The Wilmington morning star., 1947-09-21

The WlLMlNGIt
Rapid Transit Company and the
Brooklyn : Manhattan Transit
Company lines in 1910 for $685.
600, 900. The modern Independ-
ent Subway was completed. The
outmoded Second, Sixth and
Ninth Avenue elevated lines
were torn down., as was the old
Tombs prison.
The West Side Elevated high
way, the East River Drive,
Queens : Midtown Tunnel Tri-
boro Bridge, Bronx Whitestone
Bridge and Henry Hudson Park
way we're built as were modern
hospitals and the huge munich
pal airport bearing his name.
The Brooklyn : Battery tunnel
was started. Charter reform
was accomplished.
Banned Burlesque Shows
Mayor LaGuardia AIRED
war on rackets as soon as he
took office. Slot machines and
various forms Of gambling also
were vigorously attacked. In
1887 he banned burlesque thea
tiers, which he denounced as
"glorifying filth and lewdness."
He campaigned against the sale
of salacious magazines.
Mr.. LaGuardia's sombrero-
black in winter. tan in summer
became a national institution
and one of his nicknames was
derived from it, "the Hat" The
New York Daily News designat-
ed him as "Butch," which it
said better suited him than
"Little Flower" the English
translation of Fiorello, and this
name stuck. His middle name
was Enrico which he Anglici3ea
to Henry.
Some said that the wide
brimmed hat of the plains went
back to Mr.. LaGuardia's days
in Arizona, where he lived on
an Army reservation at Pres
colt tt his father, Achilles, was
an Army bandmaster. Others
called it a pure affectation. AS
a boy he aspired to become a
jockey but his musician father
decided he should learn to play
the cornet instead.
Born in New York Dec. II,
1882, Mr.. LaGuardia a the
son Of an immigrant Who had
arrived in the United States
four years earlier from Foggia,
Italy. His mothers native city
was Fiume. He was married in
1919 to Thea Almerigotti, who
died in 1921. Eight years later
he married Marie Fisher, his
secretary. They had two adopt
ed children, Jean and Eric.
World War I Filler
Soon after finishing high
school, Mr.. LaGuardia was ap-
pointed a clerk in the American
Consulate at E dapest. This
was followed by an appointment
to Trieste and in 1904 he be-
came consular agent at Fiume.
In 1907 he returned to the Unit
ed States as an interpreter at
the Ellis Island immigration
station.
Obtaining a Bachelor of Laws
degree from New York Uni
versity in 1910, Mr.. LaGuardia
began pr%acticing law, and in
1915 was appointed deputy at
torney general of New York
state.
He entered Congress in 1917
and his first important vote
there was for a declaration of
war against Germany. Then,
supporting his words with ac-
ton, Mr.. LaGuardia Joined the
Air Corps and soon was over
seas as commander of a bomb
ing squadron on the Italian
front. Once his plane, caught in
a stiff wind, fell in flight and
he was injured. When the Armi-
stice came he held the rank of
major.
Meantime, Mr.. LaGuardia re-
manned a member of Congress,
refusing demands for his resig-
nation and cabling back his vote
en- important legislation. Politi-
cal opponents, failing in their
effort to have his seat declared
vacant, strove in the 1918 cleo
ton to defeat him, but he was
reelected by a majority of 2
to l..
Supported Roosevelt
In 1919 he became president
of the New York Board of Alder
men and in the fall of 1921
sought the Republican nomina-
ton for mayor, but was unsuc-
cessful. He was returned to
Congress in the 1922 election
and remained there for a de-
cade. The Republican LaGuar-
dia lost his seat in the Franklin
D. Roosevelt landslide of 1882.
Subsequently he supported the
New Deal and backed Mr..
| Roosevelt in his 1896, 1910 and
1914 campaigns.
In 1929 Mr.. LaGuardia had
sought the office of mayor on
the Republican ticket, but
bowed to the then popular and
dapper James J. (Jinmy)
Walker and Tammany.
Mayor Walker resigned In
1882 in the midst of an investi-
cation of his administr alton. In
the 1888 mayoral election, Mr..
LaGuardia, the Republican
Fusion candidate, received a
a1,,-o1;4,, ~ ~oorn fhon CS0 n