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THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW. July 5th, 1881. 166 England by the shipload. East of the Mississippi black walnut has almost entirely disappeared. We obtain it now from Iowa and Missouri, and there is some in Arkansas. There is black walnut in Michigan and Tennessee, but the supply in Ohio is nearly exhausted, and in a comparatively short time— perhaps ten years—it will be nearly all gone. As to what will take its place it is hard to say. There is an increasing demand for mahogany now, and that will probably come into greater U8e ; while there will be a greater variety in the use of woods, and maple, ash and oak will be more generally employed. New York and Boston are large centres for consuming black walnut, and in Cincinnati, Chicago and Grand Rapids the furniture interests are extensive. " For furniture, black walnut is, next to mahogany, the best wood, as white oak and other woods have to be kept a very long time in order to become sufficiently seasoned. We buy here from a million to a million and a half feet of black walnut a year, while the entire receipts in the city are, speaking roughly, probably about six millions. The founder of this firm, John L. Brower, in 1817, was the first man to introduce black walnut into use. He found great difficulty in inducing people to use it. Mahogany, in which the firm formerly exclusively dealt, was the fashion. People thought no native wood was good enough. The first black walnut was cut in the centre or western part of this State and came down the Erie canal in logs. We used to get it from back of Newburg and Catskill ; then we went back to Rochester and Oneida and the Genesee valley. Then Buffalo became a lumber port and black walnut was bought along Lake Erie and in Western Pennsylvania. Michigan was entered next for black walnut. We were the first to sell Michigan pine, but people preferred the Genesee valley pine, which had a high reputation. Then Ohio became a source of black walnut, and now it is necessary to go west of the Mississippi. There is still a belt of black walnut country from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. As the country is opened further west, the black walnut is rapidly cut off and finds a market in Western cities. It seems likely that mahogany will be used more and more. The price of black walnut is from $90 to $100 a thousand, and of mahogany from $125 to $150. Tree-planting would 1 be of little avail, for a tree requires from 50 to 100 years to attain a valuable size." A Centre Street dealer said : " Black walnut has advanced $20 a thous- 'and in the last three months. The supply is being exhausted and large quantities of the best quality are being shipped to Europe—more last year than ever before. It comes largely from Tennessee, with some from Indiana and Michigan. Ohio is played out. There has been reckless cutting, but black walnut is a scarcer wood than oak or chestnut. Much has been used in the West of late. More is utilized and more furniture made in Grand Rapids, Mich., than in New York, Boston and Philadelphia together. The tree grows best in rich bottom lands. It will grow in the East, but planting would only benefit the next generation. My father-in-law planted a nut 50 years ago at his home in New Jersey, which has grown to a tree two feet at the stump. I don't know that black walnut is any better than maple or white oak, but it has been the fashion, although now going out, and mahog- any and rosewood are coming in." Another dealer said: '' Black walnut is becoming very scarce, especially the dry wood. We have bought some standing trees in Indiana, and also get wood from Virginia and Tennessee. Mahogany is the coming wood. I consider black walnut the poorest wood for furniture, as it will give out, warp and twist, but it has been the fashion for fifteen years. The Govern- ment buildings here and in Washington were fitted out with mahogany two or three years ago ; it is lighter and more durable." A wholesale furniture dealer in Elizabeth said : " I consider the increas- ed price in black walnut to be due to the necessity of transporting it a longer distance and also to the increased shipments to Europe. I think there is no reason to fear any great and'sudden scarcity of the wood. A large dealer just returned from the West tells me that there is an ample supply in the more unsettled parts, even where the Indians still are, and that the wood is to be found in Idaho and Wyoming. He has five or six movable saw mills constantly running, and from his large experience I should say that there will be black walnut enough to meet all demands for a long time." There is said to be great alarm in the West among manufacturers who have large investments in the business. Among the woods in Central America suggested as substitutes for black walnut are, beside mahogany, rosewood, cocobello, a hard and beautiful wood, ebony caray, or tortoise- shell wood, gauchifilin, a handsomely variegated wood, and several other varieties.