The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-25
WHAT BECOMES OF OLD PIANOS
Their Fate Is varied and Interest
ing.
From the New York Times.

ing.
From the New York Times.
what becomes of old pianos" was the
question put to a large New York manu-
facturer the other day. "Wen," was the
rather unexpected reply 1.-THE most Of ours
90 to Philadelphia" The manufacturer
could not explain this fact exactly to his
own satisfaction. He thought perhaps. it
was because so many persons owned homes
in Philadelphia, or possibly because the
good people Of the Quaker town are much
given to attending concerts and love mu-
Sic more than New Workers.
There ought TO be several hunureu
thousand old square pianos slowed away
somewhere in the United states, salu
Geo. l.. Weitz of the Estey establishment
on East Fourteenth street, in speaking OF
the subject. Il have been In the business
for twenty years and personally nave seen
but three of them cut into kndling WOOD.
1t is, indeed, rare occurrence thaI one
of these massive ola ROSEWOOD aiaiis
meets with such an unworthy rate.
"A biography of a good piano Is some
times very interesting. They geherally
start off in life gaily, having the most
conspicuous position in the parlors OF the
wealthy, and receiving courteous treat
ment. Thirty years ago a good square
| piano was an object OF much greater I'M
pOrtance and commanded vastly more re
| spect than any piano nowadays. rms IS
| still to be seen when we 80 10 remove an
| II is purely q matter of mercantile inter-
| est to us, but not so with the owners. 1
/ have seen old folks VINO had bought a
| piano in the days of their honeymoon talr-
| iy overcome when they saw the familiar
| old instrument, which had been with them
| through days of JOY and sorrow, hustled
out of the house by irreVerent hands ana
! conveyed TO the warehouse. 1t Is the Gus
/ tom for piano firms now TO take away the
| old instruments and allow fair price Tor
/ them, deducting the amount from the
/ Of 10 loss
to us, for we have the greatest dinlculty
| in disposng of these landmarks when
| have seen better days.
at is quite amusing to hear the old folks
! say, as they always do, when making a
/ selection Of a new plano: our ola piano,
1 If 1t were only turned up, would have a
/ much better tone than any of these
/ "a great majority OF these Ola pianos
! find their way to the homes OF compare
! lively poor people, They may be bought
/ who make a living by disposing Of these
| old pianos A secondhand dealer drop
! ped in here the other day, and said ne
| had Just bought six for $50. Some firms
are almost willing to pay for having them
| taken away.
THESE old pianos are by no means worn
! out, after going through three, or even
four hands New strings and new ham
/ mers are put in, and the old instrument
! is tlnkered up, 50 that 1t VIII ottentmes
! have a better tone than the cheap piano
! of to-day City boarding houses, where
! the only object IS to have an instrument
capable of emitting noise. are extensive
! harbOring places for these old haS-Deens.
! Many are shipped to the west and 10
country towns. A number find their way
! to museums, where they are exhibited as
| the piano on winch George Wash!ng on
! was wont to play Throughout New Eng
/ land Ohio and New York city 1 nave
| seen them used as tables for k-tchen pur-
/ poses the works in many cases, DclnS re-
/ moved to allow place Tor slowing away
/ Jars of fruit. Many are disposed OF al
/ auction too. and Some very good bargains
/ are to be secured in that way"
AT the present time according to NJ
! Weitz. there are about $1,000 pianos man
| ufactured annually in America. Inc same
| number Is produced by German manu-
| facturers. white France ana England have
| an annual output of 1880 each. There Is
| very little business in the exporting OF
| change in climate makes it Impossible foi
| A D.ano when shipped TO foreign cOun-
| try to keep its tone. only 6IO we're eA-
| ported from this country last year Iney
went 70 south America and Germany
| The latter country ships quite number
to Australia and South America.
| Efforts have frequently been MADE 10 IN
| troduce the BroadWoOd piano from ENG
land but have never succeeded. Inc ell
! mate here is so much dryer than in Eng
! land that the wood shrlvels up. The Am r
| lean pianos are looked upon universally rs
| the best They have carried off nearly al
lie prizes in recent years in foreign coun-
fries. To obvate the climate difficulty In
The sale OF their pianos, the SteinWay com
many has now established a factory in
| Hamburg and wood which has been dried
1 in Germany Is used IN NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. tHe
ms tTumcnts.
Though more pianos are sold in New
| York city than in any other place, the
| pianO men do not call it musical center
! New Workers are so much given TO attend
/ ing the theater that they nave little time
! for musical entertainments, and concert
| is voted slow. Boston, Brooklyn anu Phll-
| adeIphia are the chief patrons Of music in
! this country Chicago, too, has lately be-
! come a musical town. Large piano manu-
I fv. Of
| now. which bid fair to outrival the hun
| dred or more establishments in New York.