The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-30
I0ClAN KEEPS THE FIDDLE.
prTIRNS 1T, AND THEN WEEPS
TO GET 1T BACK.

! uopton Forslves the foung Virtuoso. and.
Finally, Under Stress Of Tears, Lends
INC Violin to Him AEain-kOcian
PLAYS "Dixie'' and "Suwxnee River"
.rarosav Kocian, the violinist, who was
n, advised about a month ago and took
c. Clopton's $4,000 Guarnerius of to
rurope with him, returned the instrument
~ the owner at the Hotel Empire yester-
dav morning He had tremendously
vet time of it in making the delivery, and
onded bv asking Mr.. Clopton II he couldn't
borrow the violin again for little while.
Mr. Clopton at first refused, but later
in the day. under strong PRESSURE he re-
lon, Ell and Kocian now has the instrument.
Josef Jan Svatek. Kocians uncle and
EDITOR Of the Prdske Noriy, who helped
hs nephew to bring the fiddle back, and
Joseph Kovanik, Bohemian violinist
Of this city, who met the two foreigners
when tho Deutschland came in last night,
accompanied the virtuoso to the Empire.
Mr. Clopton was expecting them and
was waiting in the hotel corridor As
The party entered, he stepped forward
and offered his hand to Kocian. who was
tagging in the rear with the black box con-
tsining the violin under his arm. Kocians
uncle started to explain.
NO. not word, not one word. said Mr..
Copton. raising his hand deprecatingly.
understand it all. bear the bow no i'll
will He was ignorant Of conditions here
and III advised
Then there was general handshaking.
and the party went into the cafe, few
minutes later Mr.. Clopton led the way up
10 his room, and there Kocian showed, in
.pite of his efforts to control his feelings,
how genuinely attached he was to the
instrument and how hard it was for him to
give 1t up.
the precious Guarnerius which the Be-
heman had returned several other instru-
ments from his costly collection, among
them a Stradivarius, an Amati which
Thomas jefferson used to play, and one or
two others made by Guarnerius. Kocian
a voluminous string of Bohemian ejacula-
tons as he fondled one after another
OH he exclaimed. Il never saw such
a collection
Then he picked up the Stradivarius and
began to play, He started with st. Saens's
Guarnerius- the one he took away
with him--and then he took up the Amati,
playing a reverie OF his own. As he
played on he seemed to be impressed with
an increasing sense Of the great loss the
return Of the Clopton violin was to him.
his face became noticeably sadder and an
unmistakable note Of pathos flowed through
all the music.
Finally. without even so much as look
ing at the others in the room, he unlocked
which he had said ne would give ten years
of his life. and, lifting it out tenderly, he
gazed on it intentlv for minute, then put
It in position and drew the bow softly over
the strings, playing one OF the Bohemian
national airs.
Suddenly he struck up Dixie" and "The
Suwanee River" then turned back again
into the national air and. brushing his hand
across his eyes, laid the violin softly back
in the box.
-Oh, Mr.. Clopton." he pleaded. "let me
take it back with me to the hotel for day!
! will pay you almost any price for it."
Mr.. Clopton, however, refused to let the
instrument go out Of his possession again.
but told Kocian that he could come to the
Empire and play on it all he wished.
Kocian returned to the Empire late in
the afternoon and pleaded so hard with
Mr.. C1opton that he consented to let Kooian
take the violin again during his stay in
this country.
hemian wiped the tears out of his eyes,
took the sob out OF his throat and walked
down the corridor, hugging the black box.
with his face all smiles. He told Mr..
Clopton that unless he had the violin,
he wouldn't be able to give any concerts
during his stay here. his feelings had got
such a shock.
He will give a concert in Carnegie Hall.
bur the date hasn't been announced vet.
Kocian and his uncle will remain in this
country about ten days, visiting among
other places, Niagara Falls. They may
try to get some track OF Rudolph Aronson
during their stay. They say that he owes
Kocian considerable money through his deal
ngs az the vrtuoso's manager, and that
he was the chief cause of all the misunder-
standing about the violin