Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
A TWELVE MILLION DOLLAR COMBINATION.
Chickering & Sons, Win. Knabe & Co. and Foster-Armstrong Co.
Enter Into Combination—The American Piano Co. is the Title
of the New Twelve Million Dollar Controlling Corporation-
Ernest J. Knabe, Jr., President—List of Directors Who Will
Manage the Big Company—Announcement of New Move Creates
Lively Comment at Convention Headquarters.
The announcement was made last Tuesday
night of the formation of the American Piano
Co., a twelve million dollar corporation, which
will control the great piano manufacturing in-
stitutions of Chickering & Sons, Boston; William
Knabe & Co., Baltimore, and the Foster-Arm-
strong Co., Rochester.
The articles of incorporation were signed
Tuesday, the incorporators being Ernest J.
Knabe, president of William Knabe & Co.;
Charles H. W. Foster, president of Chickering &
Sons; George G. Foster, president of Foster-
Armstrong Co. The article of incorporation pro-
vides for six million of preferred 7 per cent,
cumulative stock and six million of common
stock. The corporation is organized under the
laws of New Jersey. The officers will be: Presi-
dent, Ernest J. Knabe, Jr.; vice-presidents, George
G. Foster, Charles H. Eddy, William Knabe, C.
H. W. Foster, William B. Armstrong; treasurer,
George L. Eaton.
The American Piano Co. will control the man-
ufacture and sale of the products of the three
great piano manufacturing institutions named
above. It is understood that this consolidaton
move has been under consideration for many
months past. The present management of the
respective properties will remain under the ac-
tive direction and operation of the new com-
pany. The several plants will be operated as
heretofore and the special advantages possessed
by either of the several plants will be preserved.
Thus in brief is told the story of the largest
combination which has ever been effected in this
trade, and by it three great piano manufacturing
and distributing institutions pass under one head.
The validity of the incorporation of the three
constituent companies, of the proceedings in au-
thorizing the sale to the new company and of the
titles to their real estate has been examined by
Williams, Thomas & Williams, of Baltimore;
Masten & Nichols, of New York, and Ropes, Gray
& Gorham, of Boston, and the certificate of in-
corporation and other papers have been prepared
and the legal questions involved in the formation
of the new company passed upon by them.
The announcement of this big combinaton was
made on Tuesday evening just preceding the big
trade banquet at the Hotel Astor, and quite nat-
urally it formed the chief topic for discussion at
the great gathering of piano men. Many specu-
lations were made as to the result of the com-
bination and its ultimate effect upon trade con-
ditions. Such a move entered into by the three
great houses naturally will form an absorbing
topic in piano circles for weeks to come.
OUR FOREIGN CUSTOMERS.
COUNTRY RIGHTING ITSELF.
Pianos and Other Musical Instruments Shipped
Abroad from the Port of New York for the
Week Just Ended—An Interesting Array of
Musical Specialties for Foreign Countries.
Banks and Business Houses Under a Financial
Cloud Have Come Out in the Sunlight of
Success and the Outlook Is Steadily Growing
Better.
(Special to The Review.)
I certainly told you so. *
The alleged "panic" of October has dimmed
and glimmered and it is well-nigh forgotten by
busy people.
The more important of the suspended banks
have reopened, and the banks that didn't sus-
pend are stronger and cleaner to-day than ever
before.
All of the fifteen thousand and odd banks in
the country are safer depositories than they were
a year ago.
Their securities are more secure.
Their reserves are generally larger and their
loans smaller.
Business men who are entitled to it are get-
ting all the money they need.
Most people are not doing quite so much busi-
ness, but they are also less extravagant, so mat-
ters equalize themselves.
We have had a period of waste-stopping
economy.
We have had a shut-down for a clean-up. And
now with all the lost motion taken up we are
ready for full speed ahead.
This 1908 will be a great year.
Good crops, good feeling and good sense are
the predominant factors of our present prosper-
ity and our little colic of last fall did us in-
finitely more good than harm.
The great feature of this blooming, glittering
and glorious country of ours is that things are
continuously coming up out of the ground.
There seems no limit to. the new wealth that
nature pushes up to the surface year after year
and day after day—every day, mind you, and
every night.
Between the time you leave the shop at night
and the time you get back in the morning na-
ture has added to the wealth of America fifty
millions of dollars, or thereabouts.
And you can't stop it.
Once adopt the open-book policy in corporate
Washington, D. C, June 8, 1908.
The following were the exports of musical in-
struments and kindred lines from the port of
New York for the week just ended:
Abo.—3 cases pianos and material, 403.
. Amsterdam.—1 case pianos and material, $600.
Antwerp.—3 cases organs and material, $125.
