
held about $88,000.
The directors of the company suggested
William Foster for receiver, and Judge
Lawrence appointed him, placing the bond
at $50,000. Grosvenor S. Hnbbard was
appointed referee, and the order to show
cause for the dissolution of the company
was set down for May 5.
It is expected that William Foster, re-
ceiver for the Weber Piano Co., will con-
tinue the factory. It is said by officers of
the company that if the materials on hand
can be made into pianos and put on the
market, the assets of the company will be
greatly increased. There are 130 stock-
holders in the company, ninety-eight hold-
ing preferred stock, and thirty-two common.
Among the bills receivable, either held by
the company or discounted by it, are those
of the Manufacturers' Piano Co., of Chi-
cago; Henricks Music Co., Ltd., of Pitts-
burg, Pa ; H. D. Smith Music Co., of
Denver, and Hume-Minor Co., of Rich-
mond, Va. In all these companies the
firm of William E. Wheelock & Co., it is
said, has been interested. Wm. Foster,
who has been appointed trustee, is vice-
president of the company. He was previ-
ously the trustee of the estate of Albert
Weber.
WM. E. WHEELOCK & CO.
William E. Wheelock and Charles B.
Lawson, composing the firm of William E.
Wheelock & Co., manufacturers of pianos,
at Third avenue and 149th street, with
warerooms at Nos. 23 and 25 East Four-
teenth street, made an assignment Monday,
Feb. 3, to Henry Warren Beebe, without
preference. The business was established
in 1877 by Mr. Wheelock, and three years
later Mr. Lawson became a partner. John
W. Mason has been a special partner from
the start. Mr. Wheelock became president
of the Weber Piano Co. about three years
ago, also of the Stuyvesant Piano Co.
The firm claimed assets two years ago of
$350,000; liabilities, $235,000.
Arnold, Greene & Patterson, attorneys
for Wheelock, said yesterday that the firm
had for some time had close business asso-
ciations with the Weber Piano Co. When
the directors of the Weber Piano Co.
decided to apply for a receiver it was found
doubtful if Wheelock & Co. could meet
obligations assumed for the Weber Co. It
was therefore deemed best, in the interest
of the firm's creditors, to make an assign-
ment without preference.
The attorneys said it would be impossible
to estimate the liabilities or assets until an
inventory had been made.
STUYVESANT PIANO CO.
Application was made to Judge Lawrence,
of the Supreme Court, by Havens & Beebe,
for the appointment of a receiver for the
Stuyvesant Piano Co., of Nos. 204 and 206
East 107th street, at the request of William
E. Wheelock, Robert F. Tilney, R. P.
Vidaud and Socrates Hubbard, directors.
It was said the company had discounted
customers' notes to the extent of $30,000,
some of which had not been paid by the
makers, while firms, whose notes to the
extent of $20,000 had been discounted, had
suspended. The company has large assets,
but cannot convert them into cash at once.
It was said that the assets were sufficient
to pay the debts if the)' are not sacrificed.
The assets are nominally $50,000 to
$60,000. The liabilities amount to $48,000.
The company was incorporated in March,
1886, with a capital of $40,000, and the
business was controlled by William E.
Wheelock & Co., Mr. Wheelock being the
president. The directors suggested tie
name of Robert F. Tilney, the treasurer,
for temporary receiver, and Judge Law-
MANUFACTURERS' PIANO CO.
Louis Dederick was appointed receiver of
the Manufacturers' Piano Co., of Chicago,
111., on a confession of judgment for $15,-
000. The action was taken on a bill filed
by R. F. Tilney, receiver for the Stuyvesant
Piano Co., of New York. It is said this
concern have assets in excess of liabilities
of over $100,000. A. M. Wright is presi-
dent of the company, Louis Dederick,
secretary.
THE HENRICKS MUSIC CO.
The Henricks Music Co., located in
Fifth avenue, Pittsburg, Pa., filed a volun-
tary assignment to George F. Gragan. The
Henricks Co. was the local agent for the
Weber, Wheelock and Stuyvesant Co., of
New York. Mr. Charles Logan, chairman
of the local company, states that the action
was taken for the protection of his company.
THE H. D. SMITH MUSIC CO.
The H. D. Smith Music Co., Denver,
Col., is in the hands of a receiver, H. D.
Smith having been appointed to act in that
capacity.
THE HUME-MINOR CO.
Although the dealings between the
Wheelock combination and the Hume-
Minor Co., of Richmond and Portsmouth,
Va., have been close, yet it is believed
that this company will not be forced to
succumb; at least at the present time of
writing,they are free from financial disaster.
Worthy Investigation.
HE Taber Organ Co., Worcester, Mass.,
are turning out some very neat styles
of organs, which are worthy of investiga-
tion by dealers who desire to handle a
reputable instrument that can be recom-
mended—an instrument he can sell at a fair
price resulting in a fair profit.
T