3,000 Confiscated Articles Returned to Seattle Aliens

[Photo caption]: Ray Taniguchi. Former contraband returned to Seattle Japanese.

Approximately 3,000 articles, confiscated from Seattle Japanese and alien Germans and Italians by the United States government at the beginning of the war, have been returned to the owners, Don Miller, chief deputy United States marshal, said yesterday, as he handed three cameras and a radio to Ray Taniguchi.

The Japanese youth and his parents recently returned to their Seattle home from Chicago, where they went after their release from the war relocation center in Minidoka, Idaho, and one of the first things Ray did was get back his cameras and radio.

Articles have been returned to their owners for some time -- to Italian aliens since Italy ceased being an enemy country, to Japanese as they have been allowed to come back to the Pacific Coast, but Marshal J.S. Denise now has set 10 o'clock Saturdays as return-day, in order to decrease interruptions of work in his office.

Articles are returned only when owners present a release from the United States attorney's office.

Although Miller estimated 25 per cent have been returned, the pistol range in the basement of the United States Courthouse still looks like a bargain basement, with the shelves filled with tagged cameras, radios, binoculars, various types of firearms and ammunition and carefully wrapped Japanese ceremonial swords.