The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1912)

14 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. FROM OUR BOSTON HEADQUARTERS. (Continued from page 13.) Siegel Co.'s large business. The talking machines now occupy permanent quarters on the Washington street front of the third floor, are splendidly fitted up and in charge of Fred V. Phillips, who is devoting all his energies to building up the business with the result that in the last few months this department has made rapid strides. New Columbia Dealers. Two new connections that Manager Erisman, of the Columbia Co., has just made are W. H. Wheeler & Son, of Springfield, Vt., and B. W. Hooker & Co., of Barre, Vt., both of which concerns have started the new year with a large consignment of Columbia goods. Caroline White Singing for Columbia Co. Caroline White, who has recently returned from Europe, where she met with meteoric success as a grand opera singer, has' lately been singing for the Columbia, and as she is a Boston-born girl her records will be anticipated with much eagerness hereabouts. Miss White is now singing with the Chicago-Philadelphia Opera Company. Some new records recently made by Zenatello, the gifted tenor, singing with the Boston Opera Company, are pronounced to be among the very best that he has thus far given the public. Install Talking Machine Department. The Shepard Norwell Co., of Winter street, is one of the latest retail stores of the city to install a talking machine department, and it has a finely equipped place on the Temple place side of the third floor. It carries the Columbia goods, and Carleton Nesbitt, formerly of Rome, N. Y., is in charge of the machines, and Mrs. Jones has supervision of the records. E. D. Foilin, a travelingman lor Mr. Henderson, who has installed the department, and who has a number of similar ones at other places throughout New England, makes his headquraters there. Piling Up Victor Business. The Victor department of the Oliver Ditson Co., under Henry Winkelman's able management, continues to pile up business, and during the holidays the second floor of this' large music house was one of the busiest places in the city. ■ Most of the time it was difficult to supply the demand for goods. New Edison Opera Machine Admired. Chester J. Sylvester, manager of the talking machine department for the C. E. Osgood Co., is on the eve of taking account of stock, and not until that annual undertaking is over will the department lay in any great amount of goods. A machine that Mr. Sylvester is exhibiting with a good deal of pride just now is the new Edison Opera machine, which runs with wonderful smoothness. This large concern has wellestablished quarters at the rear of the first floor, where the records are demonstrated under excellent conditions. BOSTON TALKING MACHINE MEN HAVE BEEFSTEAK DINNER. CORPORATION TAX REPORTS. Bill to Readjust the Time of Making Federal Returns. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) Washington, D. C, Jan. 3, 1912. An important amendment to the corporation tax law is proposed in a bill presented to-day by Representative Hill of Connecticut. As the law now stands corporations are required to make reports covering the fiscal year of the government, which expires on June 30. This has proved inconvenient to many corporations which close their books on January 1, March 1, or at other times in the year. The law that such corporations shall pay tax on income for the twelve-month period ending June 30 necessitates a readjustment of business organization in many cases. The Hill bill provides that the corporation tax shall be paid sixty days after the termination of the calendar, fiscal or business year under which the respective corporations operate. Mr. Hill, is hopeful that it will be enacted into law at this session. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) Boston, Mass., Jan. 9, 1912. A large number of the representative talking machine men of Boston got together on the evening of December 27, two days after Christmas, for their first reunion. When the idea was first taken up it met with hearty approval and finally plans were outlined for a meeting at Frost & Dearborn's Restaurant in Pearl street. The committee in and T. H. Duncan, of the Victor Talking Machine Co. ; Geo. L. Cheney, J. G. Widener and Fred W. Hager, of the Boston Talking Machine Co.; Harry Skelton, of Thos. A. Edison, Inc.; T. Norman Mason, John O'Hara, James Holohan, Wm, E. Getchell and Jack Shaughnessy, of the Columbia Phonograph Co. ; Jean Baldini, of the Boston Opera House; Rudolph Nagel, of the Boston Symphony Orchestra ; Charles P. Trundy, TALKING MACHINE MEN SNAPPED AT RECENT BEEFS TEAK DINNER. charge of the details consisted of J. L. Gately, representative of the Victor Company ; George Cheney, J. G. Widener and Fred W. Hager, of the Boston Talking Machine Co. For the time being the company calls itself "The Talks Club." As each man entered he was handed a card on which was a representation of a big colonial doorway with the inscription "The latchstring is out," and across the top, "Welcome to Our Home.*7 Then a big white apron was tied around each man and he proceeded down stairs into the rathskeller where he was handed a tin cup which he hung from his apron strings. The feast was served in the most impromptu and most informal fashion and such luxuries as plates were dispensed with, so were knives and forks. The service was liberal and frequent in both the wet and dry varieties. Several of those present told stories, and some attempted to, but did not get very far. "Happy" O'Neil gave several songs, among them the "Mexican Twist," which got the whole crowd "a-goin," and his accompaniments were well played by his side partner, A. C. Story. Mr. Hager explained the purposes of the gathering, which was that all the "boys" in the business 'might get better acquainted, that a fine feeling of good fellowship might obtain between them all. Everybody had a good time, so good in fact that it is likely another "beefsteak party?' is likely to be enjoyed in six or eight weeks' time. Some of the boys in their exuberance forgot to take off their" aprons when they departed, and they couldn't see why they were the objects of so much curiosity when they took their trains. Some of the boys are wondering who the two were who caused such merriment when they went into the South station that night. Following is a list of the talking machine men who were present: Henry A. Winkeiman, manager Victor department, Oliver Ditson Co.; A. W. Chamberlain, E. A. Welch, Frederick Kern, Capt. Ned Wilkinson, S. H. Brown, Burt Hudson, M. L. Read, W. J Fitzgerald, "Happy" O'Neil and A. C. Story, of the Eastern Talking Machine Co. ; John L, Gately Chester J. Sylvester, Fred Lane, Ubert Urquhart and Mr. Chappie. SALESMANSHIP ESSENTIALS. Four Elements That Enter Into Every Successful Sale. Four elements are absolutely necessary to a sale — the buyer, the article to be sold, the salesman •and the profit. Unless there is a profit it is not a sale — merely an exchange — and a business that does not show a profit at the end of the year is not on a sound, solid, business basis. There must be a profit, and salesmanship, therefore, is the art of selling products with a profit. It must be done through superior knowledge and reason, and power of persuasion, hence it is the convincing of another mind and a purely mental state. Unless the salesman can make the customer see it the way he sees it himself, he will be unable to convince, and fail AN ANTI-LOQUACITY MACHINE. "I think I'll have to invent for my own benefit," said the talkative man, "some sort of an antiloquacity machine. I talk, I am willing to admit, I talk too much; when I get going I don't seem to know when to stop; and this machine that I'm meditating will be something in a small portable form that I can carry handily in my vest pocket and that will wiggle or weave or pop up or do something to remind me when I have talked to a reasonable limit, and I shall make it non-adjustable so that it can't be set to run beyond a certain limit; if it was not made non-adjustable I might be tempted to set it to run too long before it gave the warning. "My primary purpose was, as. I said, to invent this machine for my own benefit only, but now when I come to think it over I may put it on the market; there might be a few, at least a few other people who would like to buy one." A great many people are like preserves: They need lots of sugar to keep them from getting in a ferment.