Vol. 1 No. 6
Camp Harmony News-Letter
Vol. 1 No. 6 -- Puyallup, Wash. -- June 12, 1942
Page 1
HARMONY RESIDENTS SLATED FOR TULELAKE
Under latest Army orders covering transfer of Japanese evacuees, Camp Harmony residents will join fellow evacuees from four additional Pacific Coast assembly centers in making their permanent war-time homes at the Tulelake Relocation project in northern California.
The order was followed by an announcement that the Tulelake center, originally constructed to house 10,000, will be enlarged to accommodate 16,000 people.
The local office of the Wartime Civil Control Administration revealed, however, that no order has been received as to the date when movement of Camp Harmony Japanese is to begin.
Other movements from assembly centers to Tulelake will be from Portland, Oregon, and Sacramento, Marysville and Salinas in California.
Transfer of 4,800 Japanese from the Sacramento assembly center will begin June 15, while an approximate 2,500 will begin moving from the Marysville center on June 24.
The order, released by Col. Karl. R. Bendetsen, Assistant Chief of Staff on the Western Defense Command's Civil Affairs Division, will affect approximately 11,000 Japanese, including those now residing in the Mayer assembly center in Arizona who will be moved to the Poston Relocation Center near Paker, in the same state.
When established at Tulelake, evacuees will be "given the opportunity to carry on agricultural and industrial pursuits and thus do their share in furnishing food and other needed war products," the order stated.
SAC' TO EVACUEES
LEAVE FOR TULELAKE BEGINNING JUNE 15
The Walerga WASP, Walerga Assembly center publication, revealed in its June 6th issue that 5,000 Sacramento Valley Japanese now temporarily residing in that center will be removed to the Tulelake Relocation center in northern California, beginning June 15, by order of the Western Defense Command.
The Walerga Assembly center, about 14 miles north of Sacramento, is believed to be the first temporary center whose entire population has been designated for removal to a war-duration center.
It was simultaneously revealed that residents of the Marysville Assembly center at Arboga, California, will begin moving on June 24.
An advance group of 500 Japanese from Camp Harmony and the Portland, Oregon Assembly center are already residing in the Tulelake center.
ALASKAN PIONEER DIES HERE
To many he was just another Japanese evacuee from Alaska. He pioneered in Washington when it was still a territory. He knew the lure of Yukon gold, of the seven seas. He never knew Japan.
James Mineno, who died Thursday night at the Camp Harmony hospital in Area D, spent 67 of his 78 years in Alaska and the United States. He left Japan for the first and last time in 1864 at the age of 11 as a mess boy on a ship. When his boat was wrecked in 1880 he had a choice of boarding either a rescue ship for France or the United States.
He chose the latter and first set foot on American soil at Boston. In 1886 he came to Washington Territory where he obtained his naturalization papers.
In 1890 Mineno headed for Alaska. On April 28 of this year he was evacuated.
James Mineno is survived by five sons, four of whom are serving in the United States army. The fifth, Henry, is living with the Foede brothers in Area A.
The body of the deceased cremated at Tacoma, is to be shipped to friends in Anchorage, Alaska.
Memorial services will be held tomorrow.
This Week's Angel
The NEWS-LETTER's lollipop (orchids to those who may still be thinking along pre-evacuation lines) for this week is handed with a grateful flourish to Mr. Shigeru Osawa of Area "A". When he heard that publication of the NEWS-LETTER met with periodic suspensions due to paper shortage, Mr. Osawa stepped forth with an unsolicited donation to revive this newspaper for this and three more issues. Camp Harmony and its NEWS-LETTER is deeply appreciative of Mr. Osawa's generosity.
ROLL CALL STARTED
A twice daily door-to-door check of every evacuee in Camp Harmony was started Wednesday. WCCA officials making the announcement through Camp Headquarters stated the order was issued by Lt. General John L. DeWitt, commanding officer of the
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MIYAZAKI SERVICES
Memorial services were held Tuesday afternoon from 2-3 p.m. for Giichi Miyazaki in the Area D chapel.
Surviving the deceased are Mrs. Miyazaki and children, Isuzu, Chihiro, Akiko, Masako, and Sagara.
Scriptures were read in Japanese by Rev. Hashimoto and in English by Rev. T. Machida.
Page 2
APPLICATIONS FOR RELOCATION BEING ACCEPTED....ITO
Must Meet Certain Requirements to Qualify
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Although no official information has been received relative to voluntary self-relocation in unrestricted non-military zones, applications meeting certain requirements will be submitted to the proper authorities, Relocation Director Kenji Ito announced yesterday.
Inviting all Camp residents desiring to place themselves in the interior to discuss their plans with their respective Area Relocation Officers, Ito explained that applicants must be able to establish or present the following guarantees:
- Affidavits insuring year-around employment or other means of independent subsistence for a reasonable duration.
- Evidence of reliable arrangements as to housing accommodations.
- Notarized guaranty by a responsible person of the applicant's living, transportation and other necessary expenses to be incurred while traveling to the place of relocation, and similar expenses that may be incurred in traveling to a government center to which the applicant may subsequently desire to return by the authorities.
- Letters from public officials or prominent citizens at the destination approving the particular individual's relocation.
Only applications meeting these requirements in full will be referred to the War Relocation Authority, Ito said.
Area relocation officers to be contacted first are George Inouye in Area A, Paul Tomita in B, Tatsuo Nakata in C, and Ray Yamamoto in D.
