Music Trade Review

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CHICAGO AND THE MIDDLE WEST
Frnnk W. Kirk, Manager, 333 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Story & Clark Sales Manager Finds
Airplane Best Method of Traveling
Visited Southeastern Section and West Indies Islands Where, He Reports, Conditions
Generally Are Very Good With Bright Outlook for Piano Business
/ C H I C A G O , ILL., April 23.—K. A. Burke,
^•^ sales manager of the Story & Clark Piano
Co., Chicago, returned last week from a very
successful trip to the West Indies Islands and
the Southeastern Atlantic States. Mr. Burke
traveled extensively by aeroplane and is en-
thusiastic over this method of transportation,
not only as a great'time saver but also for its
advantages of comfort and convenience.
Mr. Burke sailed on March 7 from New York
to Porto Rico and spent one week on the island
with Salvador R. Nin, the Story & Clark repre-
sentative there. In company with Mr. Nin,
he visited a number of agents and dealers and
found business very good. In describing the
conditions discovered during his trip Mr. Burke
issued the following statement:
"There is a great deal of activity on the
island and employment conditions are good,
which has resulted in favorable piano business
as the people are naturally music-loving. Busi-
ness conditions are good because of the money
that has been brought to the island by insur-
ance companies, the government and other or
ganizations. $16,000,000 has been brought in,
which provides more money than they have
had for some time for industry.
"From Porto Rico I went to San Domingo
and after visiting our representative there
drove by auto across the Dominican and Hai-
tian Mountains to Port au Prince, Haiti, and
spent several days with the West Indies Trad-
ing Co. Then I took the S. S. "Araguaya"
(British Royal Mail Steamship) to Nassau,
Bahamas.
"From Nassau I went by hydroplane through
to Miami, which is 261 miles, and made it in
one hour and fifty-five minutes. We changed
Proposed Wisconsin Bill
to Aid Instalment Buyers
MADISON, WIS., April 20.—Music merchants
throughout Wisconsin are interested in a bill
introduced into the Wisconsin legislature by
Assemblyman John Eber which has for its
purpose, according to the author, the protec-
tion of persons who buy articles on the instal-
ment plan from losing all of the property in
case of default in payment.
The measure proposes where there is a re
taking of the property by the seller, that the
purchaser, if the property is divisible, shall
have the right to retain as much of the prop-
erty as his paid instalments would amount to
at the sale price of the goods.
Opposition to the bill has been voiced by
those who do a large instalment business, who
claim that only a small proportion of good,
sold are ever taken back and that in cases o^
unfortunate customers easy terms are made
so that they will not lose their property.
Brunswick Race Records
The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co., begin-
ning April 18, will make a regular release of
race records. An advertising campaign includ-
ing a weekly 250-line advertisement in the De-
fender, national race newspaper, is being
planned for the promotion of these records.
planes at Miami, taking an aeroplane, tri-motor
Fokker, and flew 285 miles from Miami to
Havana in two hours and fifteen minutes.
"This was my first experience in traveling
via aeroplane and I am sure it will not be my
last for I am thoroughly convinced that this is
an excellent method of transportation. It is
rapid, comfortable, scenic and inexpensive. It
takes a day and a night to go from Miami to
Havana by rail and steamship whereas this dis-
tance of 285 miles was m:ule in two hours and
fifteen minutes. The cost was only $20 more
than the combined cost of the railroad and
steamship fare.
"After spending a week in Havana where an
important connection was established with the
Excelsior Music Co., I took the plane back
again to Miami and then returned to Chicago.
On my return trip, visited Story & Clark deal-
ers in Florida, Georgia, South and North
Carolina.
"Conditions were improving in all the States
visited except North and South Carolina where
there were strikes among the cotton mills.
"Florida particularly is coming back and 1
predict that in five years at the most it will
be one of the best States for piano business in
the country. This is one of the best seasons
since the boom and all the large cities are
crowded notwithstanding the additional build-
ings that have been erected."
Newspaper Article Pays
Tribute to Straube Go.
Hammond, Ind., Publication Reviews Career
of Piano Manufacturing Enterprise in an
Interesting Presentation
HAMMOND, IND., April 23.—The prestige which
the Straube Piano Co. enjoys in its home com-
munity as it does elsewhere, is apparent from
the article which appeared in the Lake County
Times, local newspaper, which reads in part
as follows:
"Perhaps no other industry in Hammond has
contributed as much to the aesthetic fame of
the city as has the Straube Piano Co., manu-
facturers of pianos of superior quality and
musical excellence that are enjoying a world-
wide demand. In fact, Straube pianos are to
be found in Australia, South America, Europe,
Japan, and a number of other distant countries
where fine pianos are desired.
"Locally Straube pianos are used almost ex-
clusively in the Gary and Hammond public
school systems and in colleges and universities
through the country.
"The company was established in 1878 in
Downer's Grove, 111., where the foundation for
the present success was laid. Removing to
Hammond in 1904, because this city afforded it
better manufacturing and transportation facili-
ties than did Downer's Grove, the plant has
been outgrown several times, necessitating
large additions, the latest being the unit de-
voted to the manufacture of Straube Grand
pianos, which have developed a most enviable
reputation for their wealth of musical excel-
lence and their unique features of construc-
tion."
12
Rudolph Ganz to Play
at Convention Banquet
The musical feature of the program of the
twenty-eighth annual banquet of the National
Association of Music Merchants to be held at
the Drake Hotel, Chicago, on June 6, will be
the appearance as soloist of Rudolph Ganz, the
Rudolph Ganz, Noted Pianist, Who Will Play
at the Merchants' Banquet
distinguished conductor-pianist and recognized
as one of the world's greatest artists. Al-
though born in Switzerland, Mr. Ganz has
spent the greater part of his life in this coun-
try and is at present vice-president and a
member of the faculty of the Chicago Musical
College.
Mr. Ganz made his first concert appearance
in New York in February 1906 as soloist with
the New York Symphony Orchestra,, under the
direction of Felix Weingartner. After three
years filling European engagements, Mr. Ganz
returned to the United States and during the
following nine years played extensively as a
concert pianist in this country and Canada. He
had firmly established his prestige as a pianist
before he was invited to appear as a guest
conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orches-
tra in 1921. The impression he made on that
occasion resulted in his being selected as per-
manent director of that orchestra, a post which
he filled with distinction for six years. He also
appeared as guest conductor of the New York
Stadium Concerts and of the Hollywood Bowl
and the San Francisco Symphony. In writing
of Mr. Ganz, a distinguished San Francisco
music critic said that he "is a poet who has
successfully fused romanticism with the mod-
ern spirit."
The officers of the association and the mem-
bers of the committee in charge of the ban-
quet are particularly gratified owing to the fact
that they will be able to present so distin-
guished an artist before the music merchants
and their guests.
BOARDMAN tic GRAY
Reproducing (Welte Lic'e) Grand and Up-
right Pianos are pianists' and tuners' favor-
ites for Quality and Durability. Est. 1837.
Art Styles a Specialty—Send for Catalog
Factory and VTarf rooms
7, 9 & 11 Jay St., Albany, N. Y.