Music Trade Review
Issue: 1922 Vol. 74 N. 13 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
APRIL 1,
1922
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
TH1RTYTW0 YEARS A PIANO MAKER FREIGHT AND TAXES TWIN PROBLEMS
Oscar L. Kindler Started in 1880 in Decker Bros.
Plant—Formed Kindler & Collins in 1911,
Which Firm Has Since Manufactured Instru-
ments Bearing That and the Needham Name
On Friday, March 24, Oscar L. Kindler, of
Kindler & Collins, New York, celebrated the
thirty-second anniversary of his entering the
piano industry, having started to learn the busi-
Oscar L. Kindler
ness when fourteen years old in the factory of
Decker Bros., which was then located on Thirty-
fourth street, where the Manhattan Opera House
now stands. In those days to learn the piano
business a boy had to work a year for nothing
and during the second year received $1.50 per
week.
Mr. Kindler's first position was in the finishing
department and later he learned every branch
of piano making. He became connected with
Gildermeister & Kroeger, with whom he re-
mained until 1898. From there he went to the
factory of Paul G. Mehlin & Sons and later en-
tered the factory of Jacob Bros., at the time
that Jacob Becker was superintendent of the
Jacob factory. Leaving the Jacob factory he
worked for some time in the factory of Steinway
& Sons and when Jacob Becker went into busi-
ness for himself he returned to the Jacob fac-
tory as superintendent. He remained there until
1911, when the partnership of Kindler & Col-
lins was formed, and then commenced manufac-
turing at Forty-fourth street and Tenth avenue.
Since that time they have purchased the Need-
ham Piano Co. and. have moved into a thor-
oughly modern plant at 524 West Forty-eighth
street, which they have occupied for some years
and have continued successfully to manufacture
the Kindler & Collins and Needham pianos and
player-pianos.
MEXICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Mexican Chamber of the United States
has been incorporated under the laws of New
York, with headquarters in the Woolworth
Building, for the purpose of promoting closer
commercial relations between Mexico and the
United States. Among the directors of the new
chamber are Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the
board of the United States Steel Corp., and
James W. Gerard, formerly United States Am-
bassador to Germany.
NEW SHONINQER BRANCH ON COAST
OAKLAND, CAL., March 27.—The B. Shoninger
Co., through its Western representative, Arleigh
A. Brown, has established headquarters in this
city. The new branch will have charge of dis-
tribution throughout the entire Coast territory.
Distribution will be handled by rail and water.
Canadian Music Trades Seeking Lower Freight
Rates and Protest Personal Property Tax
VICTORIA, B. C, March 27.—One of the biggest
handicaps that the music trades is faced with
just now is the extremely high cost of railroad
freight transportation. Premier John Oliver and
a delegation of Coast business men are now in
Ottawa fighting for a reduction of rates and there
are indications that some important changes may
be made. In the meantime, however, Pacific
Coast interests believe they have found a way
to cut the cost of transportation without worrying
the railroads at all by shipping by water instead
of by rail.
Representative piano dealers formed a com-
mittee which was recently appointed to confer
with the management of the Canadian Govern-
ment mercantile marine with a view to arrang-
ing for shipment of pianos and other heavy stock
by way of the Panama Canal on the steamships
already being regularly operated on that route.
The piano rate quoted is said to be $1.45 a hun-
dred pounds by steamship from New York via
the Panama Canal, while the carload rate over
the American railroads is $3.35 a hundred. The
difference in time involved will be negligible, as
it is believed that steamship freight can be laid
down here twenty-five days after leaving New
York, while it takes nearly three weeks to ship
out by rail.
At a meeting of piano dealers held recently
it was resolved to lodge a strong protest with the
Provincial Government against the enforcement
of the personal property tax, which, under present
plans, will become effective some time in March.
