Presto
Issue: 1920 1771 - Page 7
PRESTO
July i, 1920.
LUMBER MEN CALL
TRADE "WORM EATEN"
Wholesalers Denounce "Fly-by-Night" Specu-
lators and Take Steps to Steady What
They Term "Chaotic" Market.
We couldn't have pianos without lumber. All
members of the industry and trade are interested in
the vital subject of lumber and the conditions by
which the increased cost of pianos is made so abso-
lutely necessary.
At a recent convention of lumber men there were
some almost startling disclosures made and plans
formulated by which it is hoped to make things
easier for the manufacturers in the near future. But
there is nothing in what was said or done to justify
any such thought as that pianos are destined to
come down in price at any time within the vision
of the present.
From an efficiency standpoint the wholesale lum-
ber business is considerably worm eaten. This opin-
ion was expressed among fifty heads of large whole-
sale lumber companies from every section of the
United States who met in the Congress Hotel,
Chicago, at a recent convention of their members.
They held a conference the purpose of which was
to complete the organization of a national associa-
tion of wholesale lumber dealers to prepare plans
of bettering the lumber business.
L. R. Putnam, formerly president of the Southern
Pine Association, was appointed managing director,
and he explained some of the ills of the lumber
trade as at present conducted. According to the
diagnosis of Mr. Putnam there are many points
of improvement as may be seen in what follows.
Of all the timber harvested only 37 per cent
reaches the market as lumber. The balance is waste
—mostly used as fuel in sawmill power plants.
Marketing and distribution is primitive. Hundreds
of cars are shipped from producing centers to big
central markets, without regard to whether there is
a market there for lumber.
Certain fly-by-night speculators accept lumber on
consignment, making no agreement on price beyond
stipulating that they shall receive a certain commis-
sion on whatever amount they, can get for it. They
throw it on the market at any price offered, with
the result that the market is made chaotic.
As a remedy for these ills, Mr. Putnam said, the
new association will undertake research work so
that the greater part of every tree cut will reach
ithe market in some form. It will try to eliminate
the irresponsible speculator, reform the shipping
system so that lumber will be shipped directly to
the place where it is needed, and arrange to route
all shipments over the shorter route. In addition
the association will undertake to increase reforesting
activities.
ADVANCE IN FREIGHT
RATES SEEMS CERTAIN
New Schedules Will Possibly Be Announced on or
Before August 1.
Hearings on the proposed freight rate increases
which have been in progress for several weeks
before the Interstate Commerce Commission in
Washington, D. C, probably will be concluded
this week. This will give the commission nearly
sixty days before September 1, when it is ex-
pected increased freight rates will be made effective.
Inasmuch as advanced notice undoubtedly will be
given, it is considered likely that the announcement
of the commission's decision will be made about Au-
gust 1.
That rates will be advanced seems a certainty.
The commission under the new transportation act
has no alternative but to adjust rates so that the
roads will earn approximately 5l4 per cent on the
value of the properties. The commission can allow
an additional one-half of 1 per cent, if it so desires
as a means of providing funds for rehabilitation of
the railroads.
It is generally conceded that the commission is
likely to grant the full 6 per cent. Just how much of
an increase in rates this will amount to will depend
upon what method of determining the valuation of
the railroads is adopted by the commission.
H. S. DICKEY'S LATEST SONG.
That irrepressible and successful piano dealer,
Howard S. Dickey, of Newton, Kans., has just put
forth another good song. It is entitled "What I
Like to Be Called," and it possesses the character-
istics of popularity. The melody is simple and the ac-
companiment equally so. Here's the chorus: "I like
to be called honey, and I like to be called friend; I
like to be called dearie and other names that sweetly
blend. But when the day is over and I hear you
calling me, there's just one girl I fancy and really
care to see. All others are forgotten, and the name
for which I fall is just the one word "sweetheart,"
for it's the best of all." Try it on your piano, and
you'll sell lots of it.
