Evening star., 1941-10-26
BY SHEILAH GRAHAM,

SOTTeSponuent OF Inc quar- anu X~hN.A
NEW YORK.-After an apathetic
start, the fight for the mayoralty
here is swinging into some sort of
momentum and excitement. The
two contestants, Mayor Fiorello La
Guardia, asking for a third term,
and District Attorney William
O'Dwyer of Brooklyn have so far
refrained from calling each other
harsh names But there is still time
for that The election takes place
November T.
The personalities of the two con-
testants are as far apart as honey
and salt. O'Dwyer is slow speaking
and cautious. Fiorello is bounding
ball of vitality, and restraint is a
word absent from his vocabulary
O'Dwyer admits he is looking be-
fore leaping and figuring things out
slowly. He was a magistrate, and
presiding judge in Brooklyn's Adde'S
cent Court, and for the last two
years has toiled as district attorney
of Kings County. His manner is
sentence from the bench.
ODwyer is 81 and good looking
in a square-faced sort of way. La
Guardia will be SO on December IL.
But neither his mother nor his wife
could ever describe the squat-he is
S feet 2 inches tall, weighs 180
pounds-swarthy fierce Fiorello as
anything but downright homely.
La Guardia Afraid of Women.
O'DWyer was charming to this re-
porter when she visited him at his
campaign headquarters in Brooklyn.
We talked for half an hour-alone-
which is something La Guardia
would sooner die than do-he is
afraid to be alone with any woman
with the exception of his Wife). He
is afraid some one will pin woman
scandal on him, and even with his
female secretaries he is careful to
have a third party present.
During the conversation with
O'DWyer, he was asked for details OF
his platform and campaign, but,
like the good lawyer he is, shut up
like a clam. explaining, Everything
in my campaign has been carefully
planned and timed. If 1 gave out
anything now it would lose its
effectiveness"
Mayor La Guardia is outspoken
about what he wants for New York
chiefly to keep corruption out of
city politics and to keep it free from
the debts incurred by his Tam
many predecessors. Both candi-
dates are in favor of the Presidents
foreign policy.
ODwyer tells me he was born ION
the other Side"-in Ireland. His
mother and father, Patrick and
Bridget ODwyer, were both school
teachers in County Mayo, Ireland.
All four of his sisters became school
teachers He came to this country
in 1910 with S25 and a few cents in
his pockets, and on the way up to
his present position worked as coal
passer on freighters, longshore-
man, hodcarrier, plasterer's helper,
bartender and policeman. While
serving as one of New York's finest"
he attended school and obtained his
law degree.
Matches Foe as Linguist.
"I've been married for 25 years."
he tells me-to the former Catherine
Lehman. They have no children.
The Irishman can speak Italian
and Spanish, but has nothing on
linguist La Guardia And like La
Guardia he enjoys campaigning and
making speeches which are pre-
pared beforehand, but he prefers to
ad lib.
During his period as a magistrate.
O'Dwyer had to pass judgment on
chronic drunk. He told the tipsy
offender that he could have the
choice of staying in room for three
hours with bottle of whisky on the
table, and if he touched any of the
contents he would go to jail. Or he
could sign the pledge. Get me pen
and ink" screamed the Grunk, I'll
sign the pledge"
&. Another time the members of
German band were hauled before
him for playing in the streets, after
people objected to the noise
Can you play ireland Must Be
Heaven for MY Mother Comes From
There'?" the judge asked the musi-
clans. They could. And were ac-
quilted.
After his brother had been killed
by holdup man, it was hard going
for all defendants who were
charged with illegal possession of a
gun. O'Dwyer's hatred of holdup
men is intense.
Chain Cigar Smoker.
O'Dwyer, like La Guardia, smokes
cigars from the time he gets up,
which is pretty early these days, to
the time he goes to bed, which is
late He likes wine, but not too
much hard liquor-he used to be a
bartender at the Vanderbilt Hotel,
which probably explains his an
tipathy.
He dresses well - unlike La
Guardia, who was once described by
Eddle Cantor after ne saw MN IN
formal clothes as "the male figure
on a wedding cake" But at home
ODWyer ceases to be dandy and
wears an old brown sweater. La
Guardia saves his oldest clothes for
his campaigns-he wears an over
coat of 1919 vintage, which he be-
lieves brings him good luck.
People who know the judge say
he has an explosive temper but
usually manages to keep it under
control. La Guardia has an ex-
plosive temper but does not keep it
under control. picturesque" is a
conservative adjective to describe
the language of the Little Flower"
when he is annoyed.
Jimmy Walker once predicted that