<Begin Segment 29>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

TI: Let's go back to the business. So during this time period, did operations change?

SA: Oh, yes, because now it was like a garage sale.

TI: So at this point you knew at some point Seattle would be removed?

SA: We had the evacuation orders out already.

TI: Okay, for Seattle, and then so tell me about time period, 'cause here you have this --

SA: Well, when we found out Bainbridge Island only had a week, everybody got desperate, you know, and there was a run on suitcases, 'cause the orders were what you can carry. Now, there were some smart people, they had duffel bags. I don't know where they got them, but for us, it was trying to sell everything off the shelves. We were fortunate to have this store. We could eat (and) now, the Chinese came pouring in.

TI: Because you had this evacuation sale?

SA: Oh, yeah, and they knew they can get anything for a song, you know. It was a hard time. We only salvaged, I think it was the refrigerator -- no, we didn't even get that. We salvaged the cash register and the scale, and I think the Ikedas put it up in their, wherever they stored their things, and we got it after the war. But we didn't have a store then. But on the other hand, other than that, we were fooled again by the people we were renting from, and (our owner) came down, and I didn't ever get his name, which I'm sorry I didn't, because I never could track him down. But he said, "Just leave everything," the ice, what we called the ice chest and all these things, and we had all these store equipment. And he said, "Leave it all and I will take care of it and I will reimburse you," he said. But we never heard from him. The same thing happened at the house we were renting. They told us to leave all that furniture and you know, the furniture was really good. And he said he would take care of it, we never heard from him again. So it was a complete and total loss for us. I think that's what got my father down. He came back very dispirited. In fact, when I finished and got my R.N. and came back, he quit working the day I walked in. He never worked after that, and he lived 'til he was ninety-seven. Both my parents did. But my mother was doing housework, which I really felt sorry for her, 'cause that was even harder for her.

TI: During the evacuation sale, as you were selling things in the store, how much, what percentage off did things go for?

SA: Well, everything went, like, for whatever they would give us, and we couldn't be choosers at this, they gave us ten cents for something that's a dollar. We were grateful, at least the little bits would amount to something. But we took what money we could and, well, the other thing that my father had told my sister was to finish her college. She had a year to go, and maybe that's why he told her where the money was, I don't know. But anyway, it saved us. We gave her that and then what we could get, and we sent her away. She went to Eastern Washington. And it was during the curfew hours and I really felt sorry for her because she was scared, too. And we entrusted her with this money for tuition, and she had to get a job, of course, for a place to stay, and we figured maybe they had a dorm there. But she was accepted, they did transfer the college credits, so she finished at Washington State.

TI: Do you know if she got any help from the University of Washington to help transfer her?

SA: Well, at least they sent the transcript. Because I asked her, "How did you get into Washington State?" Because (the colleges) of Idaho (...) didn't want 'em. They weren't accepting, so she was lucky, I think, in a way.

TI: And she must have gotten special travel orders, too, because I think during this time period, not only was there a curfew, but there was a restriction in terms of how far...

SA: Well, they were gonna restrict, I think about a week after she went, I think they cut it all out. That was the deadline, March the 29th.

TI: Okay, so there's that short time period when she could actually travel.

SA: Yeah, she had to. So we couldn't take her down, she went to the station before eight, but then I think she said the train didn't come by 'til ten or something, and she was scared to be there alone, but we couldn't go, so as it was we were at the store and we had to wait for the Chinese to come pick us up and take us home.

TI: Before we get to that story, was there any talk about possibly sending your brother or you or anyone else with your sister to, during this time period?

SA: No, because we needed my brother to help us pack, so that was out of the question, it just had to be her. And there wasn't enough money anyway. And she was the most capable, we figured, well, if one of us made it out, (she'd) have a chance.

TI: Okay, so she leaves to go to...

SA: Washington State College.

TI: Washington State.

SA: And she finished there. And you know, she said that she had to run the lab after she finished, because all the boys were at war, which is true, the college... so there was no one to run the lab. So the professors asked her to do it, so she ran the chem. lab.

<End Segment 29> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.