Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
THE TANGLED AFFAIRS OF BANKRUPT HELLER PIANO CO.
The statement just filed by Mr. Leech with the
court in Milwaukee shows that there were about
3,000 pianos involved in the failure of the Heller
Piano Co. Of this number it is claimed that the
H. P. Nelson Co., of Chicago, secured, 1,200; the
Germania National Bank and the Commercial Se-
curities Co., of Milwaukee, both working to-
gether, 600. The remainder are said to be divided
up among the following: The Capital City Invest-
ment Co., the Merchants' Discount Co., Herman F.
Franke and W. S. J. Kopmeier, all of Milwaukee;
the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., Cincinnati, and the Cote
Piano Mfg. Co., Fall River, Mass.
Other sources of probable dividends for the un-
secured Heller creditors are the following, as seen
from the statement: Sixty thousand dollars' worth
of Heller securities held by the Germania National
Bank of Milwaukee, including a note covering
$25,000 worth of so-called "demonstration" con-
tracts, alleged to have been given by H. P. Nelson
to the Commercial Securities Co. and then turned
over to the bank, September 7, 1913, just before
the Heller failure, and thus constituting a prefer-
ence payment; $30,000 worth of Heller securities
held by the Merchants and Manufacturers' Bank of
Milwaukee, and now in the process of accounting;
a bill of sale for $20,000, turned over to the Union
Bank of Milwaukee on September 24, 1913, also
claimed as a preference payment by the trustee.
The heading in the Heller case, involving the re-
covery of $25,000 worth of "demonstration" con-
tracts from the Germania National Bank of Mil-
waukee, scheduled to have bien held before Referee
E. Q. Nye in Milwaukee last week, was postponed
until September 7 on account of the ill-health of the
referee, who declared that he did not feel physically
able to hear any more of the complicated testimony
at this time. The proceedings last week were
largely confined to petitioning the court by Mr.
Leech in behalf of the trustee for permission to file
the big $200,000 suit against the H. P. Nelson Co.
Mr. Leech, accompanied by Alvin Wise, Chicago
attorney, spent considerable time with Louis Lecher,
one of the attorneys representing the First Trust
Co., the Heller trustee, in checking up various items
and arranging the claims which form the basis for
the Nelson suit. Efforts will be made between
now and September to get together with the attor-
neys representing the Germania National Bank and
check up on various piano contracts involved in the
pending litigation between the bank and the
trustee.
TRADE BETTERMENT IN EVIDENCE.
TO CONTINUE THOMAS BUSINESS.
Both Sentiment and Actual Transactions Show
Improvement, Says the Leading Commercial
Agencies—Increase in Bank Clearings.
_____
Steady improvement in the business situation is
noted by the trade reviews. For instance, Dun's
in its latest report says:
"Constructive factors accumulate, and the inter-
national uncertainties, while making for caution,
fail to check the growth of confidence in the fu-
ture. With the basic influences still gaining in
strength, the outlook steadily becomes brighter,
although, apart from industrial lines, progress is
not rapid in any direction.
"It. is mainly in s-.ntiment that the general situa-
tion continues to reflect uniform and substantial
betterment, but in actual commercial transactions
there is also concrete evidence of improvement.
One instance of this is found in the record of bank
clearings, which more frequently show increases in
comparison with earlier periods, and for the cur-
rent week are 5.2 per cent, larger than in 1914.
To some extent this is due to the expansion in
speculative operations at New York, yet the gains
in the totals at outside cities indicate a broadening
volume of business in legitimate trade channels.
"Other statistics are likewise more favorable,
and the considerable reduction in the number of
idle cars last month testifies to more active move-
ments of freight.
"Returns of railroad earnings are now less dis-
a' pointing than in the past, and expectations of
further improvement in this respect are encour-
aged by the official promise of big yields of grain.
The latter also means much to the country at
large; yet on the other hand the South is con-
fronted with the problem of finding a market for
its present and prospective supplies of cotton,
owing to the export restrictions imposed by the
- (Special to The Review.)
ALBANY, N. Y., July 19.—Judge George Ray, of
the United States District Court, has authorized
George J. Hatt 2d, receiver in bankruptcy for the
music business of Frank W. Thomas, 101 North
Pearl street, to continue the business for three
months. The receiver plans to pay off all creditors
and turn the business back to Mr. Thomas clear
of indebtedness.
Concise Statement of the Present Status of Company's Condition Presented to the Court by
Attorney for Trustee—Gets Permission to Sue H. P. Nelson Co. Estate.
(Special to The Review.)
MILWAUKEE, WIS., July 20.—For the first time
in the history of the case of the bankrupt Heller
I'inno Co., of this city, a complete, clear and con-
cise statement of the tangled affairs of the concern
was presented to the court last week, when Charles
11. Leech, Chicago, attorney for the trustee, the
First Trust Co. of Milwaukee, petitioned Referee
E. Q. Nye for permission to file a suit for $200,000
against the estate of the H. P. Nelson Co., of
Chicago.