—-ZV. Y. Tribune. OUR OWN IDEAS ON THE WALNUT QUESTION. W HATEVER application the above statements may have to the furni- ture trade, they do not as vitally affect the organ manufacturers as might at a first glance be supposed. The general impression in the trade seems to be, that if prices continue to advance until they reach a point from $8 to $10 per thousand feet beyond the prices prevailing at present, the alternative is to use a black walnut veneer instead of the solid wood. There would be little or no objection to this course, as a black walnut veneer on a foundation of pine, is thought to be more durable and less liable to check or crack than the solid wood, and as the branch wood could, in the new order of things, be used more readily, the appearance of the instrument would be improved. The use of Central American woods is prohibited to a great extent by their cost, and by the increased expense of working them on account of their extreme hardness. Moreover, the statements about the extreme scarcity of black walnut, must be taken with "a grain of salt," for, although many nearby districts have been exhausted of their stock of this wood, there are still extensive districts in the South and West which are as yet untouched and which will come into the market as our railroad system is extended. It is probable, also, that a considerable advance in price wo aid com- pel the furnitui-e makers to substitute some other wood for black walnut, in which event it would go out of fashion in furniture, and this lessening of the demand, would diminish the price to a point where it would still pay the manufacturers of organs to use the solid wood. There is another ele- ment at work, viz : the increasing popularity of ebonized wood for organs. This may have a tendency to lessen the demand for black walnut for organ cases. The high prices quoted here for the wood, are to a certain extent delusive, for the organ makers do not buy the wood at the East in the rough, by the thousand feet, and do the re-sawing themselves; they send their pat- terns to the western mills and have the wood sawn there, thus saving the transportation on the waste. A NEW PIANO MANUFACTURING FIRM. O N the 1st inst. a new firm of piano manufacturers was organized in this city under the name of Behr Bros. & Co., at Nos. 292 to 298 Eleventh avenue. Thefirsttwo members of the firm have long been known to the piano trade as manufacturers of piano cases, and it is in the building used for that purpose that they are now making their pianos. They have associated themselves with Mr. Paul Gmehlin of this city, who has had almost a life-long experience as a practical piano manufacturer; beginning in Europe with Wilhelm Doner in Stuttgart, and afterwards serving here with such men as Jacob Decker, J. & C. Fischer, and lastly for thirteen years with Ernst Gabler. During this long experience many good ideas concerning the manufac- ture of pianos have suggested themselves to Mr. Gniehlin, and some im- provements in pianos have had their source in his brain. It would be diffi- cult to find a man better qualified by experience and education for the mechanical department of the new firm than Mr. Gmehlin; for, in addition to his experience he combines a quality which goes a long way towards success, viz., a love for and an enthusiasm in his profession. The new firm propose at first to confine themselves to the manufacture of upright pianos of which they are making about ten per week at present, but will increase this number as rapidly as the growth of the business de- mands, to four or five times that number. Their facilities are large, the building which they occupy extending from 292 to 298 Eleventh avenue, New York city, five stories high, and covering a space of 75 x 100 feet, the whole substantially built of brick and situated in a part of the city adjacent to one of the principal lines of railroad communication, the freight cars of that road passing the door. All the upright pianos manufactured by this house will have the patent cylinder top by means of which the upper part of the piano can be opened for increasing the volume of sound or for tuning without disturbing the top of the piano, thereby enabling it to serve as a permanent resting place for ornaments, books