Auckland.—8 cases organ material, $390; 3
cases piano material, $300.
Berlin.—5 pkgs. talking machines and mate-
rial, $100; 23 cases piano players and material,
$5,600.
Christiania.—1 case organs and material, $132.
Copenhagen.—7 cases organs and material,
$520.
Karlstadt.—17 cases organs and material, $940.
Hamburg.—12 cases piano material, $1,442.
Havana.—10 pkgs. talking machines and mate-
rial, $425.
Lausanne.—1 case pianos and material, $135.
Leipzig.—7 cases organ material, $475.
Limon.—1 case pianos and material, $242.
London.—12 cases organs and material, $750;
29 pkgs. talking machines and material, $2,117;
38 cases piano players and material, $10,770; 8
pkgs. talking machines and material, $821.
Rio De Janeiro.—109 pkgs. talking machines
and material, $3,734; 4 cases music, $406; 1 case
piano players and material, $150.
Rosario.—19 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $1,825.
St. Petersburg.—2 pkgs. talking machines and
material, $171.
Stavenger.—18 cases pianos and material, $750.
Sydney.—8 cases organs and material, $439;
4 cases pianos and material, $347.
Trieste.—1 case organ material, $110.
Wilhelm.—10 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $105; 6 cases pianos and material, $900.
Yokohama.—15 pkgs. talking machines and
material, $991.
management and give stockholders their rights—
as they do in England, only more so—and it will
be easy to get all the money ever needed to de-
velop and extend the business of the country.
Millions and billions of hidden dollars will
come out from innocuous desuetude and go to
work earning a living.
The open-book policy is growing. One by one
big and little corporations are adopting it. The
banks will follow. Bye and bye confidence will
be so fostered that a panic will be well-nigh im-
possible, as the Furniture World aptly says. It
is fear and distrust that make panics.
FAILURES ARE FEWER.
May Made the Best Showing Since Last July—
Panic Effects Wearing Off.
Commercial failures in May were smaller than
in any month since last July, the defaulted in-
debtedness being $7,000,000 less than in April,
and $13,500,000 less than in the two opening
months of 1908.
The actual number of commercial failures in
May, according to statistics compiled by R. G.
Dun & Co. were 1,379, and the amount of the lia-
bilities involved $13,643,381. The liabilities in
the best previous month this year were $20,316,-
468. In May, 1907, the liabilities were $9,965,410,
and the number of failures 857. Dun's says:
The large decrease shows that the effects of the
panic are wearing off and the weak spots in the
commercial world have become so far eliminated
that the monthly failure returns are gradually
returning to normal. Comparison with the ex-
ceptionally favorable returns in the same month
last year shows that there were 345 manufactur-
ing failures for $6,988,988, against 212 failures
with liabilities of $4,758,725 in May, 1907. There
were 982 trading failures, involving debts of $5,-
570,684, against only 614 defaults last year that
involved $4,035,245. Other commercial failures,
including brokerage and insurance firms, were
52 in number and $1,083,709 in amount, against
31 similar failures last year, when liabilities
were $1,171,440. Banking suspensions were 20
in number and $5,247,455 in amount, whereas in
the same month last year only one small bank
closed, with obligations of $10,000. In May, 1906,
there were 10 banking failures, with liabilities of
$3,799,338.
VON ROHL CO. PREPARING FACTORY.
(Special to The Review.)
North Tonawanda, N. Y., June 8, 1908.
The Von Rohl Musical Instrument Co., which
was incorporated last week with a capital stock
of $20,000, are making extensive improvements
to the large building on Young street, formerly
known as the Fowler Shingle mill, and have also
erected a building alongside this property. A
quantity of up-to-date machinery is being in-
stalled and the company expects to employ about
80 hands, 60 of whom will be skilled mechanics.
The output of the factory will be organs and
orchestral pianos.
KNABE PIANOS FOR COMMENCEMENT.
The Knabe piano was in great demand recently
for use at the commencement exercises of a
number of educational institutions in and around
Washington, D. C, among them being the Bel-
court Seminary, Martha Washington Seminary,
National Park Seminary, Sisters of Notre Dame,
St. Cecilia's Academy, Gunston Institute, Madison
Hill Seminary, Florence School, Washington
Seminary, Bristol School, Washington College of
Music, McReynolds-Koehle School and George
Washington University.
NEW H. M. CABLE CO. FACTORY STARTED.
The new Holly, Mich., plant of the Hobart M.
Cable Co. began operations last week and is
under orders to turn out over 2,000 pianos as
rapidly as possible. The factory is equipped in
the latest manner and will shortly be running
under full headway.
I. E. Bretzfelder, of Krakauer Bros., and family
are summering at Sea Gate.