Harry Carr Los Angeles City of Dreams (Illustrated by E.H. Suydam), D. Appleton-Century Co.: NY, 1935, 402 pp., 1935
Chapter XV Underneath the Surface
p. 186 "The bringing of the Olympic Games to Los Angeles was the result of more than five years' ceaseless propaganda-including several trips to Europe by leading citizens of the pueblo. The technical arrangements-once the games were assured-represented two years work by experts. They turned out to be by all odds the most successful games ever held. At other games the athletes had had difficulty finding lodging; there were no practice tracks; the newspaper men were driven to the verge of insanity trying to find out what had happened.
"The Olympic committee in Los Angeles erected a village for the athletes on Angelus Mesa-the old Baldwin ranch. Water of the exact chemical properties of their drinking water at home was provided for each team-also native cooks for each country. In front of each working sportswriter in the press stand was a stock ticker, continuously printing out the results and figures-not only at the track in front of his eyes, but at other places where boat races, horsemanship events, fencing matches were going on. The tracks were lightning fast; they were of peat-impossible in any country where rains are uncertain.
"Not only were nearly all world's records broken; but the games had a profound and beneficial effect upon the inter-[p. 187] national relations of the United States-especially as regards Japan.
"The Japanese cavalry officers were the first team on the ground. The bombardment of Shanghai had just occurred with unfortunate repercussions. The Japanese came with the defensive manner of a cat walking into a strange garret. They were received with open arms. They became the undoubted heroes of the games . . .
" . . .
[p. 188] ". . . Although our cheers for the Japanese were innocent enthusiams without guile, we learned a lot about internationalisms during the Games.