new_york_tribune_paderewskas_story_28dec_1919.pdf

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Mme. Paderewska's Story of Poland's Great Adventure

SUNDAY. DECEMBER 28. 1919

PART VII TWELVE PAGES

from Piano Stool

to the Premier¬

ship of a Re¬

» -

Wife of Pianist and

Premier Tells of

Launching the

born Nation

New Republic

By George Palmer Putnam

PADEREWSKI.

There probably is not n

single name inoro familiar

to Americana at large than

.hst. Certainly no one else asso¬

ciated with the fine arts is nearly

-o well known to the rank and file

U this extraordinary Pole who

iteppeii from an American piano

-tool to the premiership of Europe's

largest new republic.

In 1914 Ignace .Tan Paderewski

«as acclaimed the world's greatest

pianift and was said to be the

wealthiest of all musicians. After

lerving his fatherland throughout

the war aa a sort of patriot-at-large,

he became Premier of Poland just

a year ago. And now comes the

news that he has resigned and, pre-

lumably, will again devote himself

to music.

On November 12 Paderewski

made a speech to the Diet which

actually marked the end of his min-

latry. The day following that "fare¬

well appearance" I lunched with the

Premier and his wife at Zamek, the

foj*a! palace at Warsaw, home of

Poland'.- kings of old and occupied

in turn by Russian and Germa'

jovernora of the prisoner land.

Paderewski then was in the midst

of a bitter political fight and it was

current belief about the capital that

the fall of his ministry was inevi¬

table although ew e> iccted it to

come - ly. 1 he Polish Diet,

\h ¦; ..'.:: 80 per cent of peas¬

ant ¦' on, has from the outset

lacked a clear-cut majority party,

y '...:¦¦ ing been ustained

by shifting amalgamations of vari¬

ous grouj .'. The ¡"mal crash came

it party, comprising

only a portion of the peas¬

ant mci h ew its votes (o the

Left und broughl bout a vote

icallj v ne of "no

i _

Buffalo, superintends the distrfba-

tion of clothing sent from the

United States among Polish soldiers

who are being demobilized because

of physical incapacity. Irena wai

his nineteen-year-old assistant, still

in her military hat and coat after a

year of service.

In came a couple of boys, en*

slight and pale, with a new and sp-

parently severe head wound, the

other stubby and solid and with a

black patch over one eye.

"Sit down!" the doc4or called to

them cheerily. "I try to make 'tmi

comfortable here," he explained to

me with a smile. "They deserve it

Heaven knows, at the front there*f

little enough consideration for thee«

girls."

Girls! So they were. In thetr

uniforms, with their close-cropped

hair and sturdy bearing, I had

thought them boys. They wore both

about seventeen and had been fight¬

ing for nearly two years.

Anna, the one with the patch, waa

just out of hospital, recovering from

an abdominal buiiet wound. Through

interpreter I ascertained she

came from the Ukraine, the unhappj

region to the east largely held bj

the Bolsheviki.

"Why did you go into the army?*

I asked.

"My thirteen brothers and nr*

father were fighting. My mothe:

is dead," she answered. "So I cu

my hair, borrowed a uniform fron

my little brother Stephan, and en

weary man. The famous mop of

Huffy hair had grayed and thinned

and receded from the broad temples.

But the fire was still there, despite

all that ho had gone through.

"If it wasn't for Mme. Paderewska

there wouldn't be any Paderewski,"

an intimate friend of theirs told me.

By which he meant that-, besides

being a wife to the Premier, Helena

Paderewska was his guard and

nearly his nurse. Knowing some¬

thing of all that, I once asked what

she considered her biggest job.

Her Big Job

"Taking car«-* of my husband,"

came the unhesitating reply.

There Is an old Polish proverb

which declares that man is the head

if the family, but woman is the

neck which turns his head. Pade¬

rewski, I am sure, has a head of hi«

own which is seldom turned, in any

sense of the phrase, by any on.e, but

even so, it was evident at Warsaw

that Helena Paderewska had a

mighty potent voice in affairs of

state and near-state. Which was

why it seemed to me this "First

Lady of Poland," who had lived so

long in America, was almost as in¬

teresting as her unusual husband.

