Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-04-18
tom JOHNSON
PASSES away.
FAMOUS ADVOCATE OF SCENT
FARE CRUSADE eUccoMes
IN CLEVELAND.
ONLY fIf1Y-sEvEh YEARS OLD

Twice Congressman and Four Tlms
Mayor-Was Crushed In Health
and Spirit by Defeat
In 1909.
Cleveland. April 11.-Tom L. John
son. twice Congressman from the
Twenty-hrst Ohio district, four times
mayor Of Cleveland. champion Of the
thseecent street railway fare and pro
mtnent advocate Of tho single tax the
cries Of the late Henry George. died II
his apartments In the White Hall, aftel
. long illness. Death was caused b.
cirrhosis Of the liver. He was 81 years
old.
Mr.. johnson had been Ill for more
than year, but his condition was not
thought ssstous until he suffered Q 70
lapse on Wednesday. March is. He
had been saining strength ever since
be calne hame after spending the sum.
her q Nant.oAsk island. On Saturday
aieht. March n. he left his apartments
and attended . banquet Of the Nisi
Prfus clab. IN organization Of Cleve-
land lawyers.
The foD0wing Wednesday his condi-
tioo was sach that he was Obliged to
30 10 bed. From that day TO the time
Of his death his condition was grave,
lhoagh several times he made seem
mgly imposaihle rallies.
Tom Loftin johnson was born July
10. 1854, 1t Georgetown, Ky. and
whom still . boy began his struggle
With the world in which he was to
prove himself master OF men and
things He began in the rolling mill
and the street railway Offices 1t Louie
vile, Ky, and the foundation there
laid IN his grasp Of traction matters
ultimately led to his being COM
msnding figure in traction afRsirs h
many cities. When still Young man
he went to Indianapolis and engaged
In traction activities, and In 1877. At
the age OF Is, invented the johnson
street railway rail. which he after
ward manufactured.
II was in 1881 that he FIRST came DO
Cleveland. At that time he purchased
the old Brooklyn horse car hne, and
subsequently built the Scoville avenue
Tine. Still later he acquired the South
Side lines. and eventually organized
The Cleveland Electric Railway.
Mr.. Johnson's advent into the po-
htical arena was In the year 1883,
when he ran for congress against
Theodore =. Burton In the Twenty
6rst district, the campaign ending IN
bis defeat. Two years later he was
asain . candidate for congress against
0uYton and succeeded in wrestling
from him the victory. He was re-
Olected In 1892, but was defeated IN
1894, when he again ran against Bur.
Ton.
Immediately after this. defeat he dis
posed Of his interests in Cleveland
and left that city and began that re-
markable career in traction organiza.
ton which took him successfully to
Brooklyn. N. r., Buffalo, N. Y, and
Detroit, Mich, in which enterprises
be amassed considerable fortune.
His first advocacy of three-cent fare
marked his advent in the traction in.
.erests Of Detroit, and the first steps
taken there in that direction later
developed into his greatest political
asset. The story Of his fight for the
establishment Of three-cent fare in
Cleveland is too long for review IN
. short biography, but It was marked
BY many spectacular and striking In
cidents, among them being the e.
tablishment Of bank Of his own, the
Depositors Savings 4 Banking Co.,
and the inauguration Of his newspa.
per stock subscription device for
financing his lines But the financial
dimculties of the enterprise multi
piled and the first real reverse came
when the Cleveland city council or
6efed referendum election to be held
October 20, 1908. and in spite of Mr..
Johnsons splendid political machine.
and his vigorous and spectacular cam.
paign, his policies were defeated by
small majority. His street railway
enterprise toppled and fell and re.
Ownership was appointed for his lines.
Mr.. Johnson's defeat November 2.
1909, by plurality Of 1873 votes by
the present mayor, Herman c. Baehr,
really marks the finish of his public
career In Cleveland. though he con-
tinued to hold Office until January 1,
1910. After his defeat he was never
the same man. On the occasion Of his
retirement Mr.. Johnson's physical de.
bilities were particularly marked. As
he had done once before under like
circumstances, he left Cleveland and
from that time until shortly before his
last sickness spent little time in the
city.
Crushed both in health and spirits
after his defeat BY Mayor Baehr, the
former mayor went aboard. He had
hoped to regain his health. but came
home no better. Last summer he
spent In q cottage on Nantucket
island.
Besides his wife, Mr.. johnson is sur.
vived by one son, Loftin, and daugh.
Ter, Mrs. Bessie Mariana
Senior inclan at the Capital.
Warrington. April 1l.-Senor Zama.
eoaa lnclan arrived here and was met
BY the stat Of the Mexican embassy.