Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
store it. In the new theatre we shall have
a scene room.
"The theatre is to be entirejy fireproof,
with an asbestos curtain and all the latest
conveniences of a modern playhouse. We
shall have arrangements made for cooling
the theatre in summer. The Montauk
Theatre in Brooklyn, which is the best and
most beautiful theatre in the United States,
with the exception, perhaps, of the Port-
land Opera House, has such an arrange-
ment, and it has been found that it is
possible to reduce the temperature 20 de-
grees."
F. J. Schwankovsky is doing some
clever advertising in the Detroit papers,
and when I called his store was well filled
with customers.
At Grinnell Bros, there is also activity,
and by the way, how Grinnell Bros, have
progressed! I recollect some ten years ago
when I called upon them, they occupied
very modest quarters and the sale of sew-
ing machines constituted the larger share
of their business. To-day they have most
imposing warerooms wherein are carried a
superb stock of Steinway, Sohmer, Weg-
man, Sterling and other pianos. They
have rooms specially fitted up, decorated
in superb taste, wherein are shown Stein-
way and Sohmer stocks exclusively.
I might mention that as a side issue Grin-
nell Bros, have sold eleven hundred bicy-
cles.
E. S. Votey, of the Votey Organ Co.,
was at his desk when I called. The pipe
organ business, of which Mr. Votey stands
at the head, is in a flourishing condition.
W. R. Farrand, who succeeds to the reed
organ business of Farrand & Votey, is out
on the road visiting some of his agencies.
Clough & Warren have just brought out a
new organ which in every sense—musical-
ly'and architecturally—is a distinct advance
over anything hitherto turned out by
them. This firm are having a growing
demand for their pipe organs, which have
some special features which recommend
them.
A busy factory down in the university
town of Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor
Organ Co. are steadily increasing their
output. The remarkable increase reflects
much credit upon the business ability of Mr.
J. C. Henderson, who has taken especial
pains to bring the Ann Arbor organ in-
telligently and persistently before some of
the leading dealers of the country.
" Doesn't look as if the organ biisiness
was dying out, does it?" said the superin-
tendent, D. H. Almendinger, after I had
gone through the crowded factory.
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Saginaw is now beginning to loom up as
a manufacturing city for musical wares.
In it are three factories wherein musical
instruments are manufactured—two piano
factories and one small goods factory.
Since the death of Frank H. Erd, that tal-
ented musical expert and manufacturer,
the business has been carried on by his
widow.
Mrs. Erd is a rare combination of woman-
liness and business tact. She is devoted to
her work, and takes great satisfaction in
continuing the business founded by her
husband. For years she was closely asso-
ciated with her husband in his enterprise,
and knew every part as well as he. She
attends to all parts of the business, and is
equally at home in the office, factory or
wareroom. She sold an Erd grand piano
on the day of my call, and did not seem
specially elated over the fact, either. The
Erd Piano Co., aside from upright and
grand pianos, make the Erd harp, which is
steadily gaining in popularity. The Erd
company will open a branch at Grand
Rapids.
Edward Germain, one of Saginaw's
wealthiest manufacturers, has lately gone
into piano manufacturing. Mr. Germain
is an energetic business man, and believes
that the piano field will be a fertile one in
which he can turn a few furrows. He is
not beginning with the intention of posing
as the largest manufacturer in a brief
period. On the contrary, he proposes to
move ahead in a conservative manner until
the soundings have been carefully made.
He has already made a number of Germain
pianos which have met with a ready sale,
and at the time of my visit there was not a
single finished piano in stock. Mr. Ger-
main has immense resources; his factories
and lumber yards cover acres of ground.
He is a self-made man, has tremendous
vital powers, is ambitious and has never
known failure in anything. When Edward
Germain is once fairly in full swing, he
will be a force in this piano-making indus-
try that will be heard of—make no mistake
about that. He will be no indifferent
quantity. He is built on such lines that his
influence will be felt in any channel of life
wheresoever he directs it.
C. M. Norris has again opened up a retail
store in Saginaw. J. D. Ressegue& Son are
also dealers.
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There is the Chase piano, the pioneer
piano of the West; and I want to say that
the instruments that Chase Bros, are turn-
ing out from their superb factory at Mus-
kegon at the present time eclipse any
pianos hitherto made by them. The Chase
piano has an excellent reputation, and the
new style " N , " their latest production,
will further enhance it. Chase Bros, are
busy, and Braton S. Chase said:
"We look for a period of good times
now, to run perhaps for a term of years.
There is an increased demand for our in-
struments, and the dealers are in a hurry
for them, which shows how stocks are de-
pleted all over the country."
C. F. Grobman, the well known Milwau-
kee dealer, was at Chase Bros.' factory last
week and wanted a carload of pianos for
his new store. Mr. Grobman—who, by the
way, shipped the first piano to the Klon-
dike—is an enthusiastic admirer of the
Chase Bros, piano.
The Hackley piano, too, comes in for a
goodly share of trade patronage. The
Hackley is an honestly constructed instru-
ment and appeals to a large clientele of
purchasers. Taken altogether, this seems
to be a Chase Bros. year. Excellent rea-
sons why the Chase pianos should forge
ahead in trade estimation: exceptional
factory facilities, superior location, and
a thorough oversight of the manufac-
turing department are essential points
which contribute toward success.
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The annex to the Musical Courier made
the statement some time ago that the A.
B. Chase Co., Norwalk, O., had a legiti-
mate right to use the name of New York
upon the fall-board of their pianos,
I stated that they had no right, and that
the maintenance of the name of our city
upon the name-board of their instruments
was in direct violation of trade ethics.
That whatever right they ever possessed
was forfeited when they abandoned their
branch at New York. For a Western con-
cern to use the name of our city upon its
instruments, without having a direct rep-
resentation in New York, is a rank injus-
tice to every manufacturer in that city
besides offering goods for sale with mis-
representation stamped upon every piano
sent out. They are sold to every pur-
chaser, or can be offered as New York in-
struments. The manufacturer may say
that he is not responsible for the state-
ments made by salesmen; very well, but
why does he place a false and misleading
brand upon his instruments?
Is he ashamed of their birthplace? It is
better to own up that the name "New
York " adds a prestige to instruments
made in obscure towns, but is it right to
purloin the name of a city any more than
a trademark which is equivalent to a guar-
antee ?
The Courier Trade Annex has evaded
the issue. It made a confident assertion
and it stopped right there.
While the Annex was giving further
thought to the matter Presto of Chicago
rushed into the breach with cyclonic force.
Judging from the article I must incline to
the opinion that Presto has not as yet ab-
sorbed the elemental principle of journal-
ism. It has not arrived beyond that point
where it possesses sufficient knowledge to
understand that abuse is not argument.
It has not replied to one of the arguments
that I made, but lost itself in an ebullition
of abuse, and sneeringly referred to the
principles of those who fight against the
misleading use made of the nameof our im-
perial city. Not one argument, but vapid
sentences such as the following:
" W e say that there is no harm in it
when done by legitimate, high-toned
manufacturers whose interests are also
at home there. It is wholly a matter
concerning the mannfacturers themselves,
and is not a proper subject for newspaper
discussion, much less violent criticism
amounting to impertinence. It is a cus-
tom indulged in by reputable manufac-
turers of all lines of goods, and has been
from time out of mind."
Let us dissect it. First, what difference
does it make, pray, if "they are at home
there," whether they are high-toned or
whether they are thump-boxes? My point