*"Aa a very little girl I remember

praying in a church here in Warsaw

that my life might be exciting,

Above all I dreaded dullness," Mme.

Paderewska once told mo.

"Your prayer seems to have been

answered," I suggested. "Surely,

you're getting enough excitement?"

"Too much!" she smiled.

Too much, indeed! Not long ago,

for instance, six bullets crashed into

the mirror where Paderewski was

irranging his tie in a hotel in Pos-

aan, in what used to be Gennan Po¬

land, with his wife sitting near by.

Another time their railroad carriage

was lifted from the tracks by an

exploding bomb, fortunately bounc¬

ing back upon the rails.

"I seldom worry," the Premier's

wife -old me, speaking of these

things. "Perhaps that is because 1

:,m so Americanized." Then hei

dark eyes became serious. "You

e. , 1 am sure no harm will come t«.

my husband. God has given him a

'ask, and lie will be spared until it

is completed. All is foreordained.

of that I am quite positive.",,

Through the window we saw thf

soldiers in the courtyard. In the

streets beyond were more soldiers

stocky youngsters with rifles ready

And far and away beyond the city

.vere other armies along the faV

lung Bolshevik front and the un^

«lefined frontiers of the new republic

stubbornly prepared for the »trug-

gle which all thinking Poland con

siders inevitable.a life-and-deatr

jrapple with unbeaten Germany.

"Aren't you nervous some times?'

I asked.

"No. Perhaps that, too, is because

Í am so Americanized."

"America is complimented,** 3

smiled.

"Never nervous," she continued

"but some times homesick."

Second to no other spot on earth

I knew my hostess and her husbanc

love their California farm at Pas<

Robles.

"We will »turn there «eux* 4_*

These pictures, the first of their kind to he

sn-jjled. "Diese walls are bo ter¬

ribly thick one actually gets tired

walking through from one room to

another."

The coming of the Paderewskis

to Warsaw was dramatically pic¬

turesque.

"But not very comfortable," I

j suggested when she reminisced of

that historic journey to Danzig in

December.

"Mon Dieu, no!" she grimaced.

"It was a nightmare," explained

.Mme. Ivanowska, who herself had

bade goodby to the Paderewskis

and her husband, his aid. when they

set sail from England in the little

I British cruiser Concord in mid¬

winter, through mine fir-Ids, to a

new-born ^Poland seething with

internal strife and actively at war

with three neighbors.

"That was an omen," Mme.

Paderewska interrupted her. "Do

you remember the white pigeons

which fluttered about? And the

name of the ship, Concord? It ail

meant that my husband would suc-

ceed in bringing concord to Po¬

land."

For four years Paderewski had

devoted himself in America t«.

prca« hing Poland's cause and tc

raisin»: funds for her starving peo¬

ple. Fat contracts and concert en

gagements went begging. One sin¬

gle tour which would have nette«,

him $125,000 was turned down a

the last minute because he neede«

all his energies for the cause of hi:

fatherland.

No whit behind her husband hai

been Mme. Paderewska. At th<

.'.:. V of the war she organized tin

Polish Relief, and all the world re

members the "Mme. Paderewski

refugee dolls," turned out from he

Paris atelier. Then came the Po

lish White Cross, put on its feet ii

America, its first caro being th

Polish troops in France. Under it

banner Polish women everywher

were united and given opportunit;

Paderewska to Mr. Putnam, who left Warsaw

listed."

"Where are your brothers now?'

"They are all dead," Anna re

plied evenly. "Three died fighting

just before M. Paderewski resigned as

Premier of Poland

The others were killed by the Bol

sheviki. Now I am trying to ge

well enough to go back and ki

them!"

After luncheon at the palace, whe

I had shaken hands with the hos

and hostess, according to the plea:

oi nee."

'"He has fulfilled his mission."

in a nutshell, that was the view

of the Premier':- oppon mi u

voiced in Warsaw.

