The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-11-06
The Hero of Humboldt, or From Wefser, to
 Washinqton

t
 This Is the little story of a big suc-s cess, which might be entitled s.The Hero of Humboldt or From Weiser to Washington, Do not imag1ne.s however. that our hero is a farm boy. born in a log cabin, who by industry. and thrift and sterling honesty the Senate. Nothing so common as that
 In the village of Humboldt, Kan, where the s1nflower greets the glor- Ious orb of day and the jawhawk sings
 his lifting, happy lay, a, child Of the Noyem Der, 1888. just tventy-six years ago this very day. He was delivered
 by the stork at the domicile of fam. fly named Johnson and in due course he was christened Walter Perry. The local paper gave only a few lines to that Humboldt's newest arrival was destined to become one of the great
 men of earth. If the editor could have known, doubtless he would have
 hera1ded Walters advent with wood type two inches high stretched across
 the top of the front page
 There is tradition in baseball cir
 c1es that Walters parents were Swed-
 1sh and that he is Swedish. too. This
 has been denied by no less an auth ority than Walter himself. The John
 sons were Scotch and German, and
 they enigrated to Kansas from liar risburg, Pa With the Scotch blood
 in him boiling in fervent sympathy
 with the British, and with the Ger
 man blood urging him to emit hochs for der kaiser; doubtless Walter would now like to be a Swe6e.
 l The Scotch Germans Johnsons soon left Humboldt in the Iurch and fol-
 
 is where the village of Weiser, north west of Boise near the Oregon line, gets big type on the map. There Walter grew to six feet and al1 inch Of staIwart manhood and there he pitched his first ball. Later he went to Los Angeles, where he made his first attempt to break into the profess sionaI ranks. The manager Of the Angels gave Walter try-out, but, while he had cannon-ba.l1 speed, he
 couldn't get the pill within a yard of the plate. The pilot of the angelic crew gently hinted to Walt that he lacked control, and young Johnson decided to abandon his baseball aInbi- lions and become a. barber or a bank CT or something. The lure of the diamond was too strong, however, and at last Walt found an old pitcher tricks of the trade. He improved l rapidly, and in 1905 he was signed l by Tacoma. in the Northwestern League. He was given no chance to show his ability there. so he returned to Wefser, where he twirled fer the local club in the Idaho State League. Before long rumors of the young s.phenom, reached the effete East, and a Washington scout investigated and passed the word that Walter would do. Johnson went direct from Weiser to Washington, without any 1 intermediate stops, and every fan nows the rest Dozens of sharps have dubbed him the greatest pitcher in i the world. The twirIing star of the
 Senators has had an. off season this ] year. losing eighteen games and win
 ming twenty-eight Last annum he
 was the greatest pitcher in either
 league, bit. in 1914 there are several ahead of him. Since he has attained
 wealth and fame Walter has returned 1 to his native State, Kansas and now
 calls Coffeyvi1le his home port. He became a benedict a few months ago
 when he married Miss Hazel Lee Rob l erts, daughter of a Nevada Congress
 man. In 8 recent game between the 1 CoffeyyilIe and Independence clubs, in
 which Johnson pitched for the home
 town, he was defeated in a 1 to 0
 pitchers duel by Loren Baden, of the t Buffalo F'ederals.