Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1888-03-23
CONCERNING PIANOS.
Ono or Two Popular Tricks of the Mu-
sIcal Instrument Trade.

sical Instrument Trade. "a.
AT least once in the course OF every
mans life he feels called upon to can
vass the matter of buying q musical
instrument. The city man is naturally
inclined to tho piano. the country man
is divided between tho piano and tho
orgaE, and the organ usually wins on
account Of It's lower price 1t does
not follow that every man confronted
by III, problem solves it by making n
purchase, but great many of them
do, and of these the majority are sore
ly puzzled a. to what piano they ought
10 buy and how much they ought TO
pay for it. l suppose my advice has
been asked on this matter moro times
than have been asked 10 lend dol
lar till Saturday. 1t has always been
harder 10 give the advice satisfactori-
ly than 10. raise the dollar. There
are tricks in every trade but ours" is
n favoriIo provorb among gamblers,
and the tricks tf tho piano trade are
numerous and diilic lit to fathom.
One of them IS interesting as il
concerns the public performances of
great players. Who has not been
struck with the broadcast advertising
of the leading houses and the glowing
testimonials from noted musicians
printed on concert programmes? Every
body knows that such people as Liszt,
Rubinstein. Won Bulow, and presuma-
bly, little Josef Hoffman,. and other
great pianisis Of the day. have been
overwhelmed with gifts of splendid in
strumonts from manufacturers all over
the world. A testimonial in acknowl-
alignment of the honor is natural and
courteous thing. and many of those
printed on programmes were obtained
In this way. talked with inc man.
agcr of one OF the most noted piano
houses in tho country tho other day,
and for tho benefit OF suffering pub.
lie Will iranscribc what he said.
Few pianists," he said. get their
engagements TO play d rect from the
managers of entertainments. 1t Is a.
part of our business to secure artists q
hearing. and. consequently, the plan
lists make their applications TO us.
We keep track of all the symphony
and classical concerts in the.
country. aud. early in tho season and
at other times. offer 10 the managers
the services OF well-known pianists rs
sololsts. The understanding is that
the artist shall use our piano. We will
not act as agents for any pianist who
will not agree TO use our instrument
and none othor Tho artists, as rule,
are very faithful to the contract and
know of one (montioning the namo
Of famous and popular player) who
will not play, even in private house
TO private and friendly audiences, un-
less our instrument Is furnished for
her. That may DO carrying the scheme
too far. but IL is well for us and we do
not object. In this way We keep our
instruments constantly before the pub
lie in favorable light 1t is good
advertisement for us, that an expert
player prefers our piano aud will use
no other. Tho fact is. that few play
ers havo such n decided personal
choice between the four or five leading
Instruments. II is all matter Of bus
mess
"And about prices No man who
knows any thing ever expects to pay
the asking price for n piano. There
are one or two houses in this city
where the price is kept steady at
the asking figure, but that is
only TO prevent too great n trade
ut the headquarters. Our bulk
of business, of course, is with the mid
dlemen, and il is our policy to favor
them. The result is that you can do
n great deal better than to buy your
instrument of the main house. A
great many people do that because
thoy then feel sure that they are get
ting an article that is all that is repre-
sentcd to be. But rs matter of fact
the difference in price is so great be-
tween the figure named here and that
by the middlemen, that 1t will pay any
body TO 90 out of town TO make tho
purchase. For instance, you could
20 down TO Richmond. Va, or any
city in the interior of New York or
Pennsylvania, buy one of our instru-
ments there, and save enough money
10 pay for the trip. including all OK
penses and the freightage on the piano
back to the city, You could even go
rs far as Atlanta and save enough to
cover the expenses of the trip and a
day or so in the city. There is another
reason why we keep the price steep and
s;ifT in tho main house. Not only will
there be enough trade to justify it. but
the expenses of the main house arc
enormous, and greater returns arc
necessary to moet them" IN Y Cor
s. Louis Globe Democrat
FIGHT WITH a BEAR,