People and Events

Sure, now that all those electoral votes are there for the taking in California, the presidential candidates are coming to Los Angeles to hold a debate at Pauley Pavilion.

But in its early years, the City of Angels wasn’t on many campaign stops.

In fact, no presidential hopeful braved the dusty pueblo for the first four decades of statehood. In 1872, the Democrats’ Horace Greeley ventured no further south in California than “Yo Semite,” as he spelled it.

You couldn’t really blame him. Just a few years earlier, one traveler had called Los Angeles that “noted abode of the lowest drunkards and gamblers.”

“We kind of forget how remote this place was back then, both geographically and culturally,” says historian John Weaver.

William Jennings Bryan finally ended the boycott by paying his respects in 1896, and a few years later, Theodore Roosevelt dropped in. Teddy, by the way, pronounced Los Angeles, “Loss AN-gee-leez.”

Well, it beats San Francisco columnist Herb Caen’s “Lozangeles.”

So what if the Duchess III sank in Long Beach Harbor the other night? You think she hasn’t had her share of ups and downs?

Built as a pleasure craft in 1925, she was subsequently sold to the state of California to ferry prisoners between the mainland and Alcatraz.

“We think she hauled Al Capone,” said owner Sandy Stanton, 46, who researched the craft’s past before buying it for “in excess of $100,000” last month. “They even had a shot of her in (the movie) ‘Birdman of Alcatraz.’ ”

Later, the Duchess delivered Bibles to Alaska before retiring to yacht status in the mid-1950s.

A bit rusty now, she apparently sank Tuesday night when a drainage device malfunctioned and “pumped water into the yacht,” a Long Beach Harbor Patrol officer said.

Stanton hopes to sail her again--and put her story to music.

A country-singer, he wrote “Earthquake Heart” after he and his girlfriend split up the day of the Whittier quake. “My earthquake heart--can I ever repair the breaks . . .”

Now, he’s got to repair some leaks, too.

Los Angeles has its own Woody Allen, Kenny Rogers and Greta Garbo. Those are three of the 230,810 dog names registered with the city Department of Animal Regulation.

The most popular?

“Before we did a computer check I would have guessed something like Rex or Fido,” said Meyer Levine, a senior administrative assistant in the department.

The winner, however, was Lady, the choice of 2,794 owners, followed by Max (2,107), Brandy (1,983), Duke (1,709), Rocky (1,639), Princess (1,599), Ginger (1,590), Pepper (1,454), Blackie (1,414) and Lucky (1,296).

Speaking of Rocky, there are also 383 canines named Rambo and one named Stallone in the city.

Alas, Levine points out that the more traditional handles are apparently “considered passe” by the current generation: There are only 59 Fidos and 35 Bowsers.

Most unusual name is probably held by a mutt known as Did He Bite.

A warning: There’s no question mark in that name.