Music Trade Review

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14
THE
OBITUARY
William J. Haussler
William J. Haussler, vice-president of the
prominent harmonica and accordion house of
M. Hohner, Inc., New York, and for many
years one of the most active figures in the
musical merchandise trade of the country,
died on April 14, after an illness of some
three years' standing. He was forty-six
years old and is survived by his widow
and two children. Funeral services were
held in Brooklyn, N. Y., on April 16, and
were attended by many members of the
trade both from New York and out-of-town.
Mr. Haussler was a native of New York
and was credited with having done more to
spread harmonica playing throughout the
country and to raise the instrument from
street corner use to concert hall eminence
than any other man.
Under his direction the old diatonic scale
harmonica of limited range was changed
by a series of inventions into a chromatic
instrument, and varied sets of harmonies,
ranging from the bass to the highest pitch
attained by a piccolo, were developed. A
harmonica player, he developed a new meth-
od of using the instrument so that single
notes as well as chords could be played, and
taught this method by booklet, radio and
other means of widespread instruction.
Because of Mr. Haussler's improvements
and his far-flung educational and sales ef-
forts, there were said to be 10,000 harmonica
bands in the country in 1928; the Chicago
public schools were giving courses in har-
monica playing, and one of Mr. Haussler's
bands of boys had played at the Philadelphia
Sesquicentennial Exposition before President
Coolidge. Virtuosos like Borra Minnevitch,
using a melody harmonica, had convinced the
late John Philip Sousa and Hugo Riesenfeld
that the instrument was suitable for concert
Fred A. Seiberling
Fred A. Seiberling, founder of the
Seiberling-I.ucas Music Co., Portland, Ore.,
died in that city on April 22, after an illness
of three months. He was sixty-four years
old and had resided in Portland for over
forty years, coming from Pennsylvania,
where he was born.
Mr. Seiberling started in the music busi-
ness some years ago, in S small way, with
the late Frank Lucas as partner and met
with such success that his company became
one of the most prominent in the Pacific
Northwest. He was, for many years, direc-
tor of the Police, Fire Department and
Moose bands. He is survived by his widow
and three daughters.
J. J. Beukhof
J. J. Beukhof, aged forty-nine, manager of
the B. F. Blower Co., manufacturers of organ
blowers, Fond du Lac, Wis., was found dead
recently in the plant after a search for him
after he had been reported missing from his
home. Mr. Beukhof was born Jan. 31, 1883,
in Holland and came to America when he
was eleven years old, first residing in Chi-
cago. He came to Fond du Lac in 1912 as a
MUSIC
sergeant in the Marine Corps, in charge of
the local recruiting office. For the last ten
years he was manager of the B. F. Blower
Co. His widow, a son, Gilbert, and a brother,
John, of Chicago, survive.
Hugo Kaun
Stricken with a heart attack, Hugo Wil-
helm I.udwig Kaun, aged sixty-nine, noted
composer and well known in American music
circles, who formerly lived in Milwaukee,
died April 2 at his home in Zehlendorf, a
suburb of Berlin, Germany, Mr. Kaun made
his home in Milwaukee from 1887 to 1902. He
founded the Milwaukee Maennerchor and the
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. His
brother, William A. Kaun, who died ten
years ago, founded the store in Milwaukee
which bears his name.
TRADE
REVIEW,
May,
1932
business in that city and Sparta before com-
ing to Ionia. Besides the widow he leaves a
son, Lyle, a member of the firm of G. W.
French & Co., Inc.
Henry A. Dolge
Henry A. Dolge, who for many years op-
erated the lumber business of his brother,
Alfred, in Dolgeville, N. Y., which town
was founded by the latter, died there on
April 27. He was eighty-six years old and
was born in Germany, coming to this coun-
try in 1867. He was with his brother from
1870 to 1893 and then became treasurer of
the Dolgeville Felt Shoe Co., from which he
retired in 1906. He is survived by a brother,
Hugo.
William R. McClellan
Joseph N. Courtade
Joseph N. Courtade, founder of the old-
established piano supply house of J. N. Cour-
tade & Sons, Inc., New York, died at his
home in this city, on May 7, after a short
illness. Mr. Courtade, who was sixty-nine
years old, had been in the piano supply busi-
ness since 1891. He is survived by his wid-
ow, three sons, Joseph N., Edward A. and
Matthew B. Courtade, as well as two daugh-
ters.
Charles C. Kilgen
Charles C. Kilgen, president of George
Kilgen & Son, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., the prom-
inent pipe organ manufacturers, died in that
city on May 6, in his seventy-third year.
He came of a family that had been engaged
in organ building for generations, an ances-
tor, Sebastian Kilgen, having practised the
craft in Germany.
Robert A. King
Robert A. King, the oldest active member
of the American Society of Composers, Au-
thors and Publishers, w 7 ho had written song
hits for two generations of audiences, died
suddenly of heart disease at his home in New
York on April 13. He was seventy-two years
old. Surviving are his widow, Sophie King;
two sons, Mortimer and Elmore, and a
daughter, Jean King.
The remarkable persistency of Mr. King's
talent was shown a year ago when his "Moon-
light on the Colorado" scored one of that sea-
son's biggest successes. His greatest triumph,
written under the pseudonym of Mary Earl,
was "Beautiful Ohio Waltz," of which more
than 5,000,000 copies were sold.
Entering the employ of Charles Ditson &
Co., music dealers, as a youth of sixteen, Mr.
King soon began writing songs. He was able
to change his style with changing tastes and
to remain in the field with the present group
of writers. Since 1907 Mr. King had been
associated with the music publishing house of
Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
William R. McClellan, president of the
National Musical String Co., New Brunswick,
N. J., died at his home in that city on April
29 from a heart attack. He entered the em-
ploy of the National Musical String Co.
thirty-five year ago, and ten years ago pur-
chased the business from George D. Emerson,
the owner.
R. W . Hughes
Ralph W. Hughes, head of J. F. Hughes
& Sons, Dover, Foxeraft, Me., old-established
music dealers, died in that city, on April
27, after a short illness. He was fifty-nine
years old, and was born and had lived his
entire life there.
Mr. Hughes' first experience in business
was with his father, in the piano manufac-
turing business of Hughes & Dyer, and he
became a member of the firm upon the re-
tirement of T. S. Dyer. The manufactur-
ing business was discontinued about ten
years ago, and the company has since con-
ducted a general music store in Dover-Fox-
craft, with a branch in Old Town.
The deceased is survived by his widow,
a son and a daughter, as well as his parents
and three sisters.
Arthur St. Clair Barnes
Arthur St. Clair Barnes, associated with
his brother, George H. Barnes, in the Barnes
Music Co., Los Angeles, Cal., died in that
city, on May 3, after a long illness. The
last rites were attended by many members
of the local trade with whom Mr. Barnes
was very popular. Earlier in his career Mr.
Barnes was associated for a number of years
with the Filers Music Co., in Portland, Ore.
W. O. Warford
W. O. Warford, for a number of years
manager of the Southern Piano Co., Jackson,
Tenn., died at his home in that city on AprH
11 after a lengthy illness. He is survived by
his widow, one son and two daughters.
George W . French
John W. Cunningham
George W. French, seventy-six, for the past
forty years a dealer in musical merchandise
in Ionia, Mich., died on April 13 of pneu-
monia.
Born at Rock ford, Mr. French engaged in
John W. Cunningham, for the past fifty-
five years a music dealer in Po-tland, Ind.,
died in that city on April 10 in his eighty-
fifth year. He is survived by a son and a
daughter.