0 k! sa.ii,'does tkat
W.- e r
Jrlayect on tke
"Fascinating
SYMPHONOLA
PLAYER-PIAHO
Will make you a
satisfied customer
Price &TeepIe Piano Company
CHICAGO, U. S. A.
HONGKONG MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT TRADE
Agencies of American Pianos Have Suddenly
Become Valuable; for Small Cases the
Demand Is Especially Good.
The trade in musical instruments in Hongkong
has never been very large, and was especially small
during the war, writes Consul General George E.
Anderson. Since the war it has commenced to
pick up again, and there is fair promise of consid-
erable business in the near future.
Previous to the war the trade in pianos was di-
vided between Germany, Great Britain, and Far
Eastern concerns—factories at Shanghai making a
specialty of small instruments built for use in the
tropics having a large share of the business. Amer-
ican pianos were practically unknown and were
not popular, and there was little demand for other
American instruments except phonographs. Since
the war it has been difficult to procure pianos from
Great Britain and none were allowed from Germany,
and it has likewise been difficult to obtain materials
for the manufacture of pianos in the Far East at
prices which would enable them to compete with
American-made instruments bought at high ex-
change.
The result has been that the trade has been more
or less forced in the direction of the United States.
On the other hand American manufacturers have
paid some particular attention to this field, have
made small pianos suitable for use in the tropics to
meet the special demand here, and have otherwise
given indication of a desire to cultivate the business.
For the first time in the history of the trade the
agencies of American piano concerns have been of
value in this field, and considerably over half of the
entire trade in musical instruments in Hongkong
last year was American.
The imports for the past two years as reported
by the imports and exports office of Hongkong were
(values in U. S. gold): Automatic, 1918, $67,421; 1919,
$92,343; other, 1918, $32,989; 1919, $47,942; total,
1918, $100,410; 1919, $140,285.
Of the automatic instruments, mainly phonographs,
the United States furnished 60 per cent last year,
France 16 per cent, Great Britain 9 per cent, and
North China (chiefly American instruments) the
balance. Of the other instruments, mostly pianos,
the United States furnished 45 per cent, North China
30 per cent, Great Britain 11 per cent, Japan 6 per
cent, and the Philippines 3 per cent.
Great Britain has continued to send a consider-
able proportion of the brass instruments imported,
but the United States has had most of the trade in
that line also. Stringed instruments are principally
American. The sale of American sheet music also
has greatly increased.
OUT-OF-TOWN DEALERS
ENCOUNTERED IN CHICAGO
Men in Search of Pianos and Players Make Things
Lively in Offices.
George Frederickson, of the Frederickson, Kroh
Company, Oklahoma City, Okla., was in Chicago
last week ordering pianos and player pianos.
F. P. Whitmore, manager of the W. W. Kimball
Company's store at Kansas City, Mo., who was in
Chicago for a few days at the Kimball headquarters,
has returned home.
Geo. Bates, general auditor for Sherman, Clay &
Co., San Francisco, was in Chicago last week on his
way through to New York.
Thomas Logan, of Thos. Goggan & Bros.' store,
San Antonio, Tex., was in Chicago last week.
Clarence Campbell, president of the Knight-
Campbell Music Company, Denver, Colo., was in
Chicago early this week on his way to the talking
machine jobbers' convention in Atlantic City, N. J.
Ray Bannon, piano dealer, of Morris, 111., was in
Chicago on Tuesday of this week and placed orders
for instruments.
Ray Miller, of Theo. J. Miller & Sons, Dixon, 111.,
was in Chicago placing orders for goods this week.
Walter Stahlsmidt, of Evansville, Ind., was in Chi-
cago on Monday of this week. While in the city he
played golf with Thomas M. Fletcher, president of
the Q R S Company.
BUYS COOPERSTOWN STOKE.
Squire D. Brooks has acquired and taken posses-
sion of the music store of B. S. Morgan in Coopers-
town, N. Y., with the exception of the optical busi-
ness, which the latter will retain. The business
taken over by Mr. Brooks has been built up from
small beginnings by Mr. Morgan until it has become
a firmly established enterprise with a large clientele.
