A COUNTRYMAN'S IMPRESSIONS OF PADEREWSKI.

Otago Witness, Volume 12, Issue 2639, 12 October 1904, Page 73

A COUNTRYMAN'S IMPRESSIONS OF PADEREWSKI.

Bt.J. Maci/ennait.

Paderewski was coming ! The Farmers' Courier said so, and for our editor to say so much was extraordinary. But he said more: he said nearly a column about Mm, which, considering ha could cut the Governor's speech .down- to 2in and* condense, the whole, of ' Hansard .into what- our private member said,.was.nna>king Paderewski three-quarters of a column better than the best of thiem. There seemed to 'be an undercurrent of Paderewski in t&e very turnip fields, so when the GoVernment made it holiday time by reducing fares in his favour what could I do but go north to hear "the Great," ''the Illustrious," "the Marvellous." That's how our editor pnt it. I say go north, because my farm is so far south that. we cannot get anything without going north to get- it. I 1-eckon I foiow^ something about the piano, because Jeanie haa one — a pretty little thing she got .before we 1 wei© married. - !

The editor said that after hearing Paderewski people were known to go home^ and break up their pianos out of sheer love of music. I was *sorry for this, because Jeanie could play, so that many and many, a time she played b«tth. the-baby and me to sleep, mr the big chair. But 1 felt I had to go north ; and that when Jeanie cajne to un-derstand-that the glory of 'Paderewski could brook no shadow «ie'd soon forget her little piano. At first there- were very few in the train, wo beihg^ so far south; but as the little engine puffed its way through the" pine forest that forced itself through the tangled' undergrowth, more people came on, and at every station there were-, more; ,and the name on every lip was, Pade-re-wski — -what he-.said 1 , what- he did, how- he played:- so that when at last we-eatne-tp out journey's end-'I fell .for dace in, ray >life^-had dontf the proper -thing. /There was Paderewski's name full size- on the advertising wall right in front of the station, and" the wall beingtoo small to hold it they had to nail on two red pine boards to take part "of the k and the i.

I couldn't get through the crowd at the station because it was waiting to get a glimpse of _ Paderewski ; I couldn't get Hear to the booking office, because everybody was buying N tdckets fqr Paderewski : even the policeman ' at the other end of the towni couldn'.t see the cyclist riding on the footpath? because he was scheming how he could get to hear Paderewski — as a deadhead. I wouldn't have missed the excitement for anything. I was &r> excited tHat I nearly forgot to get my tea. After waiting what seemed to be years I was at last squeezed and crushed into my guinea -seat, and was compelled to acknowledge, that I've had more comfortable ones often for a shilling. Then Paderewski came out, and the people cheered and shouted — me too. I was not going to have it said that 1 couldn't cheer. - When they calmed down a bit he shut his eyes and set to work. Pretty good for a start, says I. First it was a lot of) fizzy work, one hand dodging the other like an interpiovmcial five-eignths trying to score a try; then it was skylarks pinging or rivers gurgling along, or bands playing at fur.erals, or lovers down the garden, and yoii could almost hear the kissing; or it was battle, and *he noise of th© cann-on was so real I felt like making for cover; or it was a thunderstorm-, and the hail came' down at such a rate that for a moment I felt sorry the lambing season was £0 far pdvanced. Or he made sunshine, and I could almost smell the clover. Nothing seemed to come amiss to him ; and couldn't he just bang that piano: if he had«"t- taken to music there wa-s glory waiting for him in the prize-ring. Paderewski was doing well — getting in a lot of odd work between times, wluchi I didn't care Ernch for certainly ; but 1 forgave him, because I was waiting for him to do something, so that I could tell Jeanie what "Great, and Illustrious, and Marvellous" meant, when, all of a sudden like, the concert came to an end. Here was a go ! No glorious outburst of song, no .souls torn from their listless bodies standing on the seatbacks waving their re'l handkerchiefs and shouting, "Bravo, Paderewski !" and while I w>is being crushed into the open air again I sv.-ora there would be no piano breaking do\ui our way. There wasn't so miich piano talk in the train next day. Somehow the subject of full-mouthed wethers came on, and somewhere in my heart I was wishing my guinea had gone into a present for Jeanie instead of into the booking office. I was longing for night to come, so tbat I could listen from the big armchair to her playing. Certainly Jeanie's playing was nothing so smart as Paderev ski's. Jf it was she'd ba wanting a big city house, and instead of getting up with the lark in the morning, ■ihe'd ba trying to imitate ii in +tae middle of the night. When, the people oke-ered

* Paderewslci. lie only seemed bored ; I've only got to J say, "Yon's- a bonnie. piece," i and, the smile that- comes, -into Jeanie's eyes ' i? worth a- king's ransomf There may "be people who understand and 1 admire exquisite' genius ; there are people ' whose ambition it is to ride in balloons: not me — I'd rather watch the bees at work . in -a clover patch any day, and if it ever . coiiies to a vote between Pade-rewski and [ Jeanie, I mean to plump for Jeanie !