"LITTLE TOKYO"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 120, 23 May 1942, Page 6

"LITTLE TOKYO"

MASS EVACUATION

EXODUS OF JAPANESE

(0.C.) SAN FRANCISCO, April 24.

Comprising the greatest mass evacuation in American annals the first contingent of Japanese resident on the Pacific Coast of California voluntarily, in a vast cavalcade by train and motor, withdrew under picturesque circumstances from the strategic areas of Southern California to the mountainous area near the foot of Mount Whitney, America's highest peak, some hundreds of miles inland from the vital coastal warcraft factories and other defensive regions.

In a good-humoured, high-spirited mass migration, 1000 alien and American-born Japanese glimpsed for the first time their Owens Valley home from that time until the land of their ancestry raises the white flag of surrender to victorious Allied arms. They arrived in Manzanar from Los Angeles, half of them in an all-day highway trek in a convoy four miles long, and the remainder by Southern Pacific Railway train. The party was greeted enthusiastically by the 180-odd Japanese, who had preceded them to camp a few days previously. Shortly after arrival the Japanese were registered by U.S. army officers and were informed they could not leave the bounds of the 6000-acre tract which the U.S. Government is using as the reception centre. As the chill of the dusk came, stoves in the prefabricated wooden houses were started and within a few hours the centre began taking on the appearance of an established community. Next day the men went to work assisting a large crew of carpenters, who were still erecting •the dwellings and making the homes ready for occupancy.

The unskilled Japanese, aliens and American-born, will receive 50 dollars a month while skilled help wjll be paid 94 dollars a month. From these amounts 15 dollars a month is being deducted from the funds deposited to their accounts for subsistence. The credited funds can be spent at the camp canteens.

It was a voluntary exodus from the strategic Los Angeles area, well in advance of enforced evacuation orders anticipated from the Western Defence Command. The "motorcade" was exclusively male, and was composed of Nipponese from 20 to 60 plus years of age.

Leading the procession were a dozen "jeeps," small army four-seater open military trucks, under the command of Major C. V. Caldwell, provost marshal, who was assisted by Captain J. P. McFarland, head of the military police. Right behind the military escort were a dozen big trucks driven by Japanese and loaded with trunks, luggage, and bedding. When a car broke down, which happened infrequently, there were military maintenance trucks to fix the trouble. In the rare instances when evacuees' cars ran out of petrol, army men poured gasoline into their tanks. There was every reason for the evacuees to be cheerful, and they were provided with free lunches by the army. The convoy

was organised in sections of ten vehicles, each led by a "jeep." Near Mojave Desert, when military police observed one Japanese driver crowding the "jeep" and weaving back and forth across the road, the section stopped. Another Japanese took command of the erratic machine and the former driver was relieved of the bottle of sake and placed in the back seat to finish the trip and sober up!

Incongruous Spectacle

One of the most incongruous sights was that of James Numa, 43-year-old Los Angeles department store employee, who embarked on the trip with smoked glasses and complete fishing equipment. Boxes of tomato plants ready for setting out were stacked in the body of the truck of a gardener, Titaro Tsuji, 61, and he happily described himself as the "oldest and strongest" in the caravan. He said he expected his tomato plants to grow well "up there."

Major Caldwell organised his history-making caravan by stringing the evacuee cars for nearly a mile around the picturesque Rose Bowl in Pasadena, near Los Angeles. He then split the caravan into ten sections, and placed an army "jeep" in front of each sector. More "jeeps," command cars, an ambulance and a wrecking car were then placed in line.

Major Cadwell delayed giving the starting signal while wives and children of caravan members clambered on running boards for final goodbyes. There were few tears, but much excited chatter. American slang phrases mingling in the sharp morning air with the gibberish of sing-song Japanese. Finally, Major Cadwell raised his hand, brought it down—and the caravan of army vehicles, sleek sedans, coughing jalopies of ancient vintage and hardbreathing trucks began to snake its way slowly toward the Mojave Desert and Manzanar. Just as the caravan drivers met the dawn at the Rose Bowl, so did those who went by train meet the new day in the dinginess of a freight yard.

Oriental Fatalism

Met by towering military police, they herded themselves along the length of the long train, piling their assortments of luggage in front of them. Calmly and silently the fateled evacuees, their women and their children, watched soldiers bustling about their activities with an air of Oriental fatalism. They obediently displayed their identification tage invariably attached to their clothing' and single-filed into the coaches in precise lines. Once on the train, the spirits of the evacuees lifted. Now smiling many of the travellers leaned 9Ut of the train windows to kiss crying babies held aloft by women, near tears. _ There were shouts and waves to friends who stayed a verv respectful distance from the military, the police guarding the caravan. Then a booming voice shouted, "All aboard!" Doors clanged, there was a hissing of steam and the clanging of a bell—and with & huff and a puff the train with its strange cargo moved off. His face solemn, Major-General Walter K. Wilson, in command of the army southern California sector, sighed softly as he watched the train crawl away. "All has gone well and smoothly." he said with thankfulness. "These volunteers have given us no trouble at all; a great help in performing a difficult task."

The present evacuees were the forerunners of 93,000 in California,

t with 112,985 on the west coast, who were to be sent through the reception centres to other communities where they will remain for the duration of the war. Most of the men making the trip were cooks, bakers, carpenters, plumbers and other skilled workers. All had volunteered to launch the enforced migration, leading the way so that they might employ their skills in creating as much comfort as possible for the thousands who were to follow them to isolation from the defence area of the west coast. General Wilson said that additional thousands of Japanese would be transported to the Manzanar "Little Tokyo" as soon as quarters for them were completed. "The army," he said, "is particularly anxious that the women and children suffer as few discomforts as possible."

Lieutenant-General John L. DeWitt, of San Francisco, chief of the Western Defence Command, has estimated that evacuation from the coastal area would be completed within four to six weeks. He said that most of the evacuees would be volunteers, but that all Japanese would be removed from the coastal area—by force if necessary. Standing midway up the narrow Owens Valley, Manzanar is suitable for farming and beef and dairy cattle raising.

Camp to be Self-sustaining It is the plan of the U.S. Government to have the Manzanar camp virtually self-sustaining by next spring by having hundreds of Japanese farmers begin work at once on the surrounding fertile land with machinery and seed supplied by the Government.

General DeWitt proclaimed an alien curfew compelling all Japanese and enemy nationals to stay indoors at night in western military zones. From Washington came a statement that definite plans had been made to relocate 20,000 Japanese aliens and American-born descendants on the Parker Indian Reservation, and many of the population would be selected from the Manzanar reception centre. In accordance with the desire to relocate the Japanese in self-contained communities, the Parker colony will he a "complete local unit" to a large extent. Japanese doctors, nurses, teachers and other types of professional persons will be included in the population, but statutory bans on foreign-language schools have been suggested by Washington lawmaker.:;.