All kinds of musical goods and supplies are carried.
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/
July i, 1920.
LUMBER MEN CALL
TRADE "WORM EATEN"
Wholesalers Denounce "Fly-by-Night" Specu-
lators and Take Steps to Steady What
They Term "Chaotic" Market.
We couldn't have pianos without lumber. All
members of the industry and trade are interested in
the vital subject of lumber and the conditions by
which the increased cost of pianos is made so abso-
lutely necessary.
At a recent convention of lumber men there were
some almost startling disclosures made and plans
formulated by which it is hoped to make things
easier for the manufacturers in the near future. But
there is nothing in what was said or done to justify
any such thought as that pianos are destined to
come down in price at any time within the vision
of the present.
From an efficiency standpoint the wholesale lum-
ber business is considerably worm eaten. This opin-
ion was expressed among fifty heads of large whole-
sale lumber companies from every section of the
United States who met in the Congress Hotel,
Chicago, at a recent convention of their members.
They held a conference the purpose of which was
to complete the organization of a national associa-
tion of wholesale lumber dealers to prepare plans
of bettering the lumber business.
L. R. Putnam, formerly president of the Southern
Pine Association, was appointed managing director,
and he explained some of the ills of the lumber
trade as at present conducted. According to the
diagnosis of Mr. Putnam there are many points
of improvement as may be seen in what follows.
Of all the timber harvested only 37 per cent
reaches the market as lumber. The balance is waste
—mostly used as fuel in sawmill power plants.
Marketing and distribution is primitive. Hundreds
of cars are shipped from producing centers to big
central markets, without regard to whether there is
a market there for lumber.
Certain fly-by-night speculators accept lumber on
consignment, making no agreement on price beyond
stipulating that they shall receive a certain commis-
sion on whatever amount they, can get for it. They
throw it on the market at any price offered, with
the result that the market is made chaotic.
As a remedy for these ills, Mr. Putnam said, the
new association will undertake research work so
that the greater part of every tree cut will reach
ithe market in some form. It will try to eliminate
the irresponsible speculator, reform the shipping
system so that lumber will be shipped directly to
the place where it is needed, and arrange to route
all shipments over the shorter route. In addition
the association will undertake to increase reforesting
activities.
ADVANCE IN FREIGHT
RATES SEEMS CERTAIN
New Schedules Will Possibly Be Announced on or
Before August 1.
Hearings on the proposed freight rate increases
which have been in progress for several weeks
before the Interstate Commerce Commission in
Washington, D. C, probably will be concluded
this week. This will give the commission nearly
sixty days before September 1, when it is ex-
pected increased freight rates will be made effective.
Inasmuch as advanced notice undoubtedly will be
given, it is considered likely that the announcement
of the commission's decision will be made about Au-
gust 1.
That rates will be advanced seems a certainty.
The commission under the new transportation act
has no alternative but to adjust rates so that the
roads will earn approximately 5l4 per cent on the
value of the properties. The commission can allow
an additional one-half of 1 per cent, if it so desires
as a means of providing funds for rehabilitation of
the railroads.
It is generally conceded that the commission is
likely to grant the full 6 per cent. Just how much of
an increase in rates this will amount to will depend
upon what method of determining the valuation of
the railroads is adopted by the commission.
H. S. DICKEY'S LATEST SONG.
That irrepressible and successful piano dealer,
Howard S. Dickey, of Newton, Kans., has just put
forth another good song. It is entitled "What I
Like to Be Called," and it possesses the character-
istics of popularity. The melody is simple and the ac-
companiment equally so. Here's the chorus: "I like
to be called honey, and I like to be called friend; I
like to be called dearie and other names that sweetly
blend. But when the day is over and I hear you
calling me, there's just one girl I fancy and really
care to see. All others are forgotten, and the name
for which I fall is just the one word "sweetheart,"
for it's the best of all." Try it on your piano, and
you'll sell lots of it.
0 k! sa.ii,'does tkat
W.- e r
Jrlayect on tke
"Fascinating
SYMPHONOLA
PLAYER-PIAHO
Will make you a
satisfied customer
Price &TeepIe Piano Company
CHICAGO, U. S. A.
