Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-03-17
PIANO-FORTEs.
A WORD OF CAUTION TO
PURCHASERS.

lTHE GREAT REPUTATION OF
! i the g SIEIEwAY PIANOS, - and the extensiv
| and ever increasing demand for them, have in
dueed unseTnPulous piano manufacturers an'
dealers to adopt all SORTS OF dishOhorahie devce
| and eNpedients viii IA they systematically follow
with zeal and perseverance worthy Of q bet tel
| cause.
At one time these persons assert that these pi-
amos made or sold By them are the same as =" Stein
ways" at another, that they are made by Stein.
/ ways " foreman, or best workman" and are just
/ as good, etc and 50 widely have these misrepre.
sentations been circulated that we are continually
receiving letters from ali parts Of the country, in
qUiring into the to nth Of these assertions, and
revealing the fact that most Of the smaller
makers in this city pretend 10 have been fOremen
in our factory, or are represented such by their
agents throughOut the country, whil6 in reality
net one in twenty Of them have ever been EN-
ployed by us in any capacity Up 10 the present
time, not one Of our foremsn has gone into bust
for him elf, and this fact alone is a saicient
refHtation Of the false assertions to which have
alluded.
Again it is our dnty to forewarn the musical
public against the misrepresentation Of a host
Of '- Piano making Associations pretending IN
he composed Of " steinwAy's hest workmeu," and
making pianos exactly like " Steinway's,n and
just rs good, &c.
This is not trns. Several inventions aud im-
provments, from which arise the chief sxcsllen-
Cies Of our instruments, are patented by our FIRM,
stance: our "Patent Agrafs Arrangement. J." a
most essential and important improvement that
all our instruments now contain.
The great superiority of our pianos Is therefore
not only the result OF better material aud more
thorough workmanship (though mu h is derived
from that but there are essential differences and
improvements OfeOnstructiOa, the right TO employ
which belongs to rs only, as it was ours, too, to
first introduce them.
Aside, then, from ths ustruthfulness of the
preteRsons we thus expose, the risk Of purchasing
piano, and relying upon any statement or assu-
rance that emenates ttom irresp ponsible body of
men without name, capital or experience and
whose warranty, in any case, is not worth the pa
per that contains it, will probably be appreciated
by all rejecting purchasers.
1t hss frequently occurred that persons intend
ing to embark in business independently as piano
makers and tuners, have worked for a few weeks
in our factory their sole Obeet, we have subse-
quentiy learned, being TO found claim to have
been one Of StenwAy's" woTkmen, and although
this only tends TO confirm the fact that our in
struments universally regarded as possessing
the highest degree Of perfection, yet tie satisfac
tion We might take in his homage is more than
counter balanced by the loss and mobilization that
bnt too often result to those ho become the VIC
tins Of such practioes
II certs inly must be a poor piano which cannot
be sold on its own merits, and when a dealer has
really good instruments for sale, he will be sure
10 offer them for what they are. When he is
anxious to persuade his customers that they are
I" the same thing" somsthing else, it is COM
monty an attempt to palm OF poor article on the
reputation OF q better one.