Presto

11
PRESTO
June 5, 1920.
WHERE DOUBTS ARE DISPELLED
Under This Head Presto Will Answer Any Question Pertaining to Pianos, or
Other Subjects of Direct Interest to the Trade and Musical Public
factories. Every manufacturer follows a system of
his own. Presto, and also such other publications
as System, of Chicago, and the Bookkeeper, of De-
troit, have published articles from time to time on
cost accounting systems for this, that, and the other
line of business, but no book of standardized costs
A REVISED ANSWER.
in the piano business has ever been issued.
Harvard University sought some time ago to
In the "Where Doubts Are Dispelled" depart-
ment in Presto of May 22nd, an inadequate reply standardize costs in some lines. But nothing has
was made to N. V. M. Witsenburg, Jr., of Amster- been done in piano manufacture as to standardizing
dam, Holland, concerning the matter of some in- costs. In the retail piano business it is easy to es-
formation for which he asks regarding instruments tablish a cost-accounting system; every good house
in which phonographs are made part of pianos. In does it. No two alike. But in manufacturing, so
the reply to Mr. Witesenburg a list of the newest de- many new conditions are constantly arising that it
velopments of the piano-phonograph was given. takes daily attention, and no two houses do it alike.
But, so far as concerns the reference to motive Emergencies of every kind have to be grappled with
power in the combined instrument it should have as they arise. A book of thousands of pages could
been said that there is no instrument outside of the be written on the subject; and then every piano
Apollo that has a spring motor, or that has an manufacturer would have to do his cost-accounting
air motor for which the claim is positively made in his own way, despite the book.
that it will not be affected by loud pedaling in the
* * *
matter of tempo. In answering Mr. Witsenburg it
THE "PEERLESS" ELECTRIC.
would have been fair to add that there are no other
Woodbine, Iowa, May 21, 1920.
spring motor players.
Editor Presto: Will you please inform me who
manufactures the electric "Peerless" player? and
* * *
oblige
Yours,
MANDOLIN ATTACHMENTS.
BEN YAGER.
Chicago, May 5, 1920.
The Peerless electric instruments are manufac-
Editor Presto: Can you please inform me as to
where I can buy ready-made-up mandolin attach- tured by the National Electric Piano Co., St. Johns-
ville, N. Y.
ments for any ordinary piano?
Yours truly,
* * *
GEO. E. SCHULZE.
THE "BAUMEISTER" PIANO.
Athens, Ga., May 24, 1920.
We do not know of any concern that is now manu-
Editor Presto: Please advise us where, and by
facturing mandolin attachments for pianos. The
Price & Teeple Piano Co. produce something of the whom, the Baumeister piano is made, and oblige
JAMES MUSIC CO.
kind for their own purposes. Of course it would be
impossible to make attachments for miscellaneous
For a good many years the instrument was man-
instruments, because, if made to fit one scale, the ufactured by a company known as the Baumeister
attachment would not serve the purposes of some Piano Co., whose factory was, and we believe still
other piano.
is, at 518 E. 73rd St., New York City. The factory
is a small one which had its origin in 1894. H.
* * *
Baumeister was engaged in the business before he
CYLINDER RECORDS.
went to California a good many years ago.
Medford, Wis,, May 6, 1920.
* * #
Editor Presto: Just an inquiry as to where can we
procure a cylinder record outside of the Edison Am-
"MARSHFIELD" PIANO.
brola? There are several made. Hoping to hear
Odon, Ind., May 25, 1920.
from you on this question, we are,
Editor Presto: I have Presto Buyers' Guide. I
Yours very truly,
do not find the Marshfield piano described in it.
DROST BROS.
Please tell us about it.
Respectifully,
LEMUEL GADBERRY.
Cylinder records are now almost extinct, except-
ing- for special purposes, such as Dictaphone and toy
Pianos bearing the name of "Marshfield" are pro-
machines
duced by the Marshall Piano Co., of Chicago. They
We know of but two industries that are still mak- are well-made, popular-grade instruments. The
ing these cylinders, though there may be more. The name does not appear in Presto Buyers' Guide be-
two alluded to are Thos. A. Edison, Inc., West cause the manufacturing concern named is a new
Orange, N. J., and the Columbia Graphophone Co., one the products of which have but recently beer
Woolworth Building, New York City. The latter placed upon the market. The "Marshfield" is what
concern has a Chicago branch at 323 W. Jackson is usually termed a trade-mark piano.
boulevard.
Inquiries must bear the signature and address of
zvriter in order to receive attention. Answers thought
to be of general trade interest will be published. If an
answer is not of general interest it will be mailed pro-
vided stamp is inclosed.
• #
*
*
THREE GOOD PIANOS.
Arcadia, Nebr., May 28, 1920.
Editor Presto: Which is the better piano, Mathu-
shek or Jvers & Pond, and they are in the same class
with the Steinway?
Yours truly,
MRS. W. L. CRAMER.
We can safely say that both the Mathushek and*
the Ivers & Pond are well-made instruments, having
been in the market for a very long time. They arc
the products of perfectly reliable and responsible in-
dustries. The Mathushek piano has some feature-;
which, in our judgment, are of special merit and it
is an instrument which we always feel inclined to
recommend.
Of course, there can be no question about the
artistic "Steinway" piano, and it is safe to say that
all three of the instruments named by you are de-
sirable and will give satisfaction to the purchaser.
