Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
many months, and as Tom Reed puts it,
"the bright sun of prosperity is bound to
gleam through the chinks."
A Cincinnati paper of a recent date says
that Thomas McDougall, attorney for Stein-
way & Sons, will file a motion in a few
days
for the removal of D. D. Woodman-
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see, the Smith & Nixon assignee, and the
The official figures bearing on the ex- election of a trustee. This, it is intimated
ports and imports of musical instruments on the part of the assignee, is part of the
for the twelve months ending- June, 1896, effort of the Steinways to force an imme-
have just been published by the Treasury diate settlement.
Department, and appear elsewhere in these
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columns.
According to general reports the Mason &
An analysis reveals the continued growth Hamlin Co. of Boston have in contempla-
of import trade.
tion the removal of their wholesale head-
Last year an enormous increase was re- quarters to this city. Should the step be
corded, which has been steadily main taken the present warerooms would be dis-
tained right through the fiscal year just continued and new quarters selected, while
closed. In 1895 . w e imported $918,253 it is said that the retail business in Boston
worth of musical instruments. This year would be managed by Chandler W. Smith.
the figures amount to $1,307,583. An in- As the report lacks official confirmation, it is
crease for the twelve months of $389,330. hardly proper to make any comment on the
These figures have not been offset largely wisdom of the radical change said to be
by any great increase in exports, although contemplated, other than to give the report
they are more favorable than last year. for what it is worth.
In '95 we exported $1,115,727 worth of
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goods. This year our total exports are val-
Mr. Albert G. Cone, treasurer of the W.
ued at $1,271,161. This shows an increase
W. Kimball Co., has favored us with a
of $155,434 in the way of exports.
"Specialty Talk" this week. Mr. Cone is
This improvement in our export trade gifted with an artistic temperament—a
is attributable in a great degree to the pros- man of refined and aesthetic tastes, which
perity enjoyed by the European people, and is fully borne out in the style of advertising
to the superiority of American made in- which he has originated. He has for years
struments, especially j n the small goods made a deep study of the basic principles
field.
of advertising, hence his opinions on this
There can be no question but American subject are not only entertaining but in-
manufacturers could command a large for- structive as well.
eign market for small 'goods were they
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as alert to its advantages as are foreign
The suit of the First National Bank of
manufacturers.
Chicago against Crawford & Cox, Wm.
The ingenuity and ability of our invent- Steinway & Sons and others, is amusing
ors and technicists, and the unsurpassed when it charges "conspiracy." It wasn't
facilities in the way of up-to-date machi- to ]be expected that Wm. Steinway and
nery possessed by our manufacturers should
others would consult the First National Bank
enable our people to turn out a class of
as to how they should conduct their busi-
goods that would successfully meet any-
ness or what course they should take in
thing produced in the domestic and foreign
this matter. The "corn pinches," however,
markets.
inasmuch as Wm. Steinway & Sons "got
there first,"while the First National Bank
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was, to use a colloquial expression, "badly
The order of the Court authorizing a left."
public sale of the assets of the assigned
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firm of Smith & Nixon, will be the
Considerable dissatisfaction exists among
means of clarifying the present muddle and the creditors of Prince & Son, anent their
expediting the investigation and settlement action in giving a bill of sale to Mr. Loos-
of the affairs of the concern. It will in no
chen—whose side of the question will be
way, however, interfere with the examina-
found in another column. One of the lar-
tion which was ordered by the courts sev-
gest creditors said to THE REVIEW yester-
ral months ago at the instance of Messrs.
day: "The creditors are certainly very
Steinway & Sons, and the banks. This
dissatisfied with the turn affairs have ta-
matter will come up for consideration
around the middle of September. In the ken, and personally I am doing everything
mean time the public sale will be the means possible to get the sale declared illegal."
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of gaining a knowledge of the real or sell-
IT is said that the Peoria Organ Co., of
ing and not the estimated vahie of the
Peoria, 111., have sold out. They have
Stock held by the assignee.
been in business about two years.
I
T is amazing and* at the same time ludi-
crous to note the varied interpretations
placed upon the term sixteen to one. It
surely must be an active campaign of edu-
cation if all of the people in this country
are to become fully cognizant of what free
silver means by election day.
One of the amusing incidents which I
have heard recently regarding the sixteen
to one term, was related to me by Will A.
Watkin, the well-known music dealer, of
Dallas, Tex. Mr. Watkin related it as an
actual fact. A well-known colored man in
that locality who had been hearing a great
deal about the sixteen to one, walked into
one of the banks in Dallas, planked down
a five dollar gold piece, and demanded of
the cashier eighty silver dollars in ex-
change for his gold piece. The cashier was
somewhat surprised, and asked why he made
this demand. The old darkey replied,
"Sixteen to one means that one gold dol-
lar will buy sixteen silver dollars, doesn't
it? Now, there is a five dollar gold piece,
and five times sixteen is eighty, and I want
eighty silver dollars, sah."
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Robt. A. Widenmann is doing yeoman
service in the Democratic ranks for the
cause of sound money. It should be under-
stood that Mr. Widenmann was, as far as I
am able to learn, the original promoter of
the sound money Democratic organization
in this city. He is on the executive com-
mittee and is enthusiastic in his work for
the cause of sound money. "Bob" Widen-
mann remains a Democrat just the same,
but he repudiates the repudiationists.
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From a paper in Hudson, Mich., I
learn that a young musician of that town
has invented a piano which will give the
effect of a full orchestra of guitars and
mandolins. Too bad he did not include
the banjo. Judging from the present
tendency toward the utilization of small
instruments as "features," the time will
come when manufacturers will have to
give away a whole minstrel show as an
attachment to the piano.
At the recent meeting of the Chambre
Syndicale des Instruments de Musique of
Paris, J. Thibouville-Lamy, the president,
tendered his resignation owing to ill health.
The members present decided to ask him to
reconsider this step and resolutions to that
effect were unanimously adopted. J. Thi-
bouville-Lamy has been presiding officer of