<Begin Segment 45>

TH: See, at first, when I first came back, I had to put in a sprinkler system in the basement because of all the belongings that people left there when they left for camp and then additional things that people wanted to ship to Seattle. They (wanted) to know if it (was) all right. They said, " Can we ship it to your place? Will you hold it for us?" So because of that, there was so much thing down in the basement, the fire department said you either have to get rid of everything or (have it sprinkled) so I sprinkled the basement first. At that time I asked the fire department well, "What do you think of my sprinkling upstairs?" They said it's a waste of money. They says, they told me they wouldn't do it, it's a waste of money. If I had done it earlier, I think I could have got it for half the cost.

DG: Well, so did you have a lot to do with people leaving their things there or did all the hotels do that?

YM: No. (Narr. note: We had no basement. Our hotel building was built on stilts and when the tide was high in Elliot Bay, the ground below was flooded.)

DG: Seems like your place had --

YM: He had the space. (Our hotel had no basement.)

TH: No. I had the space and then people that I knew and then (by) word of mouth. They get around. They says, well, you have space, could you put mine's in there. Could you put some more in.

ET: During your absence, did anybody go through it?

TH: Yeah. I know the person that was operating. See, I had a lock on there, but when I came back I saw the lock broken, and I asked them what happened. He said well, there was a water leak so he had to go in. I don't think there was a water leak, but he says water (leaked) so I found a few things missing.

YM: A lot of hotels didn't have basements. (Narr. note: Rainier Heat and Power was the landlord for many hotels. They supplied steam heat to the radiators. I think all of their hotels had no basements.)

TH: That's right.

YM: Lots of them. Like Rainier Heat and Power. (Narr. note: Rainier Heat and Power owned many hotels in the International District.)

TH: No. Like your place didn't have any basement, but I had a basement and it was vacant so...

<End Segment 45> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.