Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-14

thought, he did whatever he chose plainly
straightforward and above all, like n man
1t made no difference what his visitor,
station might be- He kept Pierpont Morgan
waiting while busying himself with a cas-,
worth 800 and never did but what h,
thought was right.
AS said OF him at Princeton two wear,
! ago. when he was given the degree OF
doctor OF laws, he was "entirely absen,
OF anectation, Indifferent to the allure
ments OF office, full consideration being TO,
the rights OF others and for the public
veal"
Through dealing like this with others Mr.
Johnson gained the goal he sought when
boy walking around with a hatbox under
his arm with verses of Shakespeare run
ming through his brain: for without these
srlct human traits the tremendous work
mat the lawyer employed In solving ques
lions would have been neutralized
But In work itself he set an example Ia
those who consider the clock. Sixteen hours
a day was not unusual for him, and often
the lights In his office In the Land Title
Building would be shining at 2 o'clock in
the morning.
Friends believed that his desire for worl,
would nave been cause for breakdown IL
II had not been for the double reason of his
me physique and his ability to rest when
ever he desired
Al times when the brilliant barrster felt
the need OF rest. he would suddenly get
aboard steamship and leave Nobody
knew where he was going: his address he
neauehtly refused to leave with anybody
but when he came back he would be At and
eager to down intricate problems
sTALwART PHYSICALLY
His physique, the other reason. was the
n'Iu 'hat MADE people turn on Broad
street, where he walked home virtuatI,,
every night from his office freouen,Iy vi
niue green bag. A big man with broad
Snouioefs' Keen eyes and a shaggy white
,nustache-this was the John G. johnson
'hat men saw and didn't know
The reason they didn't was because n,
Mr Johnson's sincere dislike for pubIicitv
INQUIRIES from law associations and bios
raphers were thrown I'm the wasteha .lot a..
questions as to his bIrthnIaca "a ,,' =,
sucn disregarded. For the few great ,,an
III america John G. johnson did moi care
rap 10 see his name in the paners uo
refused to sit for his photograph and III
oH'y ikenesses that are on record outside
Oh portrait. are snapshots that canar
men took when the leader of the hor 20
,ne nation was walking down the street in
".s uehocratlc fashion, with no assImptjon
OF superiority or snobbishness
TRAITS OF THE MAN
The few other times that men saw ,,o
solver or the most intricate legal nrohI.n,s
was when he lunched, az he aIwnvs Ala
at quick-lunch place. Eating in ouicL
iuhch places, working and working until q,
seemed as though Edison and NanoIeon
were laggards In comparison, democratic to
the extreme. generous honest and MANY
these were the things that made John n
Johnson man who should have let him
seit be better known to have given in
spiration. ee" III
But he himself would have set this IN
naught. '' ="
man is what he is," he once said in.
ierrihg that whatever somebody else did
was not as important as to follow Tho
ADVICE OF Emerson and BE Yourself" And
men, al the way from j. Pierpont Morgan
tno,t,. ,s souhs lawyer struggling with a
khoity problem followed the beaten trao,,
10 the door OF the lawyer the nestor OF the
american bar--the man who was ius, him
self. ' I"H' hin-