SEVENTY YEARS OLD

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 131, 1 December 1930, Page 3

SEVENTY YEARS OLD

ft?. ' CHARLES BEGQ>&ND CO.

Not many, active business firms in New Zealand can,look upon seventy years of existence,.and know that they still retain a position in, the van of progress in their own.particular sphere. Iv this respect the house of . Chas. Begg and Co. is perhaps unique. This month (December) it' enters upon its seventieth year, an occasion surely noteworthy in so : young a country as New Zealand. The narno of Begg has become -'symbolic; of musical culture in the Dominion, and a valuable goodwill has been created by: its honest efforts in association - with the musical, activities of the home, the schools, the churches, bands,- and orchestras; in' assisting to bring musical artists-to the country, bypublication of locally composed'music, and by bringing' undef the' notice of performers treasures or music from the storehouses of older lands. It is therefore a fitting time to do honour to the founder- of .the 'firm, the late Mr. Charles Begg., who learned the trade of pianoforte making in. Scotland, so that when he landed . in Dunedin as a young man his chief endeavour and aim was to establish himself there in a business he knew probably better than anyone else in. the Dominion. So he not- only set his sign as a vendor of pianofortes,, but applied himself to their manufacture, and many an old Dunedin family can testify to the sterling value of the instruments he turned out in his modest workshop. One of the . originals is still cherished in the Otago Museum,. as evidence of the founder's - skill i and precise workmanship. • : 1' THE LEADING HOUSE." • That, business. was established in 1861, and. is still a "■ strictly..private company,: in the possession of members'of the Begg family. ; From • IS6l' the firm made steady progress,' until it-became the leading house in the. various; centres, with, the old .headquarters .in Dunedin. as-the.-mother establishment. ,' A most creditable career has followed'a rigid policy of honest, trading and. in a variety of ways' the aims and objects of the firm staled higher than ..mere monetary consideration.- • ■ As the'business in. Dunedin'grew:so did it expand and grow in 'othercentres. Its" first manager in Wellingto-. was Mr.' Salvatpre CiminOj" whose premises were in Willis street, only a fewyards , from what is Jiow 'the Majestic Theatre. Encouraged;by-the.prospects the firm decided that-Wellington. ■, was worthy of' better premises, and in 1911 the present splendid three-Story warehouse, factory,.and . showrooms were erected in'Manners'street. : . ■ ■ One testimony to the firm's fairness of.dealing and efficiency is that a goodly number of .those engaged in the music trade of New Zealand have served their apprenticeship in the , house of B.egg's, and secondly in the number of its present employces-who can look back upon-twenty, thirty; and forty years'of unbroken service. . : • ■ ■