* * *
PIANO COSTS SYSTEMS.
Newark, N. J., May 25, 1920.
Editor Presto: At the Business Branch of the
Library we have had a request for a cost accounting
system for the piano trade. We do not find this
information listed in any of the books or indexes
at the Branch.
We would appreciate it if you could give us any
information that you may have on this subject.
Yours truly,
J. C. DANA, Librarian.
There is no printed matter in existence within our
knowledge on cost-accounting systems for piano
TROUBLES NEVER COME ALONE.
The friends of Thomas Flynn, of the retail de-
partment of Julius Bauer & Co., Chicago, will sym-
pathize with him when they read this account. He
had been obliged to move and pay higher rent. As
if that were not enough, his wife fell while hang-
ing a curtain the other day and broke one of her
legs below the knee. She was taken to the Robert
Burns Hospital for an X-ray of the broken part,
and is now at home. Mr. Flynn was obliged to
hire a trained nurse to care for his wife; and the
little children also require care.
Q R S IN CANADA.
Gordon Laughead in charge of the Canadian
branch of the Q R S Music Co., at 79 Wellington
street, West, Toronto, is particularly enthusiastic
over the growth of the player trade in Canada.
That he considers an assurance of a corresponding
increase in the demands for player music rolls. Mr.
Laughead is especially familiar with the require-
ments and demands of the Canadian trade at the
present time and able to form a reliable opinion as
to the character of the business there in the future.
WOOD FROM INDIA.
The Bombay blackwood, or rosewood (Dalbergia
latifolia) of southern India, and its export supply
is described in a new Government bulletin, priced at
10 cents (international money order) by the "Super-
intendent of Government Printing, 8 Hastings street,
Calcutta, India." The average prices realized at
some India government sales of this blackwood is
65 cents per cubic foot for dressed logs.
PROHIBITION BRINGS
BIGGER MUSIC CALL
Music Instrument Makers' Point of View Pre-
sented by Duane Sawyer of Detroit,
Mich., in New York.
Prohibition has brought the musician into his
own, and singly and collectively he is busy to the
point of being over-worked. The musical instrument
maker, music schools, phonograph and piano fac-
tories are working at high pressure, and in most
cases are months behind in production, according to
Duane Sawyer of Detroit, Mich., who gave an inter-
view to a reporter for the New York Times, at the
McAlpin Hotel, last week.
"Although I am a 'wet' and believe that prohibition
is a measure aimed at personal liberty, yet I must
confess that since the Eighteenth Amendment went
into effect the musician has become a much sought
after individual," said Mr. Sawyer, who specializes on
the saxophone. "There is a great wave of dancing,
small and large affairs, in the hotels and in the homes.
This is quite true of Detroit, and in my travels I
have learned that the condition is general almost
everywhere. The demand for musicians is so great
that all could work twenty-four hours each day and
not fill the requests for pianists, drummers, violinists
and saxophone players coming from every little vil-
lage and crossroads hamlet daily.
"It is the same with the makers of every sort of
musical instrument, and they are months behind on
their orders. Phonograph records, which always
sold well with an average order of perhaps 10,000 for
a popular number, are now being made in 100,000
lots, and none of the big companies can keep pace
with the demand in the United States. Their busi-
ness in South America and Europe, too, has in-
creased almost in the same proportions. The phono-
graph men will tell you that there is an increasing
demand for good music, which they are much grati-
fied to see.
"This should be a good time for young men and
women to study instrumental music, for there is no
reason to believe that the demand for dance and
concert orchestras will fall off, and the field is a very
interesting and lucrative one. Personally, I would
recommend the study of the saxophone, as in the
scores of inquiries I have had in Detroit for dance
orchestras the great majority have asked for the
saxophone and it has been the hardest for me to
supply."
PIANO MAKING IN
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND
Disappearance of German Pianos Encourages
English City to Develop the Industry.
Birmingham is endeavoring to develop the piano
industry in an effort to seize the opportunity of-
fered by the disappearance of German pianos from
the British market, writes Consul Wilbur T. Gracey,
Birmingham, England. One local manufacturer has
reorganized his factory and states that his weekly
output now is, roughly, one piano to each seven men
employed. It is understood that the employes are
being encouraged by an output bonus and by a
system of co-operation based on regular consulta-
tions with their own representatives in the factory.
The different departments work with each other in
securing the best from the elaborate and scientific
equipment that has been installed.
The firm manufactures only three models—a
large and a small upright and a baby grand. All
parts are being standardized. A timber-seasoning
plant on the American system has been introduced,
and the wood is now prepared in weeks where it
formerly took years. Most of the metal parts are
manufactured in Birmingham. Prior to the war
piano castings were imported largely from Ger-
many, but the iron frames are now made in South
Staffordshire. Piano wire of an especially good
quality is being made in Birmingham. The great-
est drawback at the present time is said to be the
shortage of ivory necessary for the keys.
INTERESTING THE COLLEGE.
Among the organizations and institutions through
which the National Bureau for the Advancement
of Music is working to spread the interest in music,
colleges and universities hold an important place.
Contact with a large number of professors and ad-
ministrative officers has been established and these
already have been of material help in fostering
some of the special movements the Bureau is pro-
moting—music memory contests and school credits
for private music study, to mention but two. Di-
rector C. M. Tremaine, of the Bureau, is now giv-
ing particular attention to the extension depart-
ments of the institutions of higher learning.
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