<Begin Segment 21>

TI: So you started doing that but you, you mentioned that there was a, a house that your family controlled.

HM: Yes.

TI: That it was, was available for you when you went back.

HM: Yeah.

TI: Why don't you tell me a little bit about how, the condition.

HM: Okay, the WRA evicted the people that were in the house, and unfortunately when they evicted them they took the, well, the rest of the, what was left of the rest of the furniture. So it was kind of bare. The WRA official in Seattle had done all this work for us. And so when I came back, in fact he waited for us at the train station. He was there. And he introduced himself. And so he said, "Your house is now vacant and you should be able to get in through the back door. We've got the key underneath the doormat there, so you can get in the house. And there's some things left in there, but there's not very much furniture."

TI: Okay, explain the relationship of the WRA. Did they take care of the house for you while...

HM: No, they didn't take care of the house, but they were helping us move back to where we came from. And they did things like the eviction of former tenants and things of this nature. And they did some legal work also. They provided us legal referrals so that we could get some legal work done.

TI: Well who took care of the, the apartment or, I'm sorry, the house while you were in the camps? Was there someone there overseeing?

HM: Yeah, it was Henry Broderick Real Estate organization that, that took care of the, so-called, management. And the tenants they had in there had paid rent to the process and they managed the properties, paid the taxes, things of this nature.

TI: Now why didn't the real estate company do the eviction for you, versus the WRA?

HM: Well I think the WRA felt they had more weight and influence because they were a government agency.

TI: Okay. So the condition of the house, why don't you describe that, other than, it was bare, but other than that was it in pretty good shape?

HM: Well they had one bed left in there, and a beat up mattress and all. So I was able to sleep there and it wasn't too bad, compared to what was in the camp. I mean here all the facilities were there and you didn't have to go to the toilet half a mile away and all this kind of stuff. So everything was much more convenient.

TI: But prior to leaving Puyallup was the house furnished?

HM: Yeah, mhmm, we had quite a few things in there unfortunately. Some of these things were fairly interesting items. We had some chairs that were hand carved, things of this nature. Chinese motifs, that kind of stuff.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.