Presto
Issue: 1924 1998 - Page 7
November 8, 1924.
PRESTO
MUSIC BUREAU
SHOWS ACTIVITY
Chairman of Advisory Committee to Advance-
ment of Music Gives Emphasis to the
Spread of the Scope of Effort of
National Bureau.
HERMANN IRION'S REPORT
every dealer
knew what
successful
Meeting of Last Week in New York Disclosed Satis-
factory Progress and Outlined Future
Movements.
At meeting of the Board of Directors of the Music
Industries Chamber of Commerce in New York last
week, Hermann Irion, chairman of the Advisory
Committee to the National Bureau for the Advance-
ment of Music, reported on the enlarged scope of
activity of that Bureau. He further emphasized the
campaign to induce municipalities to increase the
SEEBURG
dealers know
about conduct-
ing and oper-
ating auto-
matic piano
businesses,
every dealer
would be en-
gaged in the
business!
J. P. SEEBURG
PIANO CO.
CHICAGO
"Leaders in the
A utomatic Line "
General Offices: 1510 Dayton St.
Factory 1508-16 Dayton St.
HERMANN IRION.
appropriations for music, the support of the chautau-
quas in organizing junior music clubs, and plans of
the National Music Week Committee for its second
annual observance.
A report of the work of the National Bureau for
the Advancement of Music presented for considera-
tion by the Board of Directors of the Chamber at
the meeting follows:
There has been no abatement in the steady prog-
ress which the National Bureau for the Advancement
of Music has been making ever since its inception
eight years ago. Every day some new evidence of
the Bureau's growing influences comes in from an
unexpected quarter. The problem has now become
one of conserving the Bureau's resources, and utiliz-
ing the outside forces to do the work, rather than
seeking new fields of effort. This is especially im-
portant because of the need to economize on ex-
penses as far as possible.
The Chairman's Report.
"The scope of our operations has broadened con-
siderably in spite of our efforts to restrict it, for the
Bureau is being looked upon more and more as an
initiatory and a guiding agency, and the opportunity
for effective work is tremendous. National Music
Week will of course be our major undertaking," said
the report.
"The Music Memory Contest has now spread
through the school systems of over 1,200 cities and
counties, Christmas caroling to over 2,000 cities, and
Music Week to over 500 on a comprehensive basis,
and over 800 if the partial observances are included.
The state school band contests are progressing very
satisfactorily, and the Bureau has either directly or-
ganized or co-operated in the organization of five so
far. There are likely to be many more this year.
Municipal Support.
"Of special interest is a survey which is being made
on municipal support of music in this country, and a
comparison of this with what is being done abroad.
The purpose of the survey is to help in materially
increasing the support in this country. A question-
naire has been sent to all cities of over 5,000, and re-
plies have been received thus far from 600.
"The junior music clubs have grown from about
230 to close to 1,000 since we have been assisting the
movement. Now a tremendous new field is opening
up in connection with the many chautauqua associa-
tions and we are endeavoring to get this great force
back of the movement."
STORY OF SALESMANSHIP
IS HERE SET RIGHT
And Wonder Still Remains that Mr. Mitten
Should Want to Take Away Honors
Due Mr. Smith.
J. L. Griffiths, attorney-at-law, of Akron, Ohio,
has addressed a letter to Presto, and this paper is
glad to print it. There could, of course, be no pur-
pose in misrepresenting so disinterested an item as
forms the basis of so much correspondence from
Akron. Presto published the item about the sale, by
Mr. Smith. That gentleman's partner wrote a letter
designed, for some mysterious reason, to deflect the
credit from, Mr. Smith to other salesmen. Presto re-
grets it, and now presents conclusive progf of Mr.
Smith's salesmanship in general, and in the case of
the Main street church in particular. Lawyer Griffith's
letter follows:
"October 20, 1924.
"Editor Presto: I represent Mr. Ernest Smith,
of this city, who wrote you on October 21st in re-
gard to an article which appeared in the October
11th issue of the Presto.
"The statements made in that article were abso-
lutely untrue and Mr. Smith considers that he has
been considerably lowered in his standing with the
trade by having such an article appear in a journal
with the wide circulation which your paper has.
"To convince you that Mr. Smith did sell the pianos
in question I am enclosing copies of letters received
by Mr. Smith from some of the church people who
were instrumental in purchasing the pianos from him.
The letter which you published contained statements
which were not only untrue, but which were made
maliciously and with the sole purpose of injuring the
reputation of Mr. Smith.