Call Work Finished

A n tic mighl n npli Fy his state

mei v saying t hat v. hilo Paderew-

Bki's services had been invaluable

to Poland in \ i; recog. nition

amo' x he »tlier i atioi lie alone

among Poles ha

ant Polish custom, Mme. Paderewsk

brought in for a moment Jad_ia, th

eleven-year-old orphan waif she he

adopted. Jadzia is a wide-eyed litt!

relic of the days of Poland

greatest tragedies, when the peopi

were swept away like cattle to tl

east and north by the retreatin

Russians. Her parents have disa]

peared long since. She knows not!

jng of who she is or where she can

from.

l-wide

I ¡m< ich U! el

ended; he was not equipped,

ten itally or from experi-

enci to conclu« ess of in¬

ternal oi .::<r ¡za1 on an I administ ra¬

tion.

Whether or not such criticism was

Just] ed, it resulted in the Pre¬

mier's r< ::. And whether or

not any on« i> !d have done1

better, or half as well, is, of course,

unai ¡veral *

The important point for America

to realize is that the change in no¬

wise nvolves a crisis in Poland'

fairs, though doubth ss i* w ill offer

ammunit on for hoi critics. There

lis widespread propaganda ever.

I where de ign« to stir up trouble for

I the new republic. A weak Poland,

I for instance, is a consummation de-

"¦

because she has all the food she ce

eat and warm, soft clothes to wea

and Ping, Mme. Paderewska's arist

cratic though one ''yd Pekingese,

Only she is very happy no

play with.

There are thousands of oth

freezing, starving Jadzias, youi

and old, who might envy Mme. Pac1

rewska's happy waif could they p<

sibly understar.il that such nr. L

believable fairy story actually h

eon-.' inu\ Out at Powansky, t

God willing," nays Mme. Paderewska.

She declares her ambition is to raise

chickens again, as .«he did in Switzer¬

land before the war, whore her prize

birds won all the awards.

In America they have lived and

worked the greater part of the time

since their marriage in 1899, (he

virtuoso's first visit occurring in

1891. In the following year, by the

way, he set a new financial high-

water record in the musical world,

receiving $180,000 for sixty-seven

recitals in twenty-six cities. And

his salary as Premier was a sum

equal to about $50 a month 1

Homesick for America

Paderewski has voiced frequently

his admiration for America and his

gratitude for what America has done

for him. His respect.perhaps envy

.for our political institutions was

expressed long ago, following his

first American triumphs. In the light

of what the past year has brought

Poland, that after-dinner speech be¬

fore the Lotus Club back in '9.5 is

rather prophetic.

"I loved your country," he said

"before I knew it, for the very sim

pie reason, allow mo to tell you, thai

this country is 'he only one in whicl

thousands of Poles are living freelj

and enjoying liberty; the country ir

which every countryman of mint

may speak whatever he likes of th<

past and future of his own lane

without fearing to be arrested."

There was a pleasant, almost

American stamp about the Paderew

skis and their entourage. For in

stance, her husband's aid and con

fldential helper, Major Ivanowski

who has made his mark in Americi

for fifteen years aa an artist ant

illustrator, and who, by the way, i

reputed to have been court painte

at .ftrtyogmd wtan -hv ¦*». «nij

twenty-one years old. The major

and his wife, who is an American,

lived at the Palace. And then as

further back-home landmarks the

visitor to Mine. Paderewska's privat''

reception room finds the only two

photographs there are of familiar

faces: President Wilson, inscribed

to "Poland's greatest son," and a

very debonair portrait -. (from a

painting) of Colonel House, pre-

refugee station near Warsaw, y

may see some of them daily, th<

miseries ,ind extraordinary wandi

ings paling into insignificance th«

of the tribes of Israel. It is sa

probably truly, thai in remote

beria there are still lines of ex

triated Poles plodding through

snows who know neither that th

fatherland is freed or that the \

is over!