The tax amounts to a levy of 1 per cent on stock-
in-trade and book accounts and hits the piano
trade particularly hard on account of the exten-
sive credit that must naturally accompany theii
business, as well as the fact that, as compared
with other lines, the turnover is not rapid. A
committee composed of J. H. Fletcher, of
Fletcher Bros., and Herbert Kent, of Kent's Edi-
son Store, will wait on the Government to urge
that the tax plan be amended or its enforcement
suspended.
NEW MOVE TO HELP FOREIGN TRADE
Personnel and Offices of Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce to Be Materially In-
creased, Beginning on July 1, 1922
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 27.—Increases in both
personnel and the number of offices of the Bureau
of Foreign and Domestic Commerce will take
place shortly after the beginning of the fiscal year
1923, on July 1, next, as a result of the increased
appropriations w r hich have been granted the Bu-
reau by Congress.
The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com-
merce, which is charged with the promotion of
the foreign and domestic commerce of the United
States, will take on between fifty and seventy-five
additional employes, it was said at the depart-
ment, made necessary by the expansion in the
foreign and domestic offices (if the Bureau.
The number of foreign and home offices will
be increased, but the principal expansion will be
in the commodity divisions of the Department of
Commerce, of which there are now a number
especially equipped to aid foreign trade with
American firms. Tentative plans already drawn
up call for the establishment of three additional
commodity divisions, which will probably be
called the chemicals division, the division of for-
eign investments and finance and the export tech-
nique division.
During the current fiscal year the Bureau is
spending about $1,200,000, while for the next
fiscal year, beginning July 1, the appropriation,
is a little less than $1,600,000.
Addition of more district and field officers of
the Bureau in the United States and abroad will
increase the work of the home office in Washing-
ton, making an increase in the clerical force neces-
sary, while there probably will be a few more
offices of the Bureau located in foreign lands.
NOW PREMIER CORP. SECRETARY
Louis C. Kauling, One of the Organizers of Pre-
mier Grand Piano Corp., Elected at Annual
Meeting—Company Has Had Rapid Growth
At the recent annual meeting of the Premier
Grand Piano Corp., New York, Louis C. Kauling
was elected secretary. Mr. Kauling has taken a
most active part in the company's manufacturing
activities and development since the inception of
Louis C. Kauling
this institution, having been one of its original
organizers.
Mr. Kauling's many years of experience in
piano making, the past ten years of which have
been devoted to grand pianos exclusively, have
enabled him to draw from that experience in the
constructive work he has done in the Premier in-
stitution. The Premier Grand Piano Corp., manu-
facturing baby grand pianos exclusively, is being
conducted on a most comprehensive scale, and a
large market has been developed. The Premier
grand, now a well-known product, is being sold
throughout the United States and handled by the
most representative houses in the various com-
munities.
DEATH OF HORACE J. BOULTER
Old-time Canadian Piano Man Passes Away in
Toronto After Long Illness
TORONTO, ONT., March 27.—After an illness of
about two months Horace J. Boulter, for some
eight years with the Nordheimer Piano & Music
Co., in Hamilton, and during' the last year man-
ager of the Heintzman & Co. branch in Gait, has
passed away at his residence in Hamilton, 232
St. James street, North. Mr. Boulter, who was
fifty-four years old, left, besides his widow, one
daughter and a stepson.
NEW YORK CONCERN CHARTERED
The firm of Charles H. Murray, of New York
City, has been granted a charter of incorpora-
tion, under the laws of New York State, to deal
in musical instruments, with a capital of $10,000.
Incorporators are: C. H. Chapman, C. A. Slo-
cum and W. W. Westall.
OTTO GRAU CO. BECOMES AGENT
The Otto Grau Piano Co., of Cincinnati, O., has
been appointed agent for the Ampico in the Mar-
shall & Wendell, according to an announcement
by the Foster-Armstrong Co., of Rochester, N. Y.
The tenth anniversary of the opening of the
Henry F. Miller & Sons Piano Co., at Portland,
Me., recently was celebrated by a dinner and
theatre party at which members and employes of
the firm were present.