"I will be pleased to keep this matter out of court
until I receive some communication from you rela-
tive to the stand you wish to take in the matter.
"Yours very truly,
"J. L. G R I F F I T H . "
"October 28, 1924.
"Mr. Ernest Smith,
"Akron, Ohio.
"Dear Mr. Smith: In regard to an article appear-
ing in the October Presto, written by Mr. Mitten,
of the Smith-Mitten Piano Co., questioning the credit
of sales made by yourself to the Main Street M. E.
Church, would like to say that as a member ol the
committee I saw no one and talked with no one but
yourself. The credit of the sale is undoubtedly
yours. I do not know either Mr. Preshon or Mr.
Kolfleish and know positively we have had no deal-
ings with them. Sincerely,
"MRS. R. E. BOYD."
"October 4, 1924.
"W r e are glad to express our appreciation of the
courtesy extended by Mr. Ernest Smith, of the
Smith-Mitten Piano Co., who sold us our new pianos.
W r e had interviews with representatives of several
companies, and Mr. Smith closed the sale to our en-
tire satisfaction, with the Bacon pianos. I am yours
sincerely,
"E. M. LEWIS, Pastor."
"Mr. Ernest E. Smith,
"Akron, Ohio.
"Dear Mr. Smith: I noticed an article in the Oc-
tober Presto, written by Mr. Mitten, of the Smith-
Mitten Piano Co., of this city, giving credit of the
sales to the church of Bacon pianos to Mr. Preshon
and Mr. Kolfleish, stating that they are members of
our church, and so forth, all of which is untrue, as
the pianos were sold to us by yourself and, to my
knowledge, the committee talked to no other sales-
man in your establishment.
"As the chairman of the committee to purchase
pianos for our new church, will say that we looked
the city over for a piano that would meet the approval
of our people, and Mr. Smith convinced us that the
Bacon piano was the best buy, and to date we are
not sorry of our bargain. I do not know Mr.
Preshon or the Mr. Kolfleish mentioned above and
do not see why Mr. Mitten has informed the Presto
as he did. Yours very truly,
"H. L. GARFIELD,
Chairman of the Music Committee to
Purchase Pianos for the Main Street
Church."
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/
PRESTO
MUSIC BUREAU
SHOWS ACTIVITY
Chairman of Advisory Committee to Advance-
ment of Music Gives Emphasis to the
Spread of the Scope of Effort of
National Bureau.
HERMANN IRION'S REPORT
every dealer
knew what
successful
Meeting of Last Week in New York Disclosed Satis-
factory Progress and Outlined Future
Movements.
At meeting of the Board of Directors of the Music
Industries Chamber of Commerce in New York last
week, Hermann Irion, chairman of the Advisory
Committee to the National Bureau for the Advance-
ment of Music, reported on the enlarged scope of
activity of that Bureau. He further emphasized the
campaign to induce municipalities to increase the
SEEBURG
dealers know
about conduct-
ing and oper-
ating auto-
matic piano
businesses,
every dealer
would be en-
gaged in the
business!
J. P. SEEBURG
PIANO CO.
CHICAGO
"Leaders in the
A utomatic Line "
General Offices: 1510 Dayton St.
Factory 1508-16 Dayton St.
HERMANN IRION.
appropriations for music, the support of the chautau-
quas in organizing junior music clubs, and plans of
the National Music Week Committee for its second
annual observance.
A report of the work of the National Bureau for
the Advancement of Music presented for considera-
tion by the Board of Directors of the Chamber at
the meeting follows:
There has been no abatement in the steady prog-
ress which the National Bureau for the Advancement
of Music has been making ever since its inception
eight years ago. Every day some new evidence of
the Bureau's growing influences comes in from an
unexpected quarter. The problem has now become
one of conserving the Bureau's resources, and utiliz-
ing the outside forces to do the work, rather than
seeking new fields of effort. This is especially im-
portant because of the need to economize on ex-
penses as far as possible.
The Chairman's Report.
"The scope of our operations has broadened con-
siderably in spite of our efforts to restrict it, for the
Bureau is being looked upon more and more as an
initiatory and a guiding agency, and the opportunity
for effective work is tremendous. National Music
Week will of course be our major undertaking," said
the report.
"The Music Memory Contest has now spread
through the school systems of over 1,200 cities and
counties, Christmas caroling to over 2,000 cities, and
Music Week to over 500 on a comprehensive basis,
and over 800 if the partial observances are included.
