The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1908)

36 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. his records. Later the American public will be permitted to hear the great tenor, Giuseppe Anselemi, who has recently signed an exclusive contract with the Fonotipia Co. and other great European stars, many of whom will make their initial bow to the American public through the records which the Columbia Co. will offer. RECENTLY ARGUED ON APPEAL. The case of the New York Phonograph Co. against S. B. Davega, and over three hundred other Edison jobbers and dealers in the State, was argued on appeal recently in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate division, second department, in Brooklyn, N. Y. The appeal was from the six-line opinion of Judge Keogh, in the Supreme Court of Westchester County, who sustained the findings of the Federal courts. The National Phonograph Co. are defending suits and meeting' all disbursements, and the question does not and will not affect the trade in the least. HARRY L. MARKER BACK FROM INDIA. Harry L. Marker, on the laboratory staff of the Columbia Phonograph Co., general, who recently returned from making records in India, will leave for Rio Janeiro, Brazil, January 20. His work will be confined solely to that country, and he proposes visiting every town of any size in that vast territory to obtain native talent for both music and talking machine records. Mr. Marker may be away a couple of years. SIDE LINES AND MONEY <J Are you interested in specialties— business getters money makers that will help out your regular talking machine trade by drawing more people to your store and put more dollars in your pocket through sales which you will make ? C| We presume you are because business men who are progressive are looking for opportunities to expand. They do not believe in the contraction policy. CJ To use the colloquial expression we can "put you next" and "putting" in this case means that we can place you in touch with manufacturers of side lines which you can handle harmoniously in connection with talking machines. <j[ The more trade which can be drawn to your store the better it will be and there are plenty of side lines which can be handled greatly to the profit of regular dealers. <j[ We have detailed a member of the World staff to investigate this subject carefully and we are willing to make an interesting report to any dealer who writes us asking for information upon th(; subject. Address all such correspondence to Editor Side Line Department Tbe Talking Machine World No. 1 Madison Avenue, New York Amplifying Horns Finished in the most reliable manner by the "Baked-On" process. Made under our patents. Horn Cranes Most easily adjusted and finest in finish. Made under our patents. THE TEA TRAY COMPANY OF NEWARK, N. J. FOUNDED 1867 TIMELY TALKS ON TIMELY TOPICS. Again the courts have been invoked to enforce the selling provisions — monopoly, if you please — of patented articles, and successfully, as usual. The patents laws, as has been repeatedly pointed out, have been interpreted on broad lines, giving the owner of a patent the absolute right to make his own terms in the disposition of his product. In the face of this the belief still remains that if a dealer does not sign an agreement or contract he can evade its terms and conditions. This is a fallacy, according to the rulings of the United States 'Circuit Courts, which have suffered no reversal on review. The latest victim of their own foolhardiness, if not obstinacy, is a dealer in Philadelphia, Pa., against whom summary action has been taken by the courts. Another flagrant example involves a music dealer in Iowa, who will doubtless meet the same fate. The protected price on patented talking machine merchandise is an established institution, not only in fact, but law also. The quarterly list of records appears to gain advocates and friends in unexpected quarters. A plan for establishing a bulletin to appear every three months, in the meantime issuing supplementary selections — in popular music, to be sure — such hits as occur, and that are actual sellers — is now being inaugurated by one of the leading manufacturing companies. The main idea is to avoid the accumulation of dead stock on the shelves of the dealer, and which has become such a menace that the solution of the menacing problem is engaging serious thought on the part of the most intelligent men in .the trade. Furthermore, in connection with this proposition it is proposed to limit the general catalog to 500 numbers, at least 100 of the slowest sellers to be discontinued yearly, and that a system of exchange be installed every six months to be guaranteed in the contract. Spoalcing of the rapid accumulation of slow moving record stock is a reminder, by no means a fresh discovery, that dealers are prone to neglect the general catalog and depend almost entirely on the promotion and sale of current selections, whatever their nature may be. This topic has been discussed before, b\it nevertheless remarks apropos thereto, like a motion to adjourn in parliamentary practice, are always in order, ilcrc and there a dealer, on hJs own initiative, has gone through the catalogs of whatever lines he may ln' handling, chosen what he believed should sell if properly exploited, and going ahead in this way, has demonstrated the wisdom of his business acumen and foresight. Now, how many dealers are equally wise and forehanded? Precious few, unless the information at hand is totally wrong and misleading. The usual course pursued is to wait and see what the manufacturers will do. Some jobbers have gotten out special lists of this kind for the benefit of their dealers, and in every instance they have proven wonderful stimulants in the sale of records whose intrinsic merit and excellence have been buried and therefore completely overlooked. In this instance he is best served who helps himself. While the Berliner patent is now pending, on a writ of certiorari, in the United States Supreme Court, the lower courts nevertheless seem to be of the opinion that its validity has been passed upon to their satisfaction at least. In expressing this opinion indirectly, at the same time it is admitted the highest tribunal in the land may adopt a different course on certain very fine points of law; or, as the court says, "recognize fully the granting of the questions now awaiting decision in the highest court." However that may be, the latest decision rendered last month by ,Iudge Hough, a comparatively recent accession to the bench of the United States Circuit Court, southern district of New York, in reafiirming the adjndication of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals goes a step further. The case, reported more fully on another page, is that of the Victor Talking Machine Co against the Sonora Chime Co., in which the tension, elastic or mechanical feed was specifically ruled upon. A hypothetical sound wave or groove was erected or constructed as an exhibit only. It was of abnormal width and it was shown that by the elastic feed in controversy the needle could be so controlled as to play on either wall of the groove, whereas under the Berliner claims the reproducing point was subject absolutely to the convolutions of the line. On this contention the learned judge expressed himself in no eqiiivocal language when he said that it was not a question what could be accomplished, but what had been done, and therefore he again upheld the validity of the patent and ordered an injunction to issue against the infringement as charged. Before the next issue of The World the fight