Exiles Load Luggage for Trip to Puyallup

City's Jap Evacuees Start 'Housekeeping' in Puyallup

Vanguard of the 2,000 Japanese who will be evacuated from two areas in Seattle by Friday arrived at their temporary home in Puyallup this afternoon and immediately began settling themselves in the community dwellings which have been built on the Puyallup Fair Grounds.

The first contingent of 500 men, women and children made the trip from Seattle in private automobiles and in busses chartered by the Army.

With the same efficiency which marked their departure from Seattle, the group took living quarters assigned to them and then began the hurried task of preparing the assembly center for the 1,500 more Japanese who will arrive within the next two days.

Group Faces New Life

The party was in high spirits for the most part as it left Seattle and the same attitude prevailed as the members stepped on the grounds which will be their home until they are transferred to resettlement centers east of the mountains.

The Japanese knew they were facing a new life and had seen their Seattle homes for the last time in a long while, but they accepted the situation cheerfully. They have no intimation as to where they next will be moved, other than the presumption they will be sent to the nearest resettlement center, the one being prepared on government land in Idaho.

Dinner was ready for the Japanese when they arrived. After the meal, men busied themselves erecting the wood stoves which will heat, the barracks. Women placed mattresses on the beds and arranged baggage. Children romped on the barracks' grounds.

Furniture Built-In

Each family was assigned an apartment 17 by 20 feet. Furniture, all built-in except camp stools, consists of beds, cabinets, tables and shelving.

Some of the larger families required two apartments.

Each block of apartments has bathing, facilities and a mess hall. There is a separate building housing a laundry.

Robert F. Turner of the Wartime Civil Control Administration said the slogan for the camp would be, "Keep 'em busy." Japanese doctors, dentists and tradesmen will be given jobs as soon as possible in their respective fields of work, he said.

While Seattle Japanese were in the process of moving, the Associated Press reported from San Francisco that the Army had ordered all Japanese removed from the city of Portland, Or., by next Tuesday noon. This is the first evacuation in Oregon. The Japanese in Portland will register tomorrow and Thursday. They will go to the assembly center recently completed on the Pacific International Livestock Exposition grounds. Portland has about 1,900 Japanese residents.

Necessities Taken

At 8 o'clock this morning the Seattle evacuees began to arrive at three pick-up points previously designated, taking with them those necessities which the Army had advised them to carry. These included blankets, linen, silverware and dishes, extra clothing and personal necessities such as tooth brushes and razors.

Japanese who reported at Elliott Avenue and Virginia Street were the first to move to the meeting point in Beacon Avenue for the start to Puyallup.

Many friends, who will be evacuated later in the week, were on hand to bid the first contingent good-bye. Members of the crowd were in gay spirits. There was laughing and shouting and cheerful farewells. Children were in picnic mood and the departure was like the start of an excursion party.

At Lane Street and Eighth Avenue South, five busses were provided for 200 Japanese without other transportation. Here, also, everything was cheerfulness. Another group left from the third center in Spokane Street near 21st Avenue South, but it was a small one.

At Beacon Avenue and Alaska Street, where the caravan started toward Puyallup, the Japanese took their last look at Seattle "for the duration." There were no tears in evidence, only a few sad faces among the waving and smiling occupants of the many automobiles and busses.

Girls Bid Youths Good-Bye

Two white girls, in an automobile bearing a California license, were at the starting point to bid farewell to two Japanese youths. The youths sat in the girls' car until starting time came. Then they kissed the girls good-bye and joined the caravan.

Haru Fujino, former president of the Oriental Restaurant Workers' Association, Local 844, was among those who went to Puyallup today. He was accompanied by his family. Fujino said Local 844 had been dissolved because of the evacuation but would be reorganized when the war is over. He will become head waiter of the mess halls at the assembly center.

Vans were supplied for moving the evacuees' personal belongings. They are allowed to take their automobiles to Puyallup but must have made arrangements for their disposal after reaching there.

The Japanese themselves, under Army direction, are arranging all evacuation details. The removal was organized by the Japanese-American Citizens' League, headed by James Y. Sakamoto, editor of an English-language Japanese newspaper and the man who will be director of the assembly center for the Japanese. The evacuees will have self-government, which already has been organized.

Today's removal procedure went like clockwork, indicating that the later and larger evacuation will be accomplished with precision equal to that of a month ago when they Army removed 239 Japanese from Bainbridge Island. The Bainbridge Island Orientals were taken to the Manzanar relocation center in Owens Valley, Calif.

The Puyallup assembly center, consisting of temporary barracks with central mess halls and built in 17 days, will accommodate 8,000.

The 200 Japanese to be evacuated from Alaska also will go to Puyallup.

Evacuation orders so far have not affected Japanese farmers in the Puget Sound area, except those on Bainbridge Island, but it was indicated these farmers soon would be removed by the urgent appeal today by the Washington State War Board of the United States Department of Agriculture for farmers to take over Japanese land.

[Photo caption]: Mrs. Haruo Fujino sits on a roll of luggage on the fender of the leading car in the evacuation caravan. Her husband, who was president of the Oriental Restaurant Workers' Union here, will be head waiter at the assembly center.

[Photo caption]: Martha Okuda, herself a prospective evacuee, aids in checking in Japanese as they board a bus for the evacuation assembly center at Puyallup. Miss Okuda is a staff member of the Family Society and a U. of W. student from Oregon. She will be evacuated when she returns to her home state.

[Photo caption]: Japanese busily load their luggage into a truck as they prepare for their trek to the Puyallup assembly center. Baggage permitted is limited.