Presto

THE PRESTO BUYERS'
W I D E CLASSIFIES ALL
FIANOS AND PLAYERS
j
AND THEIR MAKERS
PRESTO
E.tabiiMhed 1884 THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
THE PRESTO YEAR BOOK
IS THE ONLY ANNUAL
REVIEW OP
THE MUSIC TRADES
" c«n«», $2.00 « i w
ABE'S EPIGRAMS
"Do Not Speak of Secret Matters In a Field That Is Full of Little Hills."
FIFTH INSTALLMENT.
Hills and valleys are very likely to give rise to echoes, and besides that, if the
hills are too small to make a startling reverberation, there may be people hidden
near-by quite out of sight who will hear what is being said.
Sometimes it is unfortunate to have people overhear part of a conversation, or
to get a few facts which they quote quite separately from the contributory circum-
stances which modify them. The funny man on the stage is very fond of taking
absurd bits of popular quotations or well-known sayings and making capital of
them. It is not until we hear the remark in relation to the whole statement that we
realize the absurdity of it.
All of which goes to prove that those who are wise, and particularly the man
who is in business, must be very careful of two things: The first is that no state-
ments are made concerning one's own business, or facts made public which would be
better kept secret; and second, that before we credit facts or statements about
other people's affairs, we must be fully informed.
A distressing situation which was the result of failure to observe these precau-
tions comes to mind. A young man went into business and was both surprised and
pleased with the large weekly returns which his enterprise brought him. He had
not expected that his daily or weekly record of business would make any such a
showing for years. To be sure, his expenses were very heavy, for he did a consid-
erable amount of high-priced advertising and maintained a somewhat pretentious
organization.
He was just a little bit vain of what he was really doing and sometimes spoke
in confidence, to intimate friends, of the amount he had banked that week, or the
aggregate business shown upon his books; further he left part of his business
books unlocked where some of his organization, none too wise in points of discre-
tion, might see them.
Soon it got rumored abroad that he was rolling in money, and those with
whom he did business began to ask him outrageous prices for the most trifling
service. His employes began to talk among themselves and to determine that they
were inadequately paid. From the facts and figures they were able to gather from
the open books it looked as though they were doing a large amount, if not practically
all of the work which was bringing in these large sums of money. But unfor-
tunately, our friend had kept to himself the heavy expenses he was already carry-
ing and the really narrow margin of profit he was making.
However, there began to be a good many echoes flying about, and before long
his helpers demanded a 50 per cent increase in pay. He granted it, much troubled
as to what the outcome would be. It necessitated borrowing extensively. His cred-
it was good and he had no difficulty getting the money. Still he didn't learn the les-
son. He continued to make boastful remarks and to leave part of his records that
whoever ran might read.
(Continued on page 6.)
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/