Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-07
vPHIL" JOHNSON AND
HIS WONDERFUL JOB
Philadelphia's Architect in Perpetuity
Catches the Taxpayers in a Magic
Meta Fable That Came True--The
Rise and Works of an Ex-Rodman.


THERE Is a fable of fisherman who took
j. his bagpipes to the bank Of a river and
| played upon them In the hope Of making the
fish risej but not one put its nose out OF
the water Then the fisherman cast a magic
net into the river, and soon drew II forth
| filled with fish. He now took up his bag
| pipes and played again, and as he played
the fish leaped up in the net.
| "Ah, you dance now when I play" said
| the fisherman.
YES" replied a veteran fish. "when you
are in anothers power you must do as he
| bids"
Philadelphia Fish
In the fisherman we have illustrated the
commanding position of Philip H. johnson,
brother-in law of the late Israel w. Dur
ham, and political architect in perpetuity
for the city of Philadelphia. His mage net
represents the astounding contract under
which he operates; its meshes woven for him
in Councils during the administration Of the
late Mayor Ashbrldge on orders from THE
Organization" And the fish that must now
dance to the music of his pipes are we tax
payers; are they.
President Judge Mayer Sulzberger, Of tho
Court of Common Pleas No. 2, has held that
we must continue to dance indefinitely. He
decided:
H. johnson was therefore, valid, subsist-
ing contract, and the City Solicitor was right
in refusing to draw and approve contract
with another architect in 1918 for q part OF
the same work."
Under the contract of 1903 Johnson secured
absolute monopoly of the architectural work
of the Department of Health and Charities.
He gets 5 per cent. on the cost Of the build
ings and fixtures, This contract alone, IL 1t
is allowed to stand, will directly net him over
half million dollars, for all the work Is
Sealed for him. His commission on State
work amounted to no less than a quarter of a
million. The new Philadelphia General Hos
pital is estimated to cost S6,OOOoO0. of which
Johnson's slice will be at least 100000.
An architect qualified to plan a great hos
pital, therefore, ought to have the gift of
imagination as we'll as technical skill. He
should be intimately acquainted with the
principles of timberng in Its relation to
excavation and snoring; he should have
scientific knowledge of the various soils; he
should know chemistry to understand
the effect of gases and acids on the materials
used in a building, and finally, he should be
an expert on plumbing, heating, ventilation,
electric and gas lighting, water supply,
drainage, glazing and decoration.
Yet no architect possessing all of these
of Philadelphia.
Discharged for Incompetency?
WHY? Because Phil" johnson, an eX-
rodman in the Bureau of Surveys (who Di-
rector Morris L. Cooke, of the Department
of Public Works, Is reliably informed was
dropped for incompetency some 10 years ago),
has a strangle-hold on Philadelphia. he
alone plan for us.
nj
of this ex-rodman. Johnson is one of those
men whom the tide of political events sends
to the surface for few years, and then en- |
CULTS on some stormy night of public awaken |
ing He Is still riding high on the waves of
After johnson left the Bureau OF |
Surveys he became an inspector on the IA |
nous uninspected State Capitol at Harris
burg Exit "Phil," the ex-rodman; enter
"Philp II. johnson. architect"
Word soon came down from Harrisburg
that the State was going to erect some big
institutions. and the architect was clever
young PhIladelphian-a genius discovered by
"Izzy" Durham. 1.-THE Boys" along Broad |
street-west side between Chestnut street and |
Penn Square, in these days-almost burst
out laughing when they spoke of the great |
find Even Tim" O'Leary, then a head
quarters detective, had to keep uproariously
num- for Select Councilman Charles Seger
was around holding down the lid That was
the time when Segers nod was the last word
from the invisible government"
Nobody knows exactly where phil" john |
SON, the small placeholder, left off and where
Philip II. Johnson. the big humanitarian
architect began, but the time is hxed at |
around 1901. He had entered the family of |
Boss Durham. We began to hear of large
for institutions planned by |
Johnson and located at Rittersville and |
Spring City One does not get much details |
out of the daily legislative columns that are |
supervised by the contractor overlords. But |
looking into the Legislative Hand Book we |
now learn:
That the Homeopathic Hospital for the In |
sane at Rittersville in buildings alone has |
cost $1,s73,27O so far took over ten years to |
build, and while supposed to house 5000 in |
mates ends up with capacity OF less than |
1000
That the Eastern Pennsylvania State In |
stitution for the Feeble Minded and Epilep-
tic at Spring City in buildings alone has cost
81 ,s23 500 so far; was intended for the recep- |
tion of both sexes, but as yet after ten years |
no buildings have been erected for the female |
patients.
Johnson in the Golden Saddle
II was during the Ashbridge administration |
that Councils authorized the Mayor by ordi- |
nance to employ an architect for all health |
and charities buildings that it was deemed |
the city might need in the future |
Councils knew whom the Mayor was going |
to hire, so did the Mayor. For the word |
had been passed over from the Betz Build |
ing TO sit Brother-in-law Johnson in this
golden saddle and to see that his stirrups