and wrote in the name, blotted it
carefully and tossed it toward them on the table.

* * * * *

The formal announcement of Gibson's candidacy, which he gave to Brennan
and John immediately after turning over to them the check for $1,000,
made out to the Children's hospital, followed the lines foretold by
Brennan when he predicted the commissioner's entry in the mayoralty
race.

He declared he became a candidate at the persistent urging of
organizations and individuals who had convinced him that he would
deliberately evade a duty and service he owed the city if he refused. He
reiterated his charges against the mayor and the administration,
asserting that conditions as he found them in the city government were
an intolerable disgrace.

His campaign committee, chosen a few days after he announced his
candidacy, included the names of seventy-five per cent of the prominent
and respected men and women of the city, as well as clubs and
organizations representing the churches, civic improvement associations,
manufacturers, business men and thousands of citizens. The Church
Federation and the Ministerial Union, those two great bodies working
always for the welfare of the city, gave him unqualified indorsements.
The best people of the city advocated his election.

Gibson's nominating petition was completed in less than a week. The
rapidity of the completion of the petition was viewed as a criterion of
the respective strength of the commissioner and of the mayor, whose
supporters encountered considerable difficulty in obtaining signatures.
It was three weeks before the mayor's petition could be got ready for
filing.

With the primary election two months away the candidates began their
campaigns at once. Gibson was everywhere, addressing meetings night and
day. The enthusiasm with which he was received surpassed that ever given
to any candidate in Los Angeles. Daily he was paraded through the
downtown section of the city by cheering admirers. "Gibson for Mayor"
banners and cards decorated the entire city. From their pulpits the
ministers urged his election and took up his attack upon the
administration. He was given credit unanimously for having clamped the
lid down in Los Angeles tighter than it had ever been and he was
acclaimed as a "fighting man" because of his duel with "Red Mike" and
his personal leadership of the officers who raided the Spring street
handbook makers.

The mayor was w