First Group of Seattle Japs Moves Right in at Puyallup

"The 1,600 Japanese to be evacuated from Seattle during the next three days will be welcomed at the Puyallup evacuation center by an advance guard of 474 Japanese technicians, who established themselves in their new homes last night, completing a mass evacuation from Seattle.

Almost as though they were used to mass moving, the advance party moved in shortly after noon. They "took over," transforming the almost uninhabited camp into a bustling community. The center already appears ready for the larger parties to follow.

The long lines of apartments were barren when the first parties arrived by bus and private automobile. Within a few minutes, men, women and children were busy with home-making chores.

There were beds to erect, mattresses to arrange, bedding to spread; stoves to set up, sandboxes to fill and fuel to gather. There were lamps and radios to plug in, knickknacks to place.

Build in 15 Days

The evacuation center was constructed in a brief 15 days.

The first group settled in Area A, a 19-acre tract outside and at the northeast edge of the fair grounds. It has a capacity of 3,000 persons and contains six of the center's twelve mess halls.

The first mess hall was in readiness for the advance group, having already fed 96 Alaskan Japanese who arrived at the center Monday. As soon as the new arrivals had inspected their quarters, they ate luncheon, for they had been on the move from Seattle "pickup" points since early morning.

Impending evacuation caused a specially-called assembly at Kent Junior High School, where May Hanada, 14 years old, and Betty McAlexander, 13, were presented $25 war bonds as prizes for the best-designed war bond posters. May and her parents, Kent farmers, will be among evacuees to go to the Puyallup center during the next two weeks.

The prizes were presented by G.S. Robinson, assistant vice president of the Pacific National Bank of Seattle.

At Puyallup, evacuees were registered by a staff of 27 persons under direction of Robert F. Turner of the Wartime Civil Control Administration, manager of the assembly center, and then shown to their apartments, which had been assigned before their arrival.

Officials were gratified at the way evacuees began their new life. Most of them accepted it as something they'd have foregone willingly, but so long as it had to come, they'd make the best of it.

And this they did speedily.

Farm Crisis Foreseen

Meanwhile, officials of the W.C.C.A. said a crisis is approaching in the need for finding new operators of evacuees' farm lands, particularly in the Seattle area, where only 23.4 per cent of the registered acreage has been transferred.

In San Francisco, the W.C.C.A. said 4,290 farms out of 6,450 being given up by evacuated Japanese have been transferred to new operators, the Associated Press reported.

However, in Arizona, 96.6. per cent have been transferred, in Oregon 93.7 per cent and in Washington 77.3 per cent.

The W.C.C.A. said nearly 43,000 acres in Pacific Coast defense zones still are available for new operators.