Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
coerced into a support of a trade journal which maligns and abuses
brother .manufacturers? There are few, indeed, who have not at
some time or other felt the sting of cowardly journalism and some
of them have been weak enough to call off the dogs of war by
entering into a business arrangement with the journalistic black-
guard. It is really surprising that abusive methods should be
tolerated in any industry at the present time. Every intelligent
man knows that a trade newspaper with an unsavory record has no
power to injure a reputable business man, but some of the men
who have vivid imaginations believed that abusive articles would
have an effect to injure their trade, particularly when the coercive
ebullitions from the pen of the defamer were placed in the hands of
dealers who sell competing pianos. This may have been true years
ago when there was a class of dealers who would use abusive
articles in order to injure a competitor, but happily the class of men
who would seek to win trade by adopting such methods has been
reduced in numbers until they are eliminated from the music trade
industry. There are no men so low, so contemptible, and so utterly
devoid of honor as to use cowardly articles against a firm manu-
facturing a piano which they might meet in competition.
I
T would indeed be a sad commentary upon the morality of
this trade if it could be truthfully said that we have in it a
number of men so devoid of business morality as to use abusive
utterances of a decadent trade journalist to forward their own in-
terests. This accusation has been made, however, and amounts to
libel to allege that piano dealers of to-day would resort to such
methods to injure competing instruments? This libel has had its
origin in the brain of the newspaper defamer. It is simply one
of his plans to exaggerate his evil influence in the minds of readers
so that through fear he would hope to compel the men whom he
attacks to yield. What an insult—what an infamous libel upon the
men of this industry? Is it not a disgrace that any man adopting
such methods be permitted to trade under a journalistic banner?
Next month we are to have a meeting of the Dealers' Associa-
tion in this city and it would be well if the dealers, in order that
their true position may be known to the world, pass resolutions
denouncing the action of any member of the retail music trade in
this country who uses defamatory articles in order to win a point
against a competitor. Simply the passing of such resolutions would
show the way they regard such false accusations. And this charge
has been laid at their doors. The time will be fitting next month
to show how they regard such reflections upon their character.
The abusive sheet once fattened through fear, but every busi-
ness man in this trade understands that to-day only a paper with a
fair policy appeals to people of character and substance, and the
mouthing of a decadent amounts to naught.
T
HERE is a manifest desire on the part of salesmen representing
the music trade industries to perfect their organization and
make it a stronger influence for the good than ever before. There
will be some changes in the association constitution, and it is under-
stood that this organization proposes to take no action which will
be opposed in sentiment to the positions assumed on trade matters
by the Piano Manufacturers and Piano Dealers' Associations. The
members of the Travelers' Association wish their position clearly
defined in this particular, and they are not antagonistic in the slight-
est particular to the older organizations. On the contrary, they
propose to work in harmony with them and use the influence of the
travelers for trade benefit wherever possible.
They propose to build the traveling fraternity into a strong
organization for trade weal. This organization has already gone
on record as opposing graft in any form in selling goods.
One leading salesman remarked to The Review this week that
one object of the organization would be to eliminate the last vestige
of graft to salesmen. That a position which should be applauded
for a salesman should be paid according to value received and
should work for his employer who pays him at all times, and if
there are any extra percentages the employer is entitled to them.
Those who can justify political graft can also justify the subsidizing
of retail salesmen, for that is graft pure and simple. It is certainly
a credit to directors of the Travelers' Association that they have
taken a decided stand in this particular. Retail piano merchants
are at all times desirous of surrounding themselves with employes
whose standard of honesty is above accepting bribes and this graft
element should be weeded out completely.
REVIEW
The man who starts out for nowhere gets nowhere.
No one ever drew any pay for complaining about hard times.
Don't waste valuable time worrying or complaining.
Get busy.
Protection against temptation has a money as well as moral value.
The philosopher's stone is the knowledge of how to spend less than
you get.
Good resolutions are easily made, but resolutions alone will not
bring you success.
Enthusiasm is contagious, but no man will ever catch it from a man
who doesn't have it.
The average brain and a good clear grit will do more for a man than
a backing of many thousands.
Listen to other people's hard luck stories, of course, if you have to,
when selling pianos, but do not tell yours.
You may lose some goad trade by bad breaks made if you are not
posted on the daily advertising of your establishment.
Keep studying in your own mind how you can improve and how
you can make yourself worth more money to your house.
It may be a good plan to explain the merits of certain pianos to
customers before the price is named. In that way you will often sell a
better grade of goods.
"DeRiter tells me that for a whole year he didn't write a thing that
was worth while."
"Yes, I believe he spent a year on that novel of his."
Scene—London restaurant. Hungry Customer—And—er—waiter, two
eggs, please. Boil them four minutes.
Waiter—Yes, sir; be ready in half a second, sir.
The girl had been three weeks in the employ of an artistic family,
but her time had been by no means wasted. Her mistress was giving
her instructions as to the dinner.
"Don't forget the potatoes," enjoined the lady.
"No, ma'am," was the reply; "will you 'ave 'em in their jackets or
in the nood?"
"I suppose Wall street is devoted altogether to offices, Hiram?" queried
Mrs. Hardapple.
"Well, I calculate thar must be a lot of barber shops thar, Mandy,"
drawled Mr. Hardapple, as he lit his yellow corncob.
"What makes you think so, Hiram?"
"Why, be gosh, don't the paper say people are trimmed in Wall street
every day?"
Two boys who managed to be rather unruly in school so exasperated
their teacher that she requested them to remain after hours and write
their names one thousand times. They plunged into the task. Some
fifteen minutes later one of them grew uneasy and began watching his
companion in disgrace. Suddenly the first one burst out with despair
between his sobs, and said to the teacher: "'Taint fair, mum! His
name's Dix and mine's Schluttermeyer."
During the Civil War the captain of a certain company of mountain-
eers was thoroughly disgusted with the laziness of the sixty men under
him. He determined to shame them. One morning after roll call he
tried it. "I have a nice easy job," he said, "for the laziest man in the
company. Will the laziest man step to the front?" Instantly fifty-nine
men stepped forward. "Why don't you step to the front, too?" demanded
the captain of the sixtieth. "I'm too lazy," replied the soldier.
Cobble was a careful coal dealer, popularly said to be "out for the oof."
One afternoon he arrested an employe who was driving out of
the yard.
"Hold on there, Tom!" he cried. "That coal can't have been weighed.
It looks a trifle large for a ton to me."
Tom shouted back: "This ain't a ton, guv-nor. It's two tons."
"Two tons, is it?" said the dealer, in a modified tone. "Beg your
pardon. Go ahead, Tom!"
"Yessum," said Sandy PikeB, as he devoured the wedge of pumpkin
pie, "I sternly object to the nefarious practice of clipping off de tails
of dogs."
"Ah, I am glad you are so tender-hearted, my poor man," sympathized
the good housewife.
"Well, it ain't exactly dat, mum, but when a dog hasn't any tail 1
can't tell by de wags if he is in a good humor or not, and it makes me,
skeery about approaching de house."