Scan 20
Musical Courier 1891-05-20: Vol 22 Iss 587, 1891
123 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 535. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1CHICAGO.
3Latest from Our Chicago Representative.
5CHICAGO OFFICE MUSICAL COURIER,
6236 STATE STREET,
7CHICAGO, May 16, 1891.
9WE have been taken to task for making some statements about the Nelson Piano Company, of Grand Rapids, as though our intentions were to cast reflections on the company, when the facts are that we were the first to speak of the concern as piano makers, and simply desired to make a record of the fact and other items as they came to our knowledge. The company made six pianos in Grand Rapids, and then moved to Muskegon, where they are preparing to make cases and stools, and we certainly wish them success. No doubt there is an excellent opening for a good case factory in this part of the country, as we hear that those who are already in the business are overrun with orders.
11Mr. Arthur Andres, formerly of Cincinnati, Ohio, has taken a position with the Chicago Cottage Organ Company, and we understand he will have charge of the territory east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio rivers.
13Mr. H. B. Fischer, of New York; Mr. W. F. Decker, of New York; Mr. M. J. Chase, of Muskegon; Mr. James Cumston, of Boston, and Mr. Samuel Winslow, of New York, have been in the city this week. Mr. Winslow made quite a notable deal in this city, though not with any of our piano manufacturers; it was no less than a contract for 40,000 gallons of varnish and figured out it makes a pretty large amount of money.
15A couple of weeks ago some remarks were attributed to Mr. A. M. Wright, of the Manufacturers Piano Company, of this city, by which he was reported as saying that he believed his company was doing a business in the wholesale way not surpassed by more than two concerns in this city. Although, as Mr. Wright says, he still believes the statement to be true, he regrets that we should have published a mere casual remark of his, and we have nothing to do but express our regret for having done so. We still believe in Mr. Wright's righteousness, however, and that he was close to right when he made the statement.
17Messrs. E. T. Root & Son, who have been located with the S. Brainard's Sons Company, at 145 Wabash avenue, have removed to 233 State street, the south half of Messrs. Estey & Camp's State street store.
19Mr. J. V. Steger is devoting the most of his time to hastening the completion of the new store corner of Wabash avenue and Jackson street. Mr. Steger is constantly congratulated by the visiting trade on his good fortune or good management in securing such a prominent corner.
21Messrs. S. Grollmann & Sons have just received a large order for stools all the way from Christiania, Norway. The order is from one of the best dealers there and was secured through Mr. Charles H. Wagener, traveling salesman for the Story & Clark Organ Company.
23Messrs. Lyon & Healy will soon have their first piano in such condition as will enable one to judge something as to its merits. It will probably be a long time before they will be regularly manufacturing pianos, and the work they are doing now is more in the way of preliminary and experimental. There is nothing cheap about it, however, and, like their harp, it will take a position consistent with the high grade of the other instruments made by the house.
25The new portion of the Lyon & Healy warerooms, on the second floor recently added, is quite complete and ready for occupancy. This gives them 125 feet on State street.
27Mr. John H. Reardon, the manager of the Mason & Hamlin branch, has been quite ill for over a week, but we are glad to report his convalescence, though he has not yet made his appearance at the warerooms.
29Mr. H. H. Denison, of Elgin, Ill., is one of the largest dealers in the State outside of the city of Chicago; he was a visitor this week, and reports business in his locality excellent.
31The Schuyler music leaf turner is now so perfect, after a year or more of constant experiment and improvement, that Mr. Schuyler has determined to have a public exhibition, showing its practical application on a piano an organ and a music stand, at the store of Messrs. Estey & Camp.
33At the next meeting of the Chicago music trade, to occur at the Union League Club Saturday the 28th, the subject to be discussed will be the paying of commissions.
35The music store of Mr. R. L. Pool, San Jacinto, Cal., was burnt out recently, and the same fate befel the store of Mr. W. S. Heffelfinger at Manning, Ia.
37It has been practically decided to start the early closing movement with the last Saturday in May and run through the three following months.
39Francis Bacon and the Association.
40Editor of The Musical Courier:
42THE closing paragraph of your article on "Beatty and the Association," in your issue of May 13, contains so much sound sense, that I beg to be allowed to call the attention of the trade to it again. You say: "We cannot see how the association can any longer delay action on the stencil, for their work up to this date gives the stencillers great advantages, and the stenciller is always quick to use them." This is very true.