The state school band contests are progressing very
satisfactorily, and the Bureau has either directly or-
ganized or co-operated in the organization of five so
far. There are likely to be many more this year.
Municipal Support.
"Of special interest is a survey which is being made
on municipal support of music in this country, and a
comparison of this with what is being done abroad.
The purpose of the survey is to help in materially
increasing the support in this country. A question-
naire has been sent to all cities of over 5,000, and re-
plies have been received thus far from 600.
"The junior music clubs have grown from about
230 to close to 1,000 since we have been assisting the
movement. Now a tremendous new field is opening
up in connection with the many chautauqua associa-
tions and we are endeavoring to get this great force
back of the movement."
STORY OF SALESMANSHIP
IS HERE SET RIGHT
And Wonder Still Remains that Mr. Mitten
Should Want to Take Away Honors
Due Mr. Smith.
J. L. Griffiths, attorney-at-law, of Akron, Ohio,
has addressed a letter to Presto, and this paper is
glad to print it. There could, of course, be no pur-
pose in misrepresenting so disinterested an item as
forms the basis of so much correspondence from
Akron. Presto published the item about the sale, by
Mr. Smith. That gentleman's partner wrote a letter
designed, for some mysterious reason, to deflect the
credit from, Mr. Smith to other salesmen. Presto re-
grets it, and now presents conclusive progf of Mr.
Smith's salesmanship in general, and in the case of
the Main street church in particular. Lawyer Griffith's
letter follows:
"October 20, 1924.
"Editor Presto: I represent Mr. Ernest Smith,
of this city, who wrote you on October 21st in re-
gard to an article which appeared in the October
11th issue of the Presto.
"The statements made in that article were abso-
lutely untrue and Mr. Smith considers that he has
been considerably lowered in his standing with the
trade by having such an article appear in a journal
with the wide circulation which your paper has.
"To convince you that Mr. Smith did sell the pianos
in question I am enclosing copies of letters received
by Mr. Smith from some of the church people who
were instrumental in purchasing the pianos from him.
The letter which you published contained statements
which were not only untrue, but which were made
maliciously and with the sole purpose of injuring the
reputation of Mr. Smith.
"I will be pleased to keep this matter out of court
until I receive some communication from you rela-
tive to the stand you wish to take in the matter.
"Yours very truly,
"J. L. G R I F F I T H . "
"October 28, 1924.
"Mr. Ernest Smith,
"Akron, Ohio.
"Dear Mr. Smith: In regard to an article appear-
ing in the October Presto, written by Mr. Mitten,
of the Smith-Mitten Piano Co., questioning the credit
of sales made by yourself to the Main Street M. E.
Church, would like to say that as a member ol the
committee I saw no one and talked with no one but
yourself. The credit of the sale is undoubtedly
yours. I do not know either Mr. Preshon or Mr.
Kolfleish and know positively we have had no deal-
ings with them. Sincerely,
"MRS. R. E. BOYD."
"October 4, 1924.
"W r e are glad to express our appreciation of the
courtesy extended by Mr. Ernest Smith, of the
Smith-Mitten Piano Co., who sold us our new pianos.
W r e had interviews with representatives of several
companies, and Mr. Smith closed the sale to our en-
tire satisfaction, with the Bacon pianos. I am yours
sincerely,
"E. M. LEWIS, Pastor."
"Mr. Ernest E. Smith,
"Akron, Ohio.
"Dear Mr. Smith: I noticed an article in the Oc-
tober Presto, written by Mr. Mitten, of the Smith-
Mitten Piano Co., of this city, giving credit of the
sales to the church of Bacon pianos to Mr. Preshon
and Mr. Kolfleish, stating that they are members of
our church, and so forth, all of which is untrue, as
the pianos were sold to us by yourself and, to my
knowledge, the committee talked to no other sales-
man in your establishment.
"As the chairman of the committee to purchase
pianos for our new church, will say that we looked
the city over for a piano that would meet the approval
of our people, and Mr. Smith convinced us that the
Bacon piano was the best buy, and to date we are
not sorry of our bargain. I do not know Mr.
Preshon or the Mr. Kolfleish mentioned above and
do not see why Mr. Mitten has informed the Presto
as he did. Yours very truly,
"H. L. GARFIELD,
Chairman of the Music Committee to
Purchase Pianos for the Main Street
Church."
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).