"Fairy Oasis where never is heard a discouraging word, and the skies
are not cloudy all day."  After dealing with the public and employees
all day, that sounds good to me.  I notice nothing has been said in
Mechanical Music Digest in a negative way about Ragtime or PowerRoll.

 [ We are very concerned that nothing is published which might bring
 [ a lawsuit against MMD and the authors, therefore I must regretfully
 [ reject articles that I feel could be result in a lawsuit.  You may
 [ write that goods from 'Acme' weren't delivered when promised, or
 [ that they don't work in your application, but you may not write
 [ that 'Mr. Acme' is a crook or that he doesn't know his business
 [ (even if it's true!).  :-(  -- Robbie

I did mention that Keystone was sporadic.  I tried for three years to
get a response from Richard at Keystone and finally gave up.  I ordered
Mills rolls and paid in advance for them almost 20 years ago from
Chuck Pfieffer without any response from him.  Don Rand does deliver
his rolls eventually.  I have been trying for over a year to supply
Wurlitzer APP rolls, with 50 produced out of a 100 promised.  From this
sample, roll suppliers would appear unreliable.

I do know from personal experience how hard it is to sell rolls and
the cost of producing a roll.  The time involved is way more than
I ever imagined.  Editing is a real job for someone that has lots of
time.  I have made several good contacts for rolls and recommend Mike
Grant for Wurlitzer band organ rolls.  He makes them in his spare time.
I hope to have some A rolls and G rolls recut as well as some new ones
this fall from another supplier.  He cuts rolls for me but I have to
find the original roll to copy and then sell a dozen of them.

In the case of a new roll I have to sell 100 rolls to break even for
the arranger's time.  I have not found 100 people willing to buy a new
roll.  Rolls for nickelodeons that use the "O" roll have become almost
impossible to buy now.  Play-Rite is the only source and they are not
cutting nine-to-the-inch rolls at this time.  Play-Rite is busy doing
custom rolls for Mills and Wurlitzer.  Mrs. Malone is the only person
that runs the Play-Rite company, as the owner has a full time job
elsewhere.  Mrs. Malone is very overworked at over 80 years of age.

It always sounded simple to me to cut a roll.  Bill Flynt was the first
to show me that the process was a bit more than simple.  He used to cut
his own rolls and finally gave up.  I regret that he quit as he made
some super Ampico rolls.

Buying paper is not as easy as one would think.  The minimum order
for paper is 10,000 pounds unless you have a friend to share the order.
That is a lot of paper.  Every roll cutting operation in the U.S. buys
their paper from the same supplier except QRS.  If you cut rolls then
you need boxes.  That is a problem as most box companies don't sell
boxes the right size and you have to have them custom made in large
lots.  The printing cost for the label is not cheap.

Finding the tab for the beginning of the roll has begun to be a problem.
You need gummed book binding paper and that little 'D' shaped piece of
metal.  Where do you buy those?  The injection molded ends for the
88-note rolls have to be custom made unless you have a friend with
them.  The cardboard tube for the roll has to be made and those come
in large quantities.  And you have to punch the holes in the paper in
their proper place.

However, the above is no excuse for me having to wait 20 years for
Mills rolls that I can not get a refund.  I hope the suppliers speak up
and tell their side of the story.

Don Teach -- not in the Fairy Oasis where never is heard a discouraging
word, and the skies are not cloudy all day.