Scan 40
Musical Courier 1895-02-27: Vol 30 Iss 781, 1895
51 lines. Read by computer on 20 September 2026. Printed page 41. See the scan on archive.org.
1ill at his hotel for several days, is again at his place of business.
2Mr. P. J. Healy has not yet returned from his Eastern trip.
3Mr. W. W. Kimball and Mr. E. S. Conway are both in the city, and Mr. A. G. Cone is in California.
4Mr. A. M. Wright made his appearance at the store this afternoon after an enforced absence (caused by grip) of fifteen days. Mr. C. C. Curtiss and Mr. Wright purpose leaving for New York on Monday to attend a directors' meeting of the Manufacturers' Piano Company to be held in that city next week.
5Mr. James E. Healy has returned from his Southern trip.
6Mr. Alfred Shindler has just returned from a trip through the State of Illinois, where he did some excellent work for his house. He will leave soon for a still more extended trip.
7Mr. J. L. Mahan is reported to be quite ill at home, with the probability that he will not be able to be at his place of business for some two weeks yet.
9LUDDEN & BATES.
10Manufacturing Pianos.
12THERE is not a man or woman in the whole piano industry or music trade of the United States who is not acquainted with the fact that one of the largest institutions in the line is the Ludden & Bates Southern Music House, of Savannah, Ga., with branches at Macon, Columbus and Brunswick, in Georgia; Knoxville, Tenn.; Raleigh and Charlotte, N. C.; Columbia, S. C.; Jacksonville, Fla., and New Orleans, La. Everybody who is somebody in the music trade knows this, and also knows that the concern is a wideawake, progressive house, that anticipates the current or trend of trade rather than follows it. For that reason it will occasion no surprise to learn that the Ludden & Bates' house has become a piano manufacturing firm, details of the step being found later on in this article.
13The Ludden & Bates Southern Music House was established in 1870. W. Ludden is president; J. H. Bates, vice-president; Jasperson Smith, treasurer, and Jno. D. Murphy, secretary. It has always been the policy of the house to handle an assortment of pianos and organs and do ample justice to each maker. The association, with most of the factories, has existed for a number of years. The line of representation is the Steinway pianos, the Mason & Hamlin pianos and organs, the Sterling pianos and organs and the Mathushek pianos. To these has now been added the Ludden & Bates piano, manufactured at the factory of the house on Ninth avenue, New York city, in charge of E. S. Dobson, the superintendent. Twenty pianos have already been shipped from the factory, which will be developed gradually in consonance with the natural growth of trade. The scale of the Ludden & Bates piano has been thoroughly tested and the instrument will be fully described in a future article. It will prove thoroughly satisfactory to the people who are dealing with the firm, and the fact that the Ludden & Bates house places its name upon the instrument and warrants it is a sufficient guarantee of its merits.
14The Ludden & Bates house has just moved its Savannah house into the handsomest building in that city, and its warerooms, merchandise department and repair shops cover four floors and basement, making a display that would be a credit to any house in the trade and covering much more space than any other music house in the South. Its Macon and Jacksonville houses are also very handsome establishments and carry a general assortment of musical merchandise, as well as large piano and organ stocks.
15It is probable that the manufacture of pianos was forced upon the Ludden & Bates Southern Music House by the same condition of trade that has compelled other large jobbers to branch out as manufacturers. All of these have become successful as manufacturers, and there is no reason to doubt that the Ludden & Bates house, applying its well-known energy to this new enterprise, will make it as great a success as its past ventures have been.
17The Question of Moisture.
18Pittsburg, Pa., February 17, 1895.
19Editors Musical Courier:
20THE writer has spent a full apprenticeship in the piano trade, but still finds plenty to learn. In examining a fine make of upright piano recently I found a jar of water inside the piano, and on inquiry found that it was placed there by the advice of a tuner and that others were doing the same thing. So far I have not had an opportunity to examine the pianos to ascertain the effect, and I would like your opinion of the matter. Will it benefit or injure them as used to counteract the effect of natural gas.
21Very truly yours,
22[We should unhesitatingly say that a vessel filled with water if placed inside the instrument would damage it because of the many glue parts and the cloths and felt which readily absorb moisture. It is often considered beneficial to a grand or a square piano to keep a jar of water or a saturated sponge under or near the instrument, and the tuner who placed this vessel in the upright spoken of above probably had this idea in mind. One of the oldest piano workmen in this city years ago advised the keeping of a growing plant in the room with the instrument, and he maintained that so long as the plant thrived the piano would be sufficiently supplied with moisture.
23It is interesting to observe how much more water a plant requires when kept in a room with a piano, particularly if the room is heated by natural gas, as is probable in the case mentioned above.
24If our correspondent will remove the jar and place a potted plant in the room he will soon be able to gauge the amount of moisture required to keep the piano in good condition so far as that element is concerned.—Ed.]
26Dolgeville Notes.
27February 23, 1895.
28SEVERAL of Alfred Dolge's patent hammer covering machines were shipped to Germany this week.
29The third entertainment of the Dolgeville School Society course will be given at the Turn Hall Monday evening, March 4, and will be a concert under the direction of Louis Blumenberg, the renowned violoncellist. Mr. Blumenberg will render several selections, and the entertainment will undoubtedly be a rare treat to music lovers.
31—Cluett & Sons' branch store in Amsterdam, N. Y., is to be moved from the Behr Block to 9 Market street.
32—Letters patent have been issued incorporating Senator Desjardins, Messrs. Joel Leduc, George James Sheppard, Louis Joseph Rivet and Louis Etienne Napoleon Pratte, of Montreal, Que., under the name of the "Pratte Piano Company," with a capital stock of $300,000, divided into 2,000 shares.
34A Great Factory.
35NOT only dealers but piano manufacturers themselves are interested in the superb factory of the Smith & Barnes Piano Company out on Clybourn avenue, Chicago, a number of the latter having already visited it to examine into its merits.
36For this reason we may as well give some faint idea of the structure to our readers. It looks like this illustration. It has light on four sides. It will always have light on all sides, for there are streets on two of the sides and on the other two the land belongs to the Smith & Barnes Piano Company. Pretty good idea, isn't it?
38Authorized to do Business.
39The Jesse French Piano and Organ Company, with a capital stock of $500,000, and chartered under the laws of Missouri, received permission February 13, from the Secretary of State, to transact business in Texas.
40THIS is merely the usual form of license issued to a foreign corporation by the State of Texas, which gives them legal status and is the same sort of move as the W. W. Kimball opening in Syracuse, about which some of the small trade papers made themselves ridiculous recently.
42—Mr. G. P. Benjamin, outside man for J. & C. Fischer, has resigned from that position.
43—Mr. D. F. Dunbar, former traveler for Jack Haynes, has resigned, and accepted a traveling position with the Chicago Cottage Organ Company, of Chicago.
45THERE IS NO PIANO
47That Makes a better first impression on a customer than the Jewett. And this first impression is subsequently backed up by the real merit of the instrument. They are worth investigation by every enterprising dealer who is in the business to make reputation and money. Write to
49The Jewett Piano Co.,
50Leominster, Mass.
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