Permission was granted by Referee Nye, and it
is understood that the suit will be filed at once
against the Nelson estate in the United States
Federal Court before Referee Wean, of Chicago.
The claim for the recovery of $200,000 will be the
largest, it is said, ever filed against a bankrupt
estate. The suit will be to recover for the unse-
cured creditors of the Heller Piano Co. 800 pianos,
alleged to have b;en taken over from the Heller
concern by the II. P. Nelson Co., just before the
failure of the Heller Co. in October, 1913, and for
various moneys and stock, said to rightfully belong
to the Helkr estate. The news of the filing of this
big suit against the Nelson concern will be dis-
quieting to the creditors of the II. P. Nelson Co.,
WIKI have been well pleased over the progress that
has been made in settling the Nelson estate.
Attorney Leech, representing the trustee, says
that there is now every Indication that the unse-
cured creditors of the defunct Heller Piano Co.
will realize a good sum on their claims; in fact,
Mr. Leech is hopeful that enough will be recovered
in the Nelson suit alone to about cover the amount
of the unsecured claims filed in the Heller case,
totaling $77,000.
Following is the interesting statement fded with
the court in Milwaukee, showing just what the
claim for the recovery of $200,000 against the H. P.
Nelson Co. is based upon: Eight hundred pianos,
alleged to have been taken from the Heller store
just before the bankruptcy and shipped to Newark,
N. ]., where they formed the basis for the Standard
Piano Co., valued conservatively at $100 each, total-
ing $80,000; the recovery of $40,000 on the bill of
sale for $20,000 given to the H. P. Nelson Co. by
the Heller concern just prior to the bankruptcy.
Under the bulk sales law of Wisconsin it is re-
quired that the claim in such a case be for twice
the amount of the property taken; covering the ma-
chinery, stock, finished output, etc., of the Heller
Piano Co.'s Milwaukee factory, all of which was
shipped to Chicago by the Nelson concern, $20,000.
This valuation is taken from the inventory of the
Heller concern; debit items, covering the expense
account of the Kinnell Piano Co., a former Nelson
corporation in Milwaukee, charged to the account
of the Heller estate after October 15, 1913, the date
of the Heller failure, $40,000; consignment of piano
contracts, held in payment of invoices and repre-
senting a balance due the Heller estate, $20,000.
This brings a total of $200,000, the validity and
soundness of which Mr. Leech and the trustee, the
THE LEADING LINE
WEAVER PIANOS
Grands, Uprights
and Players
YORK PIANOS
Uprights and Players
hirst Trust Co., are confident that the court will
have to recognize.
The liabilities of the Heller Piano Co., as shown
by the statement just presented to the court in
Milwaukee, total $250,000, of which $150,000 was
secured and $100,000 unsecured. The secured
claims, held by only about fifteen corporations or
individuals, is represented by money loans, money
due manufacturers and consignments made. The
unsecured creditors total about 200, and of the
claims of $100,000 only about $77,000 have been
tiled, the holders of the remainder evidently neg-
lecting to file their statements or else believing that
it would be useless, in view of the known tangle of
the Heller affairs. As all claims, under the law,
must be filed within one year from the date of
bankruptcy, those unsecured claims not already filed
will not derive anything from the final settlement.
With the exception of what was secured by the
trustee, practically all the Heller assets were
gobbled up by the secured creditors, and the unse-
cured creditors were left out in the cold.
STEINWAY FORjMRS. SPRECKELS.
Mrs. J. D. Spreckels, wife of the great financier,
purchased last week through the Gray-Maw house
in San Diego, Cal., a magnificent Steinway grand
for her home at Coronado Beach. At a party given
at the Spreckels home later in the week the Stein-
way was used by Mine. Schumann-Heink, who was
the guest of honor at the very notable reception,
which was attended by many prominent people.
INCORPORATED.
The Gately-Haire Co., Albany, N. Y., has been
incorporated, with capital stock of $25,000, by J.
L. Gately, Somervillc, Mass.; J. N. Haire, May-
nard, Mass., and H. B. Casey, Elsmore, N. Y.
RUDOLF
PIANOS
are conscientiously made,
good instruments; in other
words, the sweetest things out.
LIVINGSTON PIANOS
Uprights and Player Pianos
If your competitor does not already have this
lin«, go after it at once.
Weaver Organ & Piano Co.
MANUFACTURERS
YORK, PA.
OPEN BRANCH IN CANANDAIGUA.
The Balcom Music Co., of Rochester, N. Y., has
opened a branch store in Canandaigua, N. Y., in
which a full stock of pianos, Pianolas and Victor
talking machines are handled. Mrs. Frazer is the
local manager.
RUDOLF PIANO CO.
72 Bait U7th St.
NEW TOBK