Bainbridge Japanese Keep Working, Face Bill Collectors. Soldiers Guard Bainbridge, Bar Jap Visitors to Island

Soldiers carrying rifles, bayonets fixed, kept all Japanese from visiting Bainbridge Island today as the Japanese residents of the island prepared to comply with Army orders and register tomorrow for evacuation.

Infantrymen patrolled the ferry docks at Winslow, Eagledale and White Point, turning back all Japanese who attempted to disembark from the ferries running to the island.

Japanese who attempted to leave the island were questioned carefully before being allowed to board ferries.

Business as Usual

Most of the Japanese, however, went about business as usual, the majority of them working overtime in the well-tilled fields which supply the Seattle area with the bulk of its annual strawberry crop. Pea farmers also were on the job, tending their crops. The few who operate businesses were winding up financial affairs between tending to customers.

With less than a week remaining before they must leave the homes which they have occupied many years, Japanese hoped for a change in military orders, an extension of time, a last-minute miracle -- anything!

As the Japanese were winding up final business affairs, United States Army officers and men made swift preparations for registration, which will begin at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning in the building formerly occupied by the Anderson Grocery Store at the old Winslow Dock.

Travelers Challenged

Infantry details, with men carrying fixed bayonets, and officers with pistols at their hips, stood guard at various points on the island.

Visiting Japanese from Seattle and other points were denied permission to step foot on the island and were turned back on the ferries which carried them to Bainbridge.

"We are trying to conduct this evacuation with the least amount of displeasure or discomfort. After all, it is not their fault they are Japanese," said one Army officer on duty on the island. "This is just as unpleasant for the Army as for the Japanese. We've got a job to do and we'd just as soon no one would interfere. Our job is just as much to protect these Japanese as it is to evacuate them."

In charge of twelve registration clerks is Tom G. Rathbone, field supervisor for the United States Employment Service. About a dozen clerks will be on duty from 8 o'clock tomorrow morning until 5 o'clock tomorrow evening. The clerks will represent the Federal Reserve Bank, Farm Security Agency, the State Welfare Department, United States Public Health Service and the United States Employment Service.

Jpanese [Japanese] must furnish information concerning their case history in this country, employment and health, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents will fingerprint all Japanese to be evacuated.

None of the Japanese was moving from the island voluntarily. Apparently all the almost 300 alien and American-born Japanese of the island are willing to await forcible ejection. They said they have no choice.

"We have nowhere to go," said the Japanese. "We have no friends or relatives where we can go. We will wait until Monday and see where the government sends us."

No Sign of Bitterness

They said it smilingly. They awaited fresh news philosophically. Their words were not tinged with bitterness, although some of the younger, American-born Japanese said they felt that a week's evacuation notice was insufficient.

The Caucasian mind never seems to be entirely able to fathom what may be going on behind the serene faces and the gentle words of the Oriental, born abroad or in the United States. Yet the Bainbridge Japanese spoke frankly:

"It's for the good of the country, so we'll move," said J. Nakata, farmer, who has a son, Momoichi, serving with the United States Army and now stationed in Arkansas. Momoichi is one of seven children.

Nakata pointed to the red, white and blue poster in his doorway: "Our Son Is Serving in the United States Army." Out in the yard another son, Donald, played with Momoichi's setter, Duke, and wondered what would become of the dog.

Nakata moved to America from Japan in 1900, formerly worked as a barber.

T. Hayashida, spreading fertilizer among strawberry plants, halted his ancient white horse and said: "They tell you one thing and then they tell you another, and a fellow doesn't know what he's going to do. But if the country thinks it is best for us to move, why, that's all right."

Takashi Sakuma, 22 years old, who was to have been graduated in June as an economics major at the University of Washington, said: "I expect my draft card today anyhow. When the Army says evacuation is for the good of the country, then I know it's for our own good, too.

"I can easily visualize what would happen to me in any other country in time of war. There are a few people who discriminate against us, but I know they are not like the majority of American people."

The Rev. Kihachi Hirakawa, 79, a Japanese Baptist preacher, said simply, "I just hope we can all go together."