To a country of such tragec

| vontedly wished by Germany. Also,

i Poland now has an army of some s¡*<-

[ hundred thousand soldiers in the

I field against the Bolshevist forces of

Red" Russia,' whose agents natu-

I 'ally Blip all the monke ' wrenches

j they can into the machinery of

the Paderewskis went. Behind th

in America they left comfort t

wealth and acclaim. In aband

ing the American copcert stage

is fair to estimate that Paderev

renounced at l-*ast half a mill

dollars in the last five years. A

they turned their backs upon

happiness of their villa in Swit:

land.

However one regards it. wha

romantic adventure ¡t has hi

The Polish pianist, having won f¡

and wealth in America, returne«

the land of his forefathers as

leader in the hour of its regai

Í Polish progress,

out Josef Pilsudskl, the outstand¬

to help. Now the White Cross i

working in Poland, with more tha

two hundred separate societies, sur.

ing strong man of ''entrai Europe

remains as chief of state, vv h the

PVerwhi

plementing the activities of the Po!

ish Red Cross. Through Mm«

Paderewska's individual efforts 12

000,000 marks have been raised.

"But most we owe to America,

she said. "Our greatest support ha

been the Polish National Commit

tee in Chicago. The America

Poles havo been wonderful

Even Women Soldiers

"And America realizes, I hope,

she continued, "Poland is a rei

republic. From the women's siant

point, for instance, we start ot

national life with a clean slate, tl

women having exactly as mut

¡weight politically as the men. >

try solid!;.- behind him, 'han*, ts in

government personnel are perhaps

unfortunate, but they need have no

ajority of the coun¬

fundamental effect. Only one who

has visited Poland as a dteintereste

observer, and really sensed what lias

been accomplished in the one short

year of Lor national existence, real¬

izes that she is realiy out of the

woods. Out of the worst of thorn,

anyway.

Resurrecting a nation of twenty-

without her relentless fight to care

for him and make him care for him-

freedom. 1* or nearly a year

artist has held his own at the c«

cils of the world's leaders and

retained his seat in the saddl«

this hardy young stallion of

north, at least until it h_s fep.c

reasonably bridie-wise.

And now the Premier has

rendered the reins. Again, perl

five million persons which has been

taM in bondago for 147 years is no

| self it is problematical how long he

could have survived the strain of

the pace fate set, say those who

know him well.

"I've been trying to keep him

it for years," Mme. Paderewska

:plained with a smile. "You see,

ti the American tours we were

'.ways together. But even the

-.train of them is nothing compared

with the strain of these days. In-

deed, I positively enjoyed the

traveling when we had a private

car. That was more comfortable

than.than"-

"Staying at home?" I suggested.

"No. That's the one best thing

in the world. More comfortable,

say» than livin? in a palacei" aha

.implo single-year task, of course,

¦nd naturally much remains to be

«.one. Hut the foundations seem to

be solid.

The big test now is whether the

Popular morale can stand the strain

.f Bolshevist temptation and propa-j

'anti-suffragists here! There a:

women members in the Diet and

nearly all the city councils. Wh

they're even in the army!"

That last, by the way, is qui

true. And the women who we,

¡the uniform of the White Eag

he will become pianist. The ad

tura is ended, the chapter clos

unless another as picturesque

L »mount, tangible and intangible.

denly opens; taste for politics

public place, once acquired, is

JThla winter successfully weathered

too readily cast aside. Be th-

it may, when the history of rei

.»nd I firmly believe it will be.!

Poland will be able to hold her place

sented to "My good friend, Mme.

Paderewska,**

From üie personal side, Mme.

Paderewska's most important func¬

tion was not to speed thing« op»j

but to slow them down. She was

the brake. Her big task was to

keep her husband's mental and

spiritual ^DpjSry from overspeed-

have seen real service, as many

grave testifies.

I remember one morning at t

White Cross relief office on Wiejs

Europe is written, the largest

eomfortably in the procession of na-

gle measure of credit for the

cessful establishment of new

land undoubtedly will be ncc<

ttetta,

**d«rewski, when I saw him in

Street, in Warsaw, where Dr. B.

Karnienski, an Amnrjqm jfals

tho musician-statesman, P*di

ing at the excuse of his body, and

-alr-L

PAKT VII TWELVE PAGES

shown in America, were given by Mme.

[ |N>da, of which there is a vast!

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