TRICKS IN THE PIANO TRADE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3628, 27 February 1883, Page 4

TRICKS IN THE PIANO TRADE.

Acorrcspondentscnds thcHobart Mercury the following translation from a German paper:— "Through the unprincipled action of certain merchants a. great danger is threatening the German, and especially our Saxon pianoforte manufacturing industry, -which carried off the first prize at the Sydney and Melbourne International Exhibitions. Another Dresden paper has already noticed certain malpractices which aro re-

ported from Sydney : but the same malpractices, and again in the piano trade, are coming to light in Melbourne. Numbers of worthless pianos are exported to Australia by parties whose identity may be easily guessed at, and are knocked down at any price at a uction or disposed of to the unwary at high prices. An account ivhich the head of a large Melbourne piano firm gives in an English magazine (Music Trade Review) is most interesting as bearing on this .subject. He says:—'Firms like Lipp. Schicdniayer (AVnrtembei'g', Kaps, lloe'niscli. Bliithner (Saxony), Beehsteiu, Bicse, Schwechten arc to the front, and sail under their oavii colors. Tho magnificent tone of these genuine instruments is everywhere appreciated and recognised in the piano trade, but it is to be deplored that this trade is quite losing its original artistic character. Matters would not be so bad if the manufacturers of Avorthless pianos (which are often sold at shameful prices to private persons) Avere to confine themselves to placing a purely fictitious name on their instruments but unfortunately these unprincipled persons make use of the renoAvn of old-established and universally-celebrated firms to sell their rubbish (by auction, of course) undernames apparently the same. Pianos are offered under thenameof i'ieyeland AA'oolf (Berlin;, whereas every one knows that this celebrated firm only exists in Paris. Carl Roenisch. of Dresden, is changed to Carl Rcnish, and there arc several pianos in this name now standing at the mart of a certain auctioneer. Bechsteiii is changed to Eeretejsih, or Boi-hsten: Erard to 3£hrurd; Bicse, a good manufacturer, and Schiodmayer are replaced by Bisset and Schildmayer; while the auctioneer unblushingly asserts that "it is all tho same." The manufacturers have always a quantity of plates ivith various names ready, and'these are at will screwed ou these cheap instruments. Allien these names are used up. others are brought into requisition, and so on. It is indeed time that the German authorities and the Consuls in foreign places took action to disclose and put an end to this unprincipled game, for as soon as one industry loses its good name another takes its place, until the hard-earned renown of the German industry is altogether lost."'