FIRST CAMP WEDDING
Area D will have its first public wedding next Thursday from 3 p.m., when Yoshio Hamamoto, pharmacist and Miss Michiko Murakami, D-2-32, will be married by the Rev. T.J. Machida, of the Methodist Church.
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All the news that's fit to print, also, some that is not so fit.
AREA DISPATCHES
AREA "A" NEWS...
Coupon Books will be on sale Tuesdays of each week from 8:30 to 11:15 a.m. at the United States Post Office....as soon as Pitcher field shakes off its state of dampness, genial "Beefo" Amabe will present his much heralded "All-Boy Haba-Haba Revue." Streamlined for plenty of laughs and color, "Beefo" promises his revue will top anything Earl Carroll has ever staged in a different way.....not to society editor -- occupying Area A's "honeymoon suite" at 5-94 are Mr. and Mrs. Taichiro Yamaguchi who were married last Friday. Mrs. Yamaguchi is the former Minnie Yukawa.....all Sumitomo depositors are asked to see Henry Gosho at the area headquarters.
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AREA "B" NEWS...
A baby weighing six pounds, six ounces, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Takeo Tagawa early Sunday morning, June 7 at the Pierce County Hospital.....under Area Education Officer May Ota, classes in etiquette, first aid, journalism, knitting, pattern drafting, costume design, shorthand and sketching were [the end of the sentence appears to be missing as well as the beginning of the next] the winners of a recently held horse-shoe tourney.
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AREA "C" NEWS
Classes designed to encourage the fluent use of the English language among the issei opened this week with the following in charge: beginners -- Mrs. S. Sugawara; intermediate -- K. Kanno; and advanced -- Marguerite Okamura. Classes will meet five days weekly from 2 to 3 p.m. in mess hall 1. Shorthand classes have also been formed for both the beginners and advanced students....the area's first movie was shown last Saturday.....the honor of being Area C's first "arrival" belongs to the newly-born son of Mr. and Mrs. Okubo, "Jerry."
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AREA "D" NEWS
With Sad Shiraishi in charge, the area's canteen opened this Monday. Hours are 10-12 and 1-4.....a children's mess hall was initiated last week with a staff of 16 girls under Pauline Takahashi serving an average of 300 children per meal.
EARLY STUDENT RELOCATION SEEN AS PLANS ARE FORMULATED......
WRA TO TAKE CHARGE OF TRANSFERS
University and college students will be allowed to continue their studies after their removal to permanent relocation centers, Robert O'Brien, chairman of the Pacific Northwest Relocation Committee, told a large gathering of students at a meeting last Sunday.
O'Brien declared relocation procedure will begin when evacuees are transferred to the jurisdiction of the War Relocation Authority from the WCCA. Qualified students will then be given an opportunity to continue their education.
O'Brien, assistant dean of the college of arts and sciences at the University of Washington, returned last week from a conference held at Chicago to formulate plans for Nisei student relocation.
The Chicago discussion, he said, resulted in the following tentative program:
- The War Relocation committee will issue certification and release orders to approved students who are now in assembly and relocation centers.
- The Pacific Northwest Relocation committee, as a branch of the national Student Relocation Council, will soon conduct a complete survey at Puyallup and North Portland to determine which students are interested in completing their college work.
Miss Jean Hatton, President of the Associated Women Students of the University of Washington, was appointed secretary to O'Brien and will be working with him at assembly centers.
- The national committee will begin immediately to find sources of financial aid for relocated students.
The immediate program has the full support of the War Department as well as the War Relocation Authority.
"Students desiring relocation for the purpose of study are requested to keep in daily touch with the area relocation officers and area bulletin," Ito said.
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We are going to press.
Page 3
HIGH SCHOOLS HOLD EVACUEE COMMENCEMENT
Commencement exercises were held last Saturday and Monday for graduates of Garfield and Broadway high schools, while students of other Seattle schools received their diplomas Wednesday night.
All exercises were held in the grandstands of Area D. Samuel E. Fleming presented the diplomas to 48 Garfield graduates and Superintendent Worth McClure to the 124 Broadwayites. The number graduated last nite [sic] were: Cleveland, 9; Lincoln, 2; Queen Anne, 5; Franklin, 17; Roosevelt, 3; West Seattle, 2; Edison Vocational, 23.
WYOMING COLONISTS TO RAISE OWN FOOD
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Continued from page 2
will be used in their own community kitchens and surplus production will go into the food-for-freedom program. Work in the Relocation Area will also include road construction.
"This project," Eisenhower said, in accounting development plans, "will add permanently to the resource wealth of the West. Members of the evacuee community will carry forward a valuable public undertaking which might otherwise have been postponed until the close of the war. At the same time their production of food-stuffs will help the nation in a positive way during the wartime period."
CENTRAL LIBRARY TO OPEN SOON
Camp Harmony's Central Library, located in Area D officially opened early this week with Bill Makino as head librarian and Yoshi Hosokawa and Toshiko Baba as assistants.
The library system is designed to provide all four areas equal access to all books. For that reason, the books are divided into four groups and these groups will be rotated between the areas once every three weeks.
WAITRESSE'S SMILE STOPS D WORKERS' 'HABA-HABAS'
There is a waitress in the Area D mess hall, and she has pretty eyes, and she is very easy on the eyes, also. She takes care of the operation crew tables where the workers eat. She sets the tables, and she is the kind of girl that looks very pretty even when she is setting a table.
Now the workers in Area D are young, and most of the time when they are not working they go around in sloppy "T" shirts, dirty cords, and "Lil' Abner" shoes. In this rather informal attire they go around