APRIL 1,
1922
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
TH1RTYTW0 YEARS A PIANO MAKER FREIGHT AND TAXES TWIN PROBLEMS
Oscar L. Kindler Started in 1880 in Decker Bros.
Plant—Formed Kindler & Collins in 1911,
Which Firm Has Since Manufactured Instru-
ments Bearing That and the Needham Name
On Friday, March 24, Oscar L. Kindler, of
Kindler & Collins, New York, celebrated the
thirty-second anniversary of his entering the
piano industry, having started to learn the busi-
Oscar L. Kindler
ness when fourteen years old in the factory of
Decker Bros., which was then located on Thirty-
fourth street, where the Manhattan Opera House
now stands. In those days to learn the piano
business a boy had to work a year for nothing
and during the second year received $1.50 per
week.
Mr. Kindler's first position was in the finishing
department and later he learned every branch
of piano making. He became connected with
Gildermeister & Kroeger, with whom he re-
mained until 1898. From there he went to the
factory of Paul G. Mehlin & Sons and later en-
tered the factory of Jacob Bros., at the time
that Jacob Becker was superintendent of the
Jacob factory. Leaving the Jacob factory he
worked for some time in the factory of Steinway
& Sons and when Jacob Becker went into busi-
ness for himself he returned to the Jacob fac-
tory as superintendent. He remained there until
1911, when the partnership of Kindler & Col-
lins was formed, and then commenced manufac-
turing at Forty-fourth street and Tenth avenue.
Since that time they have purchased the Need-
ham Piano Co. and. have moved into a thor-
oughly modern plant at 524 West Forty-eighth
street, which they have occupied for some years
and have continued successfully to manufacture
the Kindler & Collins and Needham pianos and
player-pianos.
MEXICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Mexican Chamber of the United States
has been incorporated under the laws of New
York, with headquarters in the Woolworth
Building, for the purpose of promoting closer
commercial relations between Mexico and the
United States. Among the directors of the new
chamber are Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the
board of the United States Steel Corp., and
James W. Gerard, formerly United States Am-
bassador to Germany.
NEW SHONINQER BRANCH ON COAST
OAKLAND, CAL., March 27.—The B. Shoninger
Co., through its Western representative, Arleigh
A. Brown, has established headquarters in this
city. The new branch will have charge of dis-
tribution throughout the entire Coast territory.
Distribution will be handled by rail and water.
Canadian Music Trades Seeking Lower Freight
Rates and Protest Personal Property Tax
VICTORIA, B. C, March 27.—One of the biggest
handicaps that the music trades is faced with
just now is the extremely high cost of railroad
freight transportation. Premier John Oliver and
a delegation of Coast business men are now in
Ottawa fighting for a reduction of rates and there
are indications that some important changes may
be made. In the meantime, however, Pacific
Coast interests believe they have found a way
to cut the cost of transportation without worrying
the railroads at all by shipping by water instead
of by rail.
Representative piano dealers formed a com-
mittee which was recently appointed to confer
with the management of the Canadian Govern-
ment mercantile marine with a view to arrang-
ing for shipment of pianos and other heavy stock
by way of the Panama Canal on the steamships
already being regularly operated on that route.
The piano rate quoted is said to be $1.45 a hun-
dred pounds by steamship from New York via
the Panama Canal, while the carload rate over
the American railroads is $3.35 a hundred. The
difference in time involved will be negligible, as
it is believed that steamship freight can be laid
down here twenty-five days after leaving New
York, while it takes nearly three weeks to ship
out by rail.
At a meeting of piano dealers held recently
it was resolved to lodge a strong protest with the
Provincial Government against the enforcement
of the personal property tax, which, under present
plans, will become effective some time in March.
