Evacuees Have Few Complaints Despite Bitter Article Written By Japanese at Puyallup Camp

By Richard Nokes

Staff Writer, The Oregonian

THE PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL Livestock Exposition pavilion could be called home sweet home for nobody, but would to God America could be sure her nationals in Japan are as well treated and as comfortably situated as are the 3400 Japanese and Japanese-Americans who are behind sentry-patrolled barbed wire fences on N. Swift boulevard near Interstate avenue.

That was the feeling I carried away from a recent two-day visit in the 22-acre evacuation center. Certainly conditions at the center, where once prize cattle bellowed and animals of all kinds went on display before admiring Portlanders, are not nearly as bad as those described by Ted Nakashima, inmate of the Puyallup, Wash., evacuation center, in a recent issue of New Republic magazine.

The Nakashima article, which showed nothing so much as that freedom of speech and press exists even for those unfortunate people whom we have found necessary to intern, caused a coast-wide furore upon its publication.

Because of the way the story was written it appeared to criticize the Portland center which has been considered one of the best of the 18 Japanese camps in four western states.

It was only after an investigation by Lieutenant John. L. DeWitt, commanding the western defense command and the fourth army, and officials of the wartime civil control authority that it was learned Ted Nakashima actually had written about the Puyallup center and not the Portland camp although he specifically mentioned the Pacific International Livestock pavilion where members of his family are confined.

JAPANESE:

Unable to Find

Real Grievances

While Nakashima's story was one filled with complaints about poor food and not enough of it, about unsatisfactory sanitary facilities, about "stinking mud and slops," about dirty and unwiped dishes, most of the hundreds of more Japanese with whom I talked at the Portland center actually were unable to report any real or fancied grievances. A vast majority seemed to consider their detention a vacation.

Rev. Francis Hayashi, an alien Japanese, who for several years has been pastor of Portland's Japanese Methodist church, put it this way: "All here say better than expected. The staff is considerate and kind."

George Nakashima, brother of the Puyallup writer, said: "Conditions here are really very good except for the lack of privacy and the terrifying noise."

Three Japanese high school girls who waited on my table Sunday night said:

"We thought we would have to sleep on straw ticks on the floor but we had real beds with steel springs. Older people generally like the center because they don't have the worries they had outside after the war started. They know they are safe here."

All the Japanese appear to make allowances for the shortcomings at the Pacific International because it is only a temporary refuge for them. Soon -- how soon no one seems to know -- they will be moved to permanent relocation areas at Tule Lake, Cal., or elsewhere outside the critical war zone for the duration.

APARTMENTS:

Appeared Like

Packing Boxes

Living quarters are, at best, cramped. The "apartments" seem like nothing so much as big packing boxes with the tops knocked out. Families of from four to ten persons live in the one-room residences which have curtains for doors, light plywood walls and no ceilings. Fifty square feet of floor space is required for each person in each apartment. For example, that of Rev. Mr. Hayashi and his wife and two children contained 215 square feet of floor space.

Furnishings are not lavish. About all the government furnished was the beds. Japanese were permitted to bring furniture of their own if they wished. Many of them have constructed tables, stools and chests from scrap lumber at the pavilion.

The floors in the living quarter are of are of somewhat rough 1x12 planks which were laid green and now have half-inch gaps between them. Asphalt first was placed over the dirt to keep animal odors from seeping through.

Worst features of the living quarters are lack of heat in cold weather, draughts, noise and roof leaks.

Center officials explained that existing electrical circuits and gas mains were not adequate to bear the heavy burden of heating the hundreds of apartments and there was not time to make them adequate. Fuel stoves would have created a fire hazard. The lack of ceilings and doors results in draughts which have caused colds among many elderly people. Curtains, which are fireproof, were used instead of doors to speed evacuation in case of fire. When a baby cries in one section, it keeps the light sleepers awake for many yards in all directions. The noise of running and shouting children is bothersome to the high-strung at times during the day.

