320 Bailey Gatzert Jap Pupils Face Unfinished School Terms

There will be 320 vacant desks in the Bailey Gatzart [Gatzert] Grade School, 12th Avenue South and Weller Street, when the Army decides that it is time for Japanese to be evacuated from Seattle.

Of the 720 students in the modern school, there are 320 Japanese students, most of whom were born in Seattle, who will be forced by the government to move inland with their parents.

The Lady Stirling Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution today fingerprinted children, and issued identification tags to children of pre-school age. Many were Japanese children under 6 years old, attending kindergarten and pre-school classes at Bailey Gatzert School.

Uneasiness Apparent

Their parents, who do not know when they will be ordered out of the zone by the Army, and even the small children, alike showed a strain of uneasiness over the uncertainty.

A large part of the expected vacancy will be filled by new white, Chinese and Negro children who are enrolling in the school, according to Miss Ada J. Mahon, school principal.

Miss Mahon said that 13 new students enrolled today and that there were 15 new students admitted last week.

"Most of these new children are moving with their parents into the Yesler Way Terrace," Miss Ada Mahon said. "At the rate of the past two weeks, the vacancies would be filled in a short time, provided that children continue to move into the housing project."

Miss Mahon said that no racial prejudice exists among the students.

Citizens' Club Credited

"We like to refer to our student body as 'little democracy'," Miss Mahon said. "We attribute our success to the work of our 'Good American Citizens' Club,' which is made up of 'upperclassmen' of the fifth and sixth grades.

"The students organize many committees, such as committee for clean grounds, good deeds, safety, clean shoes, turn-off-the-faucets and activities like that. The children are so busy helping each other, they have no time for developing prejudices."