Waterbury Democrat., 1901-04-13
TOM JoHNS0N's RISE.

a They tell SIOfloS III l0u1SVlll6 aDOuL the start which Tom Johnson, recently elected mayor of Cleveland, made there on his road to fortune, says the New York Sun He was there aI the age of 14 and secured employment as office boy at $2 dollars a week in T c. Cole mans foundry at First and Main streets His duties consisted of keep ing the office clean, running errands and picking up old scraps that got into other peoples way
 B. du Pont who was part owner of the foundry, saw the industrious office boy rush one day into the street, pick up bit of iron and, returning. threw it on the scrap heap inside. When the boy re-entered the office Mir du Pont said to him:
 ..Why did you do that, my son?"
 ssWhy, sir,' said Tom. a bit embar- rassed, there was no use wasting it. They put it in the furnace and use 1t over again.'
 Well, I just think I can use you, young man. ill the street car business. How would you like to come to ST a week?''
 Young Johnson accepted the $5 raise with alacrity. Mr du Pont controlled the Fourth avenue and Walnut street lines. One barn was at Eighteenth and Walnut streets and at Fourth ave nue and Main street was the drawing station. All the cars of the system had to pass there, and it was there that the money was drawn from the big clumsy boxes into which the fares were dropped.
 One of the rules of the company was that as each bag of money was drawn the drawer must carry it into the of flee, put it into the safe and close the door. To this rule Johnson owed his promotion from office boy.
 MT du Pont was seldom at the draw ing station during the day, and in time the drawers grew careless. No one had access to the room but the drawers, and knowing one another to be honest they formed the habit of care lessly throwing the bags of money on the floor and piling them all into the safe in q heap at the end of the day or when they thought Mir du Pont might be around.
 One day the chief drawer was i'll and young Johnson, the office boy, was sent by MT du Pont from Eighteenth and Walnut streets to Fourth and Main to help out. Johnson read the rules, and, in drawing the bag of money from the first car, he bounded up the steps to the room, opened the safe, threw in the money and slammed the door,
 What the hades did you do that for?" demanded the beok-keeper
 ''The rules say so,' answered the sub-drawer over his shoulder, as he ran down the steps to meet another can.
 The same thing was repeated dog en times. Then the book-keper wheel ed around and demanded:
 Don't you think I'm honest? Do you think I want to steal any of that d-d money?''
 Dunno" answered Johnson, .'but the rule says, Put the bag in the safe and shut the door, and that's what I'm going to do, whether you like it or not"
 The book-keeper jumped off his stool just as Mir du Pont stepped in.
 What's all the row about?' he asked
 This young fool is acting as if he thought I was trying to steal your money" the book-keeper replied.
 t.I was just obeying the rule, Mir du Pont." spoke up young Johnson. Here it is,' and he showed the president Of the company the rule.
 ''All right, my boy" said MT du Pont. since you obey the rules so well I'll make you chief drawer right now
 Two years later, when he was IT, Johnson was superintendent of the road.