Section three of the living quarters was reported by Alice Nakano, superintendent of nurses at the center's hospital, to be infested by life apparently carried by rats and flies. She said the discovery had been made only three days before when several Japanese appeared at the hospital with a rash which resembled that of scarlet fever. She recommended a thorough fumigation of the section.

One Japanese woman complained that manure from a nearby private concern was piled too near the Japanese center, resulting in an influx of flies and of undesirable smells when the wind was in the west. Her complaint appeared to be justified. A manure pile was on private property within 50 yards of the Japanese center

The food at the livestock pavilion is generally approved by the Japanese, although waitresses said older boys sometimes complain of insufficient amounts.  Boys with whom I talked after a Sunday evening meal said they were satisfied both with quantity and quality of food, however.

The 3400 Japanese eat in two shifts in the block-and-a-half long dining room which occupies what was formerly the main exhibit hall. An examination of dishes and silver at several tables disclosed everything to be clean.

VICTUALS:

Prepared by
Japanese Cooks

The food is prepared by Japanese cooks under the supervision of N.J. Beaudin, Caucasian chief steward. One cook was formerly with the Arlington club, another was with the University club and another with Henry Thiele. The chief backer came from the Multnomah hotel.

The diet, based on recommended army rations, appears adequate except children over [illegible] years of age get fresh milk to drink only at breakfast unless a doctor at the center recommends it more often in individual cases. Other drinks available are tea and coffee. Young children get milk thrice a day. Special diets are available for sick persons.

A typical day's menu included: For breakfast, grapefruit, cornmeal mush, scrambled eggs (soft boiled for children) and toast; lunch, macaroni and cheese, stewed carrots, buttered spinach, browned potatoes, lettuce and chocolate pudding, salad; dinner, sukiyaki, steamed rice, Japanese pickles, canned string beans and cinnamon rolls.

RECREATION:

Planned by Group

Of Evacuees

Well organized recreational and educational programs are conducted under the direction of Charles "Chappie" King, Creston grade school principal and former Franklin high coach.

Ralph Takami, ex-Oregon State college baseball pitcher, is head of the Japanese recreational committee which has installed most of the athletic and playground equipment at the center. The committee also takes an active part in planning the recreational life at the camp. Leagues have been formed in both baseball and softball and games are played on outdoor diamonds by teams of all abilities.

In the indoor arena, where society once proudly displayed its prize ponies during horse shows, two basketball and two tennis or badminton courts have been laid out on board floors. Other activities available include table tennis, horseshoes, judo (a type of jiu jitsu), boxing, dancing once a week, movies once a week and all types of table games and puzzles.

King said that competition in all sports was extremely keen. A Portland jeweler, Morris Rogoway, has donated several trophies for the various leagues.

Kindergarten, elementary, secondary and adult education programs and adult education programs are conducted. Classes on the adult level include subjects ranging from Americanism and English to embroidery and knitting. Five hundred young Japanese have registered for high school courses this summer, while 376 have enrolled in the grade school. A few of the evacuees are certified teachers. College graduates round out the teaching staff. A nursery and a kindergarten are held for preschool tots.

Books for the schools are furnished by the Portland public schools and the Multnomah county library. The library also supplies the center with voluminous quantities of reading material of all types, which help internees to while away their leisure hours.

Censorship is at a minimum. Only incoming packages are opened and inspected to prevent receipt of liquor or firearms at the center. Both incoming and outgoing letters are unopened by officials. Telephone calls may not be made, although the operator will telephone messages for the evacuees.

Liquor consumption or possession is forbidden. So is gambling, although card games, if not played for money, are permissible.

Hospital equipment is not entirely adequate for all illnesses but serious cases are referred to Portland general hospitals. Two Japanese physicians and two medical students are on the staff of the 54-bed hospital, which is housed in a sprawling army-barrack type temporary structure outside the main pavilion. Four registered nurses are on hand. All evacuees were inoculated for various communicable diseases when they entered the center. Three dentists also are on hand in the center. Teeth are pulled for 25 cents apiece.