The tax amounts to a levy of 1 per cent on stock-
in-trade and book accounts and hits the piano
trade particularly hard on account of the exten-
sive credit that must naturally accompany theii
business, as well as the fact that, as compared
with other lines, the turnover is not rapid. A
committee composed of J. H. Fletcher, of
Fletcher Bros., and Herbert Kent, of Kent's Edi-
son Store, will wait on the Government to urge
that the tax plan be amended or its enforcement
suspended.
NEW MOVE TO HELP FOREIGN TRADE
Personnel and Offices of Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce to Be Materially In-
creased, Beginning on July 1, 1922
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 27.—Increases in both
personnel and the number of offices of the Bureau
of Foreign and Domestic Commerce will take
place shortly after the beginning of the fiscal year
1923, on July 1, next, as a result of the increased
appropriations w r hich have been granted the Bu-
reau by Congress.
The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com-
merce, which is charged with the promotion of
the foreign and domestic commerce of the United
States, will take on between fifty and seventy-five
additional employes, it was said at the depart-
ment, made necessary by the expansion in the
foreign and domestic offices (if the Bureau.
The number of foreign and home offices will
be increased, but the principal expansion will be
in the commodity divisions of the Department of
Commerce, of which there are now a number
especially equipped to aid foreign trade with
American firms. Tentative plans already drawn
up call for the establishment of three additional
commodity divisions, which will probably be
called the chemicals division, the division of for-
eign investments and finance and the export tech-
nique division.
During the current fiscal year the Bureau is
spending about $1,200,000, while for the next
fiscal year, beginning July 1, the appropriation,
is a little less than $1,600,000.
Addition of more district and field officers of
the Bureau in the United States and abroad will
increase the work of the home office in Washing-
ton, making an increase in the clerical force neces-
sary, while there probably will be a few more
offices of the Bureau located in foreign lands.
NOW PREMIER CORP. SECRETARY
Louis C. Kauling, One of the Organizers of Pre-
mier Grand Piano Corp., Elected at Annual
Meeting—Company Has Had Rapid Growth
At the recent annual meeting of the Premier
Grand Piano Corp., New York, Louis C. Kauling
was elected secretary. Mr. Kauling has taken a
most active part in the company's manufacturing
activities and development since the inception of
Louis C. Kauling
this institution, having been one of its original
organizers.
Mr. Kauling's many years of experience in
piano making, the past ten years of which have
been devoted to grand pianos exclusively, have
enabled him to draw from that experience in the
constructive work he has done in the Premier in-
stitution. The Premier Grand Piano Corp., manu-
facturing baby grand pianos exclusively, is being
conducted on a most comprehensive scale, and a
large market has been developed. The Premier
grand, now a well-known product, is being sold
throughout the United States and handled by the
most representative houses in the various com-
munities.
DEATH OF HORACE J. BOULTER
Old-time Canadian Piano Man Passes Away in
Toronto After Long Illness
TORONTO, ONT., March 27.—After an illness of
about two months Horace J. Boulter, for some
eight years with the Nordheimer Piano & Music
Co., in Hamilton, and during' the last year man-
ager of the Heintzman & Co. branch in Gait, has
passed away at his residence in Hamilton, 232
St. James street, North. Mr. Boulter, who was
fifty-four years old, left, besides his widow, one
daughter and a stepson.
NEW YORK CONCERN CHARTERED
The firm of Charles H. Murray, of New York
City, has been granted a charter of incorpora-
tion, under the laws of New York State, to deal
in musical instruments, with a capital of $10,000.
Incorporators are: C. H. Chapman, C. A. Slo-
cum and W. W. Westall.
OTTO GRAU CO. BECOMES AGENT
The Otto Grau Piano Co., of Cincinnati, O., has
been appointed agent for the Ampico in the Mar-
shall & Wendell, according to an announcement
by the Foster-Armstrong Co., of Rochester, N. Y.
The tenth anniversary of the opening of the
Henry F. Miller & Sons Piano Co., at Portland,
Me., recently was celebrated by a dinner and
theatre party at which members and employes of
the firm were present.
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