Densho Digital Archive - John Tomita Interview (denshovh-tjohn

<Begin Segment 13>

KP: How many days did you...

JT: No, it was... half a day? Yeah. It wasn't that long of a ride.

KP: So, when you first saw Tule Lake, what did you think?

JT: You know, at that time we thought Tule Lake was a desert. It looked like a desert. And, we thought it was a pretty sad looking place. But we were anxious to, we didn't have any furniture and so, gee, from the scrap lumber pile that they had, the contractor had everybody start grabbing this lumber and start making the bench and tables and... I didn't realize I enjoyed carpentry work. And I know after six months I start making dresser. I made about three dressers because I had three sisters and two little brothers. So, I started making... and then the partition, the wall, I start making that.

KP: So your whole family was in one unit?

JT: Yes, one... oh, yeah we had two unit. Because we had six of us, huh? Let's see, four, eight... six, eight, yeah.

KP: Your sister was married, or...

JT: Huh?

KP: Was your sister married at that time?

JT: No, they weren't married. So we had to... yeah, so I, yeah, that's right. So between the two unit I made a doorway so that we wouldn't have to go outside. Yeah, so, gee, I don't know where we got those equipment. I mean, utensils. I mean a saw, and but somehow... yeah, we were, every day, every morning first thing we do is go look at the, that big scrap lumber pile and see what we could find out there. Yeah, so the first couple of months, maybe six months, I was so busy building the furniture for the family that even didn't think about finding a job. Then someone told me there was a notice at the employment office that they're looking for a surveyor. And I said, oh, yeah, maybe I'll try it and look at it. I think... I had a couple of semesters of surveying. So I thought... I went to apply for it and when I told 'em about the survey, what do you call that now, transit, yeah, so I told 'em, well, I could work on the transit or on the level. I was hired without even trying for anything. They said, "Okay, you're on." And they put me on. First I was on the, yeah, they wanted some level shots on the Imhoff tank, great big Imhoff tank made of concrete, steel and whatnot. It's floating. Couldn't believe that that thing could float, but it was floating. And, we had to make sure... they didn't know how it was... that big Imhoff tank, gee, almost two story high and...

RP: John, what's the function of an Imhoff tank?

JT: Oh, an Imhoff tank is a, all the sewage, it's a sewage tank actually. The sewage comes up in there and they, the Imhoff tank is where the sewage, the sediment goes down and the liquid comes, the separation of the solid and the liquid and this thing is supposed to, they have baffle on inside so, to calm this thing down so that the... and that was one of the first jobs that we were assigned to do. Because they didn't realize, this thing is two story high and about, I say about forty-feet wide. And, and the concrete... that thing is floating.

RP: So it was teetering on the ground?

JT: Yeah.

RP: It wasn't sitting down right.

JT: It was teetering, yeah.

RP: Okay.

JT: It was teetering. So we take the level shot to see which way it's teetering and how much it was teetering. So every morning and every evening we had to take a level shot to see how much it's teetering, which way they going. And after a couple weeks, that thing cracked. So, when it cracked, all the sewage... so, before it get cracked they made a, a field, level off the field to where they're gonna flow so they could catch it and dry the sludge. Anyway, that's the first time I ever heard of Imhoff. But I studied on that so I found out what it was. But, so, I was really absorbed in this survey crew that we were in because everything was new.

KP: So the tank did break?

JT: Yeah, it cracked, yeah.

KP: And, and they had to make a new one?

JT: No, they can't... you know it's made of the concrete. (...) So they drained that thing and they, they made the wall twice as thick, yeah. They made the wall twice as thick. And, and then after so many months of settling they, they let the sewer go in there again. And it, with the wall doubled it held.