HONGKONG MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT TRADE
Agencies of American Pianos Have Suddenly
Become Valuable; for Small Cases the
Demand Is Especially Good.
The trade in musical instruments in Hongkong
has never been very large, and was especially small
during the war, writes Consul General George E.
Anderson. Since the war it has commenced to
pick up again, and there is fair promise of consid-
erable business in the near future.
Previous to the war the trade in pianos was di-
vided between Germany, Great Britain, and Far
Eastern concerns—factories at Shanghai making a
specialty of small instruments built for use in the
tropics having a large share of the business. Amer-
ican pianos were practically unknown and were
not popular, and there was little demand for other
American instruments except phonographs. Since
the war it has been difficult to procure pianos from
Great Britain and none were allowed from Germany,
and it has likewise been difficult to obtain materials
for the manufacture of pianos in the Far East at
prices which would enable them to compete with
American-made instruments bought at high ex-
change.
The result has been that the trade has been more
or less forced in the direction of the United States.
On the other hand American manufacturers have
paid some particular attention to this field, have
made small pianos suitable for use in the tropics to
meet the special demand here, and have otherwise
given indication of a desire to cultivate the business.
For the first time in the history of the trade the
agencies of American piano concerns have been of
value in this field, and considerably over half of the
entire trade in musical instruments in Hongkong
last year was American.
The imports for the past two years as reported
by the imports and exports office of Hongkong were
(values in U. S. gold): Automatic, 1918, $67,421; 1919,
$92,343; other, 1918, $32,989; 1919, $47,942; total,
1918, $100,410; 1919, $140,285.
Of the automatic instruments, mainly phonographs,
the United States furnished 60 per cent last year,
France 16 per cent, Great Britain 9 per cent, and
North China (chiefly American instruments) the
balance. Of the other instruments, mostly pianos,
the United States furnished 45 per cent, North China
30 per cent, Great Britain 11 per cent, Japan 6 per
cent, and the Philippines 3 per cent.
Great Britain has continued to send a consider-
able proportion of the brass instruments imported,
but the United States has had most of the trade in
that line also. Stringed instruments are principally
American. The sale of American sheet music also
has greatly increased.
OUT-OF-TOWN DEALERS
ENCOUNTERED IN CHICAGO
Men in Search of Pianos and Players Make Things
Lively in Offices.
George Frederickson, of the Frederickson, Kroh
Company, Oklahoma City, Okla., was in Chicago
last week ordering pianos and player pianos.
F. P. Whitmore, manager of the W. W. Kimball
Company's store at Kansas City, Mo., who was in
Chicago for a few days at the Kimball headquarters,
has returned home.
Geo. Bates, general auditor for Sherman, Clay &
Co., San Francisco, was in Chicago last week on his
way through to New York.
Thomas Logan, of Thos. Goggan & Bros.' store,
San Antonio, Tex., was in Chicago last week.
Clarence Campbell, president of the Knight-
Campbell Music Company, Denver, Colo., was in
Chicago early this week on his way to the talking
machine jobbers' convention in Atlantic City, N. J.
Ray Bannon, piano dealer, of Morris, 111., was in
Chicago on Tuesday of this week and placed orders
for instruments.
Ray Miller, of Theo. J. Miller & Sons, Dixon, 111.,
was in Chicago placing orders for goods this week.
Walter Stahlsmidt, of Evansville, Ind., was in Chi-
cago on Monday of this week. While in the city he
played golf with Thomas M. Fletcher, president of
the Q R S Company.
BUYS COOPERSTOWN STOKE.
Squire D. Brooks has acquired and taken posses-
sion of the music store of B. S. Morgan in Coopers-
town, N. Y., with the exception of the optical busi-
ness, which the latter will retain. The business
taken over by Mr. Brooks has been built up from
small beginnings by Mr. Morgan until it has become
a firmly established enterprise with a large clientele.
All kinds of musical goods and supplies are carried.
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/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).