Sanitary facilities appear adequate although privacy is virtually non-existent. Men's toilets stretch in a long row unbroken by partitions. The same was true in the women's rest room at first, but partitions recently were inserted. Shower outlets are sufficient in number but the Japanese have drafted a rigid shower schedule in order to make the best use of the hot water available.

EMPLOYMENT:

Provided for

One-third

Approximately one-third of the Japanese are employed at the center and will receive compensation for their efforts, although no paychecks have yet been issued. Unskilled laborers receive $8 a month, skilled $12 and professional $16. In addition, each single evacuee receives $2.50 a month, each married couple $4 and each child under 16 years of age $1 a month whether they work or not.

Worship services are held regularly by Buddhist priests and Japanese Christian ministers in the center and by a Catholic priest from a downtown church.

The excessive rains of the spring and early summer turned portions of the exposition grounds into big mudpies but worked little hardship on the Japanese, who had 11 roofed acres in which to wander in the huge pavilion. Not so fortunate were the sentries who reside in tar-paper roofed barracks just across the fence from the exposition grounds. They had to slog around the center's fences, rain or shine.

Rev. Mr. Hayashi commented that a vast majority in the center, probably more than 90 per cent, held no resentment over the restriction of their liberties.

All the Japanese contacted had high praise for Emil Sandquist, the center's manager.

Sandquist is assisted in his efficient administration by an advisory board chosen from among evacuee leaders such as ministers and doctors. The advisory board listens to complaints and suggestions from the Japanese and the, if they seem tenable, "threshes them out" with Sandquist.

LAWS:

Enforced by

Center Police

The Japanese also provide their own police and fire protection. No armed soldiers are permitted inside the reservation so the duty of enforcing federal, state and county laws as well as center regulations falls on a police force composed of evacuees under the leadership of officers on leave from the Portland police department.

George Nakashima, formerly associated with Roi L. Morin, Portland architect, and designer of a portion of the Vancouver, Wash., housing project, said he felt there was no great complaint about the facilities except for noise but added that he considered the evacuation "a lot of damned foolishness." He pointed out that nearly all the Japanese had been producers but now were "unwilling parasites" at a time producers were needed most.

Nakashima said "the administration here is fine and almost bends over backwards to be fair but we still wonder why we are here."

Colonel Karl. R. Bendetsen, assistant chief of staff for the western defense command and fourth army, had an answer for this. In a recent address he said: "The Japanese community presented a group with a high potential for action against the national interest ... By design, or by accident, substantial numbers of the Japanese coastal frontier communities were deployed through very sensitive and very vital area...

"It is doubtless true that many persons of Japanese ancestry are loyal to the United States. It is also true that many are not loyal. We know this. Contrary to other national behavior of Japanese has been such that in not one single instance has any Japanese reported disloyalty on the part of another specific individual of the same race."

[Photo caption]: PORTLAND. This is the kitchen, where food will be prepared in large quantities for the Japanese while they are quartered temporarily at the reception center, awaiting transfer to the interior. A party of newspapermen and officials inspected the center Friday and here is shown looking at dishes.

[Photo caption]: Evacuation of Japanese from "danger" areas in the Pacific northwest was ordered by Lieutenant-General J.L. DeWitt, head of the western defense command. Bert Newgard, left, captain in the veterans' guard, and Police Captain John J. Keegan helped notices.

[Photo caption]: Food at the evacuation center is prepared by Japanese cooks, shown above stirring large pans of fried rice. The camp diet is based on recommended army rations. The 3400 evacuees eat in the livestock pavilion's former main exhibit hall -- a dining room a block and a half long.

[Photo caption]: NEW 'RAILBIRDS' AT TANFORAN -- Here's a new kind of 'railbird' at Tanforan, but they're not clocking race horses. They're Japanese evacuees cheering their brothers in a touch-football game on the infield of the Tanforan Japanese assembly center, where the Japanese residents have temporary residence before moving inland.