or music. The cylinder top is one of the important features of the new uprights, and will no doubt add much to their popularity. In addition to this improvement the cases will be of entirely new and original designs, of which illustrations will be given in subsequent issues of this paper. In regard to the interior of the piano everything has been done that long experience could suggest to make a per- fect instrument, Mr. Gmehlin himself superintending every detail. The firm state that only the best materials are used, and the result is a sympa- thetic and powerful toned upright. Messrs. Behr Bros. & Co. state that they will spare no pains nor ex- pense to make a really first class piano, and they will sell it at as moderate a price as is consistent with its quality and cost of manufacture. They also say that they have abundant capital to meet all the requirements of the new enterprise. The partners are men in the prime of life, in good health and vigor, and promise to make the new firm an important factor in the piano manufacturing industry of the country. The demand for pianos in the United States is very large and is increas- ing at a greater rate than the increase in population, so there is plenty of room for the new firm, and we bespeak for it the favorable consideration of the trade and the public. TRADE CHAT. Among the music trade exhibits at the Magdeburg Exhibition are the following :—Em. Ascherberg, Dresden, drawing-room grand, three pianinos. C. A. Bauer, Dresden, string quartet. C. H. Bornkessel, Sangerhausen, two concert pianinos. Alex. Bretschneider, Leipzig, short grand, pianino. F. Geissler Zeitz, two pianinos. Fr. Goetze, Dresden, drawing-room grand, pianino. Georg Gunther, Halle, string instruments. F. Hiinel & Sohn, Naumburg, concert grand, pianino. Hagspiel & Co., Dresden, concert grand. W. H. Hammig, Leipzig, string quartet. H. Th. Heberlein, jun., Markneukirchen, one quartet imitation of Ant. Stradivarius. Carl August Henkel, Leipzig, Pianino. J. G. Heyl, Leipzig, pianino. Hb'lling & Spang- enberg, Zeitz, grand, six pianinos. Rob. Hoffmann, Halle, four pianinos. R. Hupfer & Co., Zeitz, pianino. E. Jehring, Altenburg, brass instruments. J. G. Irmler, Leipzig, pianino, short grand. E. Kaps, Dresden, patent grand, concert pianino. Jul. Kreutzback, Leipzig, two pianinos Krietsch & Ress, Zeitz, two pianinos. C. Kruspe, Erfurt, collection of brass instru- ments. Frz. Lindner, Dresden, pianino. F. A. Reichel, Markneukirchen, brass and reed instruments. C. R. Ritter, Merseburg, three pianinos. L. Romhildt, Weimar, two pianinos. E. Rosenkranz, Dresden, grand pian- ino. E. Riibner, Zeitz, two pianinos. Wilh. Riihlmann, Zorbig, organ for St. Agnes's Church at Cothen. C. G. Schmaltz, Greiz, pianino. Fr. Adolf Schmit, jun., trumpets. P. Schmidt & Sohn, Zeitz, two pianinos. Rob. Seitz, Leipzig, three pianinos, short grand. Ferd. Selie & Sohne. Miihlhausen, pianino. R. Sieber & Co., Zeitz. zithers. F. Stichel, Leipzig, two pianinos Gebr. Suppe, Zeitz, two pianinos. Fr. Thiirmer, Meissen, combination piano and harmonium. F. E. Vogel, Dresden, concert grand, pianino, and model of repetition action. Carl Wagner, Wittwee, Nord- hausen, two pianinos Paul Werner, Dresden, drawing-room grand. Wieck & Haussler, Dresden, pianino, grand. H. Wohleben, Miilhausen, two pianinos. Zierold & Co., Leipzig, Glockenspiel and grand. The house of Rosenkranz & Co., of Dresden, pianoforte makers, are to be represented in London by Messrs. Witt & Co. Messrs. Green & Savage, the English makers, are largely extending their lately built factory. Mr. Schreiber, of Newmeyer Hall, London, has just patented an inven- tion of quadruple over-stringing. There are four bridges, one having been greatly extended. The patent also covers quintuple, sextuple, and other over-stringing. An improvement in repetition is also part of the patent. It is not unlikely that some stand will shortly be taken against the freight charges of the railway companies. It is said to be cheaper to- convey goods from France to London than from Southampton to London, which certainly is anomalous. Similarly, we believe, it is cheaper to ship from America direct to Hamburg and back by water to London than to ship to Liverpool and forward by train. If the foreign trade of the country is thus affected, the home trade suffers far more. We unfortunately have no association of musical instrument manufacturers, or the matter would be investigated. —London and Provincial Music Trades Review. J Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Transcript of Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com ... · Messrs. Behr Bros. & Co. state that...
