Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, I n c .
President, C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave.. New York; Vice-President, T. B. Spillane,
373 Fourth Are., New York; Second Vice-President, J. Raymond Bill, 373 Fourth Ave.,
New York; Secretary and Treasurer, August J. Timpe, 373 Fourth Ave., New York.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
J. RAYMOND BILL, Associate Editor
AUGUST J. TIMPE
Business Manager
Executive and Reportorlal Stall:
B. BKITTAIN WILSON, CARLKTON CHACE, I,. M. ROBINSON, WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH,
W K . BKAID WHITE (Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH, A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWEKS
BOSTON OFFICE:
JOHN H. WILSON, 324 Washington St.
Telephone, Main 6950.
CHICAGO OFFICE
E. P. VAN HAELINGEN, Consumers' Building,
220 So. State Street. Telephone, Wabash 5774.
HENKY S. KINGWILL, Associate.
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Lyman Bill, Inc.
PianA 9liH
I lttUW a i l U
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
technical nature relating to the tuning, regu-
lating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
dealt with, will be found in another section of this
paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
tiong of a
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal... Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma ...Pan-American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal
S t Louis Exposition. 1904
Cold Medal. ..Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5083—5883 MADISON 8Q.
Connecting all Departments
Cable address: "Elblll. New York."
NEW Y O R K ,
A P R I L 1 4 , 1917
EDITORIAL,
HE present economic condition of the country, and the situa-
T
tion that may develop from it, especially in the matter of
supplying foodstuffs, presents an opportunity to the wideawake
piano merchant to combine a spirit of patriotism and interest in
the economic welfare of the country and some good advertising
for himself at the same time. This may be accomplished by fol-
lowing out the campaign outlined by the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture and individual economic workers, which has
for its object the utilization of all open spaces, even in towns and
cities, for the raising of foodstuffs of various sorts to overcome
the present shortage, and to guard against the great shortage of
food products promised in the near future, especially in view of
war conditions.
The piano man, especially in the smaller cities and towns
where space is available in the front or rear of homes for such
home gardens, can, as outlined in last week's Review, capitalize
his interest in the matter by arranging for a series of contests
and offering prizes for the best and most attractive hdme garden
in his immediate vicinity within the borders of the city itself.
The piano man in addition to inaugurating a contest can render
practical service by getting some retired farmer—some man wise
to the ways of the soil—to give instructions to the children and
grownups who participate in the contest.
The dealer who adopts the contest plan is primarily calling
attention to himself and his own business at a nominal expense.
. He is doing a patriotic deed by contributing his share in develop-
ing the food supply of the country at a serious time in its history,
and he will reap the economic benefit by overcoming, in short, in
some manner the dangers which would attend a food shortage in
his own locality.
The Review sees possibilities in the movement and stands
ready to publish suggestions regarding the home garden contest
plan, or to supply any available information regarding the cam-
paign.
to the player-piano the small grand is receiving the
N EXT
best attention of manufacturers these days. It is only neces-
sary to examine recent creations put forth by leading establish-
ments to realize that the closest attention is being paid to the
musical perfection of these instruments. There is an absence
of tubby, uneven scales, due in many instances to the lack of
a proper conception of "grand" tone attributes.
On several occasions recently we had the pleasure of playing
and testing a number of small grands that were in some respects
a revelation by reason of their fine quality of tone, evenness in
all registers, and the presence of that grand "color" that affords
the keenest pleasure to the musical cognoscenti.
This attention to the distinctive tone quality of the small
grand has undoubtedly been a great factor in its popularity, and
more particularly when it is backed up on the part of the dealer
by a proper exploitation of its merits. Manufacturers, too, are
to be credited with placing before the dealer such information
as enables them to comprehend why the small grand should have
a special place in the esteem and consideration of customers. This
co-operation has resulted in a broader appreciation of the merits
of the small grand, all tending to a larger output.
Today the small grand is running second only in popularity
to the player-piano, and among those financially fixed in the
world's goods, the small grand has become a veritable necessity
in the furnishing of the music room.
It is obvious that the small grand will win an increased
popularity during this year, first, because of the intrinsic value
of the instruments which are being placed on the market, and,
second, because people of means want instruments of distinction
in their home—in other words, something different from the
upright.
HPHERE has been much discussion regarding business condi-
1 tions "after the war," and innumerable predictions as to the
course of events. A rather novel view of the situation was ex-
pressed recently by F. C. Schwedtman, of the National City Bank
of New York, who said:
"The war after the war will be internal rather than external;
not a bitter commercial competition with European countries,
but a struggle within the nation itself against waste, extrava-
gance, obsolete methods, class prejudices and economic ignorance.
The great scientist, Pasteur, has said that it is within the power
of man to rid himself of every parasitic disease. In the war after
the war we must destroy the germs of ignorance and inefficiency
to enjoy the greatest industrial health. Competition with foreign
nations will take care of itself. The important thing for the
United States is to see that its own workbench is in good order,
with the tools sharp and clean and in their place. We need to
revise our notion that God's curse upon mankind was work, and
our idea that heaven is a place of passive bliss. Imagine Hill
or Morgan or Roosevelt in a heaven of eternal peace and rest!
Happiness and action should be synonymous terms."
So there you are, piano men ! Isn't it time'for the music trade
industry to wake up and get into the game of prognosticating
what new worlds we may conquer before and after this hurly-
burly sphere settles down to peace and contentment?
weeks ago reference was made in the Western depart-
S OME
ment of The Review to the very practical interest taken by
Robert B. Gregory, president of Lyon & Healy, in a movement
now under way in Chicago to aid those men, many of them
capable, who, because of a certain prejudice on the part of em-
ployes against age, lose their positions, many of them finding it
impossible to find new occupations.
This unjust discrimination against men because of age is
being strongly fought by the heads of many prominent business
houses in Chicago, and the move is one worthy of the heartiest
commendation.
It is absurd to think that age should counterbalance ability
in the employment of men in the piano, or any other trade, and
yet it is a question that arises in every business establishment.
There are concerns that have an age limit for the employ-
ment of salesmen, believing that the younger men possess more
initiative and energy for securing results in the development of
their affairs than those who have passed the forty-fifth milestone.