JOHNSON AS A MOTORIST

Grey River Argus, 15 May 1911, Page 5

JOHNSON AS A MOTORIST

"Mr- W. W. Naughton, the well known American pressman, who was recently in Wellington, tells an amus 1 ing sitory of Johnson as a motorist : —

"Once in an unguarded, moment I agreed to ride with him from his hotel ito the "Examiner" office. The motor was a two-seated affair of the low-lying- type, and the first shock I experienced after taking my seat was when Johnson crai&ed.the affair. He did it with a kind of spiteful uppercut and then the agony .began. "Getting- back into the car, h£ threw everything- wide open, and the machine leaped from its position beside the kerb like a greyhound from a lash. Before I could determine whether my vertebrae was shattered in three places or two, I became engrossed in wonderment as to whether the big 1 fellow would collide with a telegraph nole he seemed to be making for. He missed it, and "went around a corner on one wheel. Then lie shaved a tram car, and worn* ra<-Vr»t~ 'n«x ovpv th<» cobblestones with which thf* south side s*Te°ts abound.. "I do not consider myself a physical coward iby any means, but I longed to 'be out of that automobile! i cudgelled my brains quickly to devise a means of self-rescue. . I crushed my -.gold cap into my left hand coat pocket, and made believe it had blown away. When Johnson brought up to allow me to retrieve the missing headgear I descended and told him a few things about his shortcomings as a motor man, which pained him exceedino-lv. And I finished my iournev on foot. "As a fighter Johnson is welcome to all he can achieve and amass. "Long may he wave" a schampion for all (the difference it makes to me, but as a chauffeur I consider that public safety demands his arrest every time he emerges from the .garage."