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.July 5th, 1881. 166
England by the shipload. East of the Mississippi black walnut has almostentirely disappeared. We obtain it now from Iowa and Missouri, and thereis some in Arkansas. There is black walnut in Michigan and Tennessee, butthe supply in Ohio is nearly exhausted, and in a comparatively short time—perhaps ten years—it will be nearly all gone. As to what will take its placeit is hard to say. There is an increasing demand for mahogany now, andthat will probably come into greater U8e ; while there will be a greatervariety in the use of woods, and maple, ash and oak will be more generallyemployed. New York and Boston are large centres for consuming blackwalnut, and in Cincinnati, Chicago and Grand Rapids the furniture interestsare extensive.
" For furniture, black walnut is, next to mahogany, the best wood, aswhite oak and other woods have to be kept a very long time in order tobecome sufficiently seasoned. We buy here from a million to a million anda half feet of black walnut a year, while the entire receipts in the city are,speaking roughly, probably about six millions. The founder of this firm,John L. Brower, in 1817, was the first man to introduce black walnut intouse. He found great difficulty in inducing people to use it. Mahogany, inwhich the firm formerly exclusively dealt, was the fashion. People thoughtno native wood was good enough. The first black walnut was cut in thecentre or western part of this State and came down the Erie canal in logs.We used to get it from back of Newburg and Catskill ; then we went back toRochester and Oneida and the Genesee valley. Then Buffalo became alumber port and black walnut was bought along Lake Erie and in WesternPennsylvania. Michigan was entered next for black walnut. We were thefirst to sell Michigan pine, but people preferred the Genesee valley pine,which had a high reputation. Then Ohio became a source of black walnut,and now it is necessary to go west of the Mississippi. There is still a belt ofblack walnut country from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. As thecountry is opened further west, the black walnut is rapidly cut off and findsa market in Western cities. It seems likely that mahogany will be used moreand more. The price of black walnut is from $90 to $100 a thousand, andof mahogany from $125 to $150. Tree-planting would1 be of little avail, fora tree requires from 50 to 100 years to attain a valuable size."
A Centre Street dealer said : " Black walnut has advanced $20 a thous-'and in the last three months. The supply is being exhausted and largequantities of the best quality are being shipped to Europe—more last yearthan ever before. It comes largely from Tennessee, with some from Indianaand Michigan. Ohio is played out. There has been reckless cutting, butblack walnut is a scarcer wood than oak or chestnut. Much has been usedin the West of late. More is utilized and more furniture made in GrandRapids, Mich., than in New York, Boston and Philadelphia together. Thetree grows best in rich bottom lands. It will grow in the East, but plantingwould only benefit the next generation. My father-in-law planted a nut 50years ago at his home in New Jersey, which has grown to a tree two feet atthe stump. I don't know that black walnut is any better than maple orwhite oak, but it has been the fashion, although now going out, and mahog-any and rosewood are coming in."
Another dealer said: '' Black walnut is becoming very scarce, especiallythe dry wood. We have bought some standing trees in Indiana, and alsoget wood from Virginia and Tennessee. Mahogany is the coming wood. Iconsider black walnut the poorest wood for furniture, as it will give out,warp and twist, but it has been the fashion for fifteen years. The Govern-ment buildings here and in Washington were fitted out with mahogany twoor three years ago ; it is lighter and more durable."
A wholesale furniture dealer in Elizabeth said : " I consider the increas-ed price in black walnut to be due to the necessity of transporting it a longerdistance and also to the increased shipments to Europe. I think there is noreason to fear any great and'sudden scarcity of the wood. A large dealerjust returned from the West tells me that there is an ample supply in themore unsettled parts, even where the Indians still are, and that the wood isto be found in Idaho and Wyoming. He has five or six movable saw millsconstantly running, and from his large experience I should say that therewill be black walnut enough to meet all demands for a long time."
There is said to be great alarm in the West among manufacturers whohave large investments in the business. Among the woods in CentralAmerica suggested as substitutes for black walnut are, beside mahogany,rosewood, cocobello, a hard and beautiful wood, ebony caray, or tortoise-shell wood, gauchifilin, a handsomely variegated wood, and several othervarieties.—-ZV. Y. Tribune.
