Evening star., 1945-02-03
,Pussyfoot' Johnson, 81, Noted
Crusader in Dry Cause, Dies

'sS
As Federal Agent
In Oklahoma
By the Associated Press.
BINGHAMTON, N. Y, Feb. s.
William E. "Pussyfoot" johnson, SO,
who for so years Waged battle
against drink in all parts of the
world except Alaska and South
America, died yesterday.
Mr.. johnson, who retired in 1929
to his Smithville Flats IN. " home,
represented the American Anti
Saloon League abroad. From 1905
to 1908 he was Government agent,
obtaining more than 81 per cent
convictions in nearly 5000 bootleg
ging cases. Eight of his deputies
were killed during the period, one
because he resembled "Pussyfoot."
MIR. johnson died in Binghamton
hospital, where he had been taken
in January. He had been in i'll
health for several months.
In his later years he expressed re-
gret that the United States tried
prohibition without the support of
public opinion.
1T will return some day." Mr..
johnson said after repeal, ''but not
in our, time"
Mr.. Johnson became an inter-
national figure during his campaign
in England in 1919 when he was
mobbed and lost the sight Of his
right eye. He acquired the nick
name of 'pussyfoot" 13 years earlier
as chief special oficer Of the Indian
Service.
Appointed by Theodore Roosevelt
to enforce antiliquor laws and clean
up bootlegging in Oklahoma and
Indian territory, Mr.. johnson visited
q Haskell (Okla.) poolroom pro-
prietor suspected Of selling liquor.
Pretending to be drunken cattle
man, Mr.. johnson entered the pool
room and demanded a drink. He re-
jected the sarsaparilla offered and
the proprietor then produced whisky.
Immediately, Mr.. Johnson disarmed
and arrested him.
! Struck Like Lightning.
An Oklahoma newspaper, describ-
ing the raid, said "the booze hunter
strikes like lightning even If he is a
pussyfoot."
The nickname stuck and Mr.. john
son took pride in it. THAT name is
all right" he said years later. "It
travelled around the world faster
than I could keep up withNit. Pussy
foot opened the doors to places that
William E. johnson never could
have entered"
One Of Mr.. Johnson's gun battles in
his efforts to dry up Indian Territory
occurred In two bootleggers' shack
on neutral strip Of land a few feet
wide and three-quarters of mile
long. between Oklahoma and
Kansas. The strip was called mo
mans land" because at that time
1t was declared to belong to neither
State.
The bootleggers defied Mr.. John
son and bragged that If he molested
them he would be carried away in
pine box"
With a deputy a few days later,
Mr.. johnson entered the saloon.
Two pine boxes were carried from
the place-with the bootleggers In
them.
Mr.. johnson once said that while
serving the Government he never
dared sit in a restaurant in one of
the Western towns where he was
known unless his back was to the
wall. When he entered, he said, he
usually had his hand on his pistol.
Dragged From Platform.
"Pussyfoot's invasion Of England
made his the most cartooned man in
the British Isles and the target Of
English comic writer's.
During one of his London cam
paigns he was dragged from a plat
form and paraded through the
streets by a mob Of students. A
missile thrown by some one in the
crowd struck him in the eye, caus-
ing loss Of sight.
From a cot in the hospital he
wrote the students:
you had a good time. had
good time. I have no complaints,
but if you want fun, get into the
game against the greatest enemy
of the human race-drink."
His pluck in that affair won him
many friends. King George v per-
sonally expressed regrets; British
sympathizers raised a $4,000 fund
for his dry campaign.
With bandage still over his eye,
Mr.. johnson redoubled his efforts
throughout the British Isles. De-
spite the mobs which required police
intervention frequently, he won over
many towns in Scotland to local
option in the regulation of the
liquor traffic.
He was born in Chenango County
N. Y, March Is, 1862. a son of Will
liam and Elizabeth johnson. Pro-
hibition interested him while a stu
dent in the University of Nebraska
From 1884 to 1886, he was a re-
porter on the Lincoln Daily News
and associate editor of the Voice
a prohibition weekly. He was pro-
hibition nominee for the House of
Delegates of Maryland in 1903, Pro-
hibition candidate for Congress for
the 5th Maryland district year
later, and in 1905 and 1906 managed
the publicity campaign to promote
passage of the denatured alcohol
bill.
He married Lille M. Trevitt in
Lincoln in 1886. They had two sons,