44As the meetings of the association were to be held monthly, I expected that some very important subject would be broached and acted upon, and when requested to join it deferred doing so until I should know what the drift of the association would be. The demand for ten hours' pay for nine hours' work, having been defeated, there was no immediate need of action as to hours of work and wages. To my mind the two important questions needing action by the association were, the stencil and the trade school, for both of which your journal has done loyal work.
46What did the association offer as the result of their frequent meetings? A uniform warranty to be used by all piano makers. While I might criticize the proposed warranty as a rusty one and not complimentary to the intelligence of our customers, as to the results of dampness, its working in general use is the question of interest to piano makers.
48Take, for example, a dealer at —. He keeps, say, four makes of pianos, two elegant instruments made by my friends, Messrs. Steinway & Sons, and myself, and two stencil pianos, made by heaven knows who—all warranted alike with the new warranty. The purchaser, like a large majority of piano buyers, is not a judge of the tone or workmanship of the piano showed him; the dealer offers to furnish him exactly the same warranty by the makers of the four pianos, all of whom he will guarantee as responsible parties.
50Does not this uniform warranty proposed by Mr. Evans to the trade, and adopted as I understand by the association, bring the four pianos to a dead level in the mind of the purchaser?—elevating the stencil pianos to an equality with the better ones. Whether this result would be a benefit to the piano trade is a question which each maker will naturally decide for himself. So far the action of the association seems to leave the stencil men on top. Whether that will be the ultimate result of the decisions of the association time will show. "We shall see what we shall see."
52FRANCIS BACON.
54Newark and Bloomfield.
56MR. CAMERON, of the S. D. Lauter Company, 657 and 659 Broad street, Newark, informed the writer that they are now doing a large renting and instalment trade, but on a different basis than heretofore. "We do not accept small payments down and a few dollars a month afterward; we now insist on having a large deposit when the piano is sold, and I find it is a more successful plan and the receipts are better than with the old arrangement. I am of the opinion that if dealers would make it a rule to sell all pianos taken on the instalment system in this way the trade would come up to its original standing. We make Steinway our leader, with the Gabler, Emerson and Sterling as companions following.
58"In our organ department we keep in stock nothing but the best makers, including Mason & Hamlin, Shoninger Company and the Story & Clark. We have, I can assure you, a large and increasing trade."
60In the same building with the S. D. Lauter Company we find the sheet music wareroom of A. K. De Lemos, who, as he informed THE MUSICAL COURIER, has a large and increasing business. "I am agent for such prominent publishing houses as Schubert & Co., Harms & Co., Schotte, Fischer and the O. Ditson Company," said Mr. De Lemos. "My trade is among the best families in the State, and I am happy to say I am prosperous."
62Hinds & Co. come in for a share of the trade of the musically inclined residents of this rising New Jersey city, in which place the firm have been located for over 40 years. Their trade has overgrown their premises, and they have it in contemplation moving into more central quarters on Broad street. They make the J. M. Starr piano the leader.
64There is yet another large and representative music warehouse which graces Broad street—that of Duncklee & Son, which has an honorable record of nearly half a century. In this old-established wareroom are the Weber, the Decker & Son, the "Opera" pianos and the Carpenter and other organs. In the sheet music department all the latest publications are on sale. Mr. H. Duncklee is also a very prominent musician, being organist of the Roseville avenue Church.
66Higher up on Broad street stands the grand store of S. A. Ward, who caters to the musical wants of a portion of Newark's inhabitants. The pianos kept in stock are the Hardman, Shoninger and others, and the beautiful and popular organs of Wilcox & White.
68C. A. Dionysius, 597 Broad street, looks after the interests of Kranich & Bach, Krakauer Brothers and Sohmer & Co.
70Mr. M. H. Gruet, who was for many years connected with Hazelton Brothers, has for some years past been in business on his own account, a dealer in all kinds of musical instruments, from the big trombone to the baby picolo, guitars, guitar strings, violins, &c., and is located at No. 661 Broad street. He informed the writer he could not be doing better.
72The Bloomfield Organ Company, who have their factory and warerooms at Bloomfield, N. J., are making extensive alterations. The facilities at their disposal for manufacturing purposes are inadequate to the demands of their increasing business.
74Trade Notes.
76—The branch house of Cluett & Sons, at North Adams, Mass., is to be closed.
78—E. W. Furbush is traveling in the West for the Vose & Sons Piano Company, of Boston.
80—Mrs. Oliver Ditson, of Boston, will spend the summer at the Marshall House, York Harbor, Me.
82—William K. Wright, piano dealer and tuner, Northampton, Mass., is dead from a grippe. He was born at Russell, N. Y.
84—Schleicher & Sons, piano manufacturers, Mount Vernon, N. Y., have opened a wareroom at 27 North Broadway, Yonkers.
86—J. S. Unger, the enterprising music and piano dealer, at Reading, Pa., has removed to a large wareroom, No. 666 Penn street.
88—Invitations have been issued to the marriage of Mr. Henry L. Steinert, of Cincinnati, to Miss Mattie Barkhouse, of Louisville.
90—The insurance on the Edna organ factory at Massillon, Ohio, has been adjusted and $1,300 loss has been paid by the companies.
92—C. T. Jennings, manager of the branch house of the Hobbie Music Company at Roanoke, Va., announces the removal to larger warerooms and invites the public to call.
94—A motion for a new trial in the case of the Mueller Music Company, of Council Bluffs, Ia., against Peter C. Miller, was filed in the district court at that point on May 9 by Miller.
96—The many friends of Mr. Horace Waters will no doubt be glad to hear that the veteran piano maker has so far recovered as to be able to leave his bedroom. His medical advisers state he is out of danger.
98—E. H. Lansing, formerly traveling throughout New England for T. F. Kraemer & Co., of this city, has gone into the piano stool and cover business on his own account; headquarters, 84 Mason street, Boston.
100—Mr. Harry R. Williams is making an excellent record with the Behr Brothers piano in Detroit, and the "Free Press" of that city states that he has been doing an active business during the past month.
102—The administratrix of the estate of the late G. W. Norris, of Boston, is disposing of the stock of jewelry, pianos and organs at public auction. The sale began on Monday and will continue during the week.
104—John B. Trevor, of the John Church Company and the Everett Piano Company, who with his wife and daughter, left New York on the steamship City of New York last week, goes on his first vacation in 27 years. Mr. Trevor will remain in Europe three months, this being his first trip abroad.
106—The Supreme Court of Oregon held in the case of Oakes v. Northern Pacific Railroad Company that where a common carrier knowingly permits a passenger, either on payment or without payment of an extra charge, to take as personal baggage stage properties, costumes and musical instruments, it will be liable for their loss or destruction though without fault.—"Bradstreet's."
108—A London, England, music trade paper contains the following remarkable puff for a certain piano that has come under its notice. It is worse than some of the Kimball puffs of our wild Western contemporaries: "It would be impossible to speak too highly of the beauty of the sounds produced when the instrument is played by a skillful pianist. The rapid transitions from grave to gay, from the heavy oratorio to the light, some mazurka, that can be effected form an adjunct that, in the concert as well as the drawing room, will prove of immense value."
110—Patents granted May 5, 1891:
111Banjo ………………………………………….. Smith & Fritz ………………… No. 451,782 one of two readings
112Banjo ………………………………………….. Smith & Fritz ……………… No. 451,782 one of two readings
113Music leaf turner ……………………………. F. M. Hurley ………………… No. 451,763 one of two readings
114Music leaf turner ……………………………. F. M. Hurley ……………… No. 451,763 one of two readings
115Musical instrument …………………………… I. F. Gilmore ……………….. No. 451,667 one of two readings
116Musical instrument …………………………… I. F. Gilmore ……………… No. 451,667 one of two readings
117Piano action ……………………………………. A. H. Stuart ………………… No. 451,662 one of two readings
118Piano action ……………………………………. A. H. Stuart ……………… No. 451,662 one of two readings
119Violin ………………………………………….. A. Springer …………………….. No. 451,863 one of two readings
120Violin ………………………………………….. A. Springer ………………… No. 451,863 one of two readings
121Violin rest ……………………………………… C. F. Albert …………………. No. 451,744 one of two readings
122Violin rest ……………………………………… C. F. Albert ………………. No. 451,744 one of two readings
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