OUR OWN IDEAS ON THE WALNUT QUESTION.
WHATEVER application the above statements may have to the furni-ture trade, they do not as vitally affect the organ manufacturers as
might at a first glance be supposed.The general impression in the trade seems to be, that if prices continue
to advance until they reach a point from $8 to $10 per thousand feet beyondthe prices prevailing at present, the alternative is to use a black walnutveneer instead of the solid wood. There would be little or no objection tothis course, as a black walnut veneer on a foundation of pine, is thought tobe more durable and less liable to check or crack than the solid wood, andas the branch wood could, in the new order of things, be used more readily,the appearance of the instrument would be improved.
The use of Central American woods is prohibited to a great extent bytheir cost, and by the increased expense of working them on account of theirextreme hardness. Moreover, the statements about the extreme scarcity ofblack walnut, must be taken with "a grain of salt," for, although manynearby districts have been exhausted of their stock of this wood, there arestill extensive districts in the South and West which are as yet untouchedand which will come into the market as our railroad system is extended.
It is probable, also, that a considerable advance in price wo aid com-pel the furnitui-e makers to substitute some other wood for black walnut, inwhich event it would go out of fashion in furniture, and this lessening ofthe demand, would diminish the price to a point where it would still paythe manufacturers of organs to use the solid wood. There is another ele-ment at work, viz : the increasing popularity of ebonized wood for organs.This may have a tendency to lessen the demand for black walnut for organcases. The high prices quoted here for the wood, are to a certain extentdelusive, for the organ makers do not buy the wood at the East in the rough,by the thousand feet, and do the re-sawing themselves; they send their pat-terns to the western mills and have the wood sawn there, thus saving thetransportation on the waste.
A NEW PIANO MANUFACTURING FIRM.
ON the 1st inst. a new firm of piano manufacturers was organized in thiscity under the name of Behr Bros. & Co., at Nos. 292 to 298 Eleventh
avenue. The first two members of the firm have long been known to thepiano trade as manufacturers of piano cases, and it is in the buildingused for that purpose that they are now making their pianos. They haveassociated themselves with Mr. Paul Gmehlin of this city, who has hadalmost a life-long experience as a practical piano manufacturer; beginning inEurope with Wilhelm Doner in Stuttgart, and afterwards serving here withsuch men as Jacob Decker, J. & C. Fischer, and lastly for thirteen yearswith Ernst Gabler.
During this long experience many good ideas concerning the manufac-ture of pianos have suggested themselves to Mr. Gniehlin, and some im-provements in pianos have had their source in his brain. It would be diffi-cult to find a man better qualified by experience and education for themechanical department of the new firm than Mr. Gmehlin; for, in additionto his experience he combines a quality which goes a long way towardssuccess, viz., a love for and an enthusiasm in his profession.
The new firm propose at first to confine themselves to the manufactureof upright pianos of which they are making about ten per week at present,but will increase this number as rapidly as the growth of the business de-mands, to four or five times that number. Their facilities are large, thebuilding which they occupy extending from 292 to 298 Eleventh avenue,New York city, five stories high, and covering a space of 75 x 100 feet, thewhole substantially built of brick and situated in a part of the city adjacentto one of the principal lines of railroad communication, the freight cars ofthat road passing the door. All the upright pianos manufactured by thishouse will have the patent cylinder top by means of which the upper part ofthe piano can be opened for increasing the volume of sound or for tuningwithout disturbing the top of the piano, thereby enabling it to serve as apermanent resting place for ornaments, books or music. The cylinder topis one of the important features of the new uprights, and will no doubt addmuch to their popularity. In addition to this improvement the cases willbe of entirely new and original designs, of which illustrations will be givenin subsequent issues of this paper. In regard to the interior of the pianoeverything has been done that long experience could suggest to make a per-fect instrument, Mr. Gmehlin himself superintending every detail. Thefirm state that only the best materials are used, and the result is a sympa-thetic and powerful toned upright.
Messrs. Behr Bros. & Co. state that they will spare no pains nor ex-pense to make a really first class piano, and they will sell it at as moderatea price as is consistent with its quality and cost of manufacture. They alsosay that they have abundant capital to meet all the requirements of the newenterprise. The partners are men in the prime of life, in good health andvigor, and promise to make the new firm an important factor in the pianomanufacturing industry of the country.
The demand for pianos in the United States is very large and is increas-ing at a greater rate than the increase in population, so there is plenty ofroom for the new firm, and we bespeak for it the favorable consideration ofthe trade and the public.
TRADE CHAT.Among the music trade exhibits at the Magdeburg Exhibition are the
following :—Em. Ascherberg, Dresden, drawing-room grand, three pianinos.C. A. Bauer, Dresden, string quartet. C. H. Bornkessel, Sangerhausen,two concert pianinos. Alex. Bretschneider, Leipzig, short grand, pianino.F. Geissler Zeitz, two pianinos. Fr. Goetze, Dresden, drawing-room grand,pianino. Georg Gunther, Halle, string instruments. F. Hiinel & Sohn,Naumburg, concert grand, pianino. Hagspiel & Co., Dresden, concertgrand. W. H. Hammig, Leipzig, string quartet. H. Th. Heberlein, jun.,Markneukirchen, one quartet imitation of Ant. Stradivarius. Carl AugustHenkel, Leipzig, Pianino. J. G. Heyl, Leipzig, pianino. Hb'lling & Spang-enberg, Zeitz, grand, six pianinos. Rob. Hoffmann, Halle, four pianinos.R. Hupfer & Co., Zeitz, pianino. E. Jehring, Altenburg, brass instruments.J. G. Irmler, Leipzig, pianino, short grand. E. Kaps, Dresden, patentgrand, concert pianino. Jul. Kreutzback, Leipzig, two pianinos Krietsch& Ress, Zeitz, two pianinos. C. Kruspe, Erfurt, collection of brass instru-ments. Frz. Lindner, Dresden, pianino. F. A. Reichel, Markneukirchen,brass and reed instruments. C. R. Ritter, Merseburg, three pianinos.L. Romhildt, Weimar, two pianinos. E. Rosenkranz, Dresden, grand pian-ino. E. Riibner, Zeitz, two pianinos. Wilh. Riihlmann, Zorbig, organfor St. Agnes's Church at Cothen. C. G. Schmaltz, Greiz, pianino. Fr.Adolf Schmit, jun., trumpets. P. Schmidt & Sohn, Zeitz, two pianinos.Rob. Seitz, Leipzig, three pianinos, short grand. Ferd. Selie & Sohne.Miihlhausen, pianino. R. Sieber & Co., Zeitz. zithers. F. Stichel, Leipzig,two pianinos Gebr. Suppe, Zeitz, two pianinos. Fr. Thiirmer, Meissen,combination piano and harmonium. F. E. Vogel, Dresden, concert grand,pianino, and model of repetition action. Carl Wagner, Wittwee, Nord-hausen, two pianinos Paul Werner, Dresden, drawing-room grand. Wieck& Haussler, Dresden, pianino, grand. H. Wohleben, Miilhausen, twopianinos. Zierold & Co., Leipzig, Glockenspiel and grand.
The house of Rosenkranz & Co., of Dresden, pianoforte makers, are tobe represented in London by Messrs. Witt & Co.
Messrs. Green & Savage, the English makers, are largely extendingtheir lately built factory.
Mr. Schreiber, of Newmeyer Hall, London, has just patented an inven-tion of quadruple over-stringing. There are four bridges, one having beengreatly extended. The patent also covers quintuple, sextuple, and otherover-stringing. An improvement in repetition is also part of the patent.
It is not unlikely that some stand will shortly be taken against thefreight charges of the railway companies. It is said to be cheaper to-convey goods from France to London than from Southampton to London,which certainly is anomalous. Similarly, we believe, it is cheaper to shipfrom America direct to Hamburg and back by water to London than to shipto Liverpool and forward by train. If the foreign trade of the country isthus affected, the home trade suffers far more. We unfortunately have noassociation of musical instrument manufacturers, or the matter would beinvestigated. —London and Provincial Music Trades Review.
J
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