A MEDIOCRE ARTIST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16847, 25 September 1922, Page 6

A MEDIOCRE ARTIST.

IMPRESSIONS OF 44 PUSSYFOOT. 51 44 A MILO MAN AND A coao. v> tc Pussyfoot ” Johnson, staged an unimpressive act on Saturday night in tho Lyttelton Excelsior Hall. One had waited patiently a long time in expectation “to see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome.” At the least, one expected to see a dominating evangelist, but instead there has come a complacent gentleman, tloubiecbinnea, corpulent, and. anything Dub a prodigy. niter having heard Air William E. Johnson one queries in sudoen frankness: Did he fall, or was he pushed into this work for which he lias been invited to New Zealand oy the New Zealand Alliande? One cannot help tliinlung that he has been elevated to his present positron by sheer perversity of events ; that - ho has been b row- b cwu e n by one section and elevated in the opinion of the other. Fame has been thrust on “ Pussyfoot” willy-nilly. He spoke for aD hour on Saturday with comparative freedom from interjection—and propounded no new view. Mi- .Johnson is a heavily-built man witn a large waist measure. He affects thin, tortoise-shell-rimmed spectacles, which sit docilely, and are in harmony with ai face bereft of laughing wrinkles and owning a sallow complexion. There is a ” meek ” fringe of silver hair s haded a little more heavily at the back, but the head is almost bald. Tho clerical cut of his sombre clothes enhances bis appearance of complacent respectability. The face, the pose, the whole appearance of this muchheralded prohibitionist is one of predominating mildness. You would think that the wildest moment of his life was when he tossed off a tumbler of warm milk with a dash of peppermint in it. Mr Johnson in no way compares with the popular idea of a typical American except for the drawling voice. There is nought of tho business alacrity in tho mellow persuasiveness of Ills voice, which has a timbre in it that tires the listener. And when he is hit with, a verbal brick be does i not reach out .n sudden fierceness U> return, tho compliment. He sinks back, attempts a soft answer, sometimes tinctured with querulousness, and waits with an ineffably tepid expression till the l.iterjector has had his Bay. Then he says in effect, waggling his plump fingers in the air towards you, I have not come here to preach to vou, nor to advise you nor to sell you anything. If you like to suffer under the heel of the Trade it is none of my business; but I do want to tell you what we did in America. ’ It ’s the soft, accent of the Bengalee who draws back from physical violence an-1 seeks refuge in platitudes. But one feels instinctively that c< Pussyfoot,” like Bengalee, could he Unvdacabl© in his enmities. It is unto sav that the visitor is a great opeaker. Judged by the ordinary st/'.r.'darcjo of theso days he is a mediocre artiKt. Ha relies on no ornamenfcisl accessories of speech to achieve his object * rather it is in the composite whole that the force lie 3. As far as on*: lias been able to judge he is a. poor hand at a riposte. Perhaps his art is to conceal hi* art, but it is a fact that; when he. was continually badgered or* Saturday night he made not one- successful attempt, at repartee and in. th* cross-lire of interjections | be made only it poor actor. He ap- | peers to take a delight in drawing i forth taunts and contradictions for i then he discloses a faded arn.il© and. an j answering retort “Ha h.&! It hurts ; you f” "Withal “ Pussyfoot ” is sincere, hut uninspired. Hie discourse hae no felicfti.ee of phrase, no exuberance of thought, and &« he goes along mildly raising and letting fail his right hand you inwardly ruminate: “ A mild man and a good, but no prophet; not even the son of & prophet.” Mr Johnston is not pridefully reminiscent as are many visiting platform Americans —he is too good, having read somewhere that he must not become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. It had been said that this widely-known prohibitionist exuded much natural humour, but this needs qualification. One chuckle was caused at one short tale he told on Saturday concerning two Jews. Soiomon offered Abraham a cigar, and the latter received it with Borne spirit of misgiving. “ "Well, what’s the matter with it? ” demanded Abraham. “ Now,” said “ Pussyfoot/* 1 1 if these people engaged iu the Trade

said something good about me 1 would immediately wonder. ,r Well, what J s the matter with m©P ’ *’ But cc Pussyway of telling a tale is reminiscent of the pi our, pawky wit of a minister emeritus dreaming of a fivecourse dinner. The .Lyttelton audience, or the section which eventually broke the gathering up, wag rather unkind, but it must be stated Uj dear the escutcheon of the Port- residents that these interruptions were for the* most part sailors who draped themselves around the •walls in all manner of postixres emitting guffaws when some remark of the speaker upset them. The spectacle at the finish was rather pathetic, with the leading actor sitting- hack with a half fciek sruiie. Y <-s. i: Pussyfoot ” has had greamiees thrust upon him. He is a type from rural England ; che village curate, toddling down a hawthorn lane with lt Steps Heavenward 7 under his arm, and a string of babbling children to whom h© tells the tale of little Miss Muiiit. One can bet with eertsdnty that (i Pussyfoot” could argue with hi? neighbour for an hour on how to wind the blind-roller.' ee Few, indeed. are the orators of modern times whose speeches live as literature ; like songs their day is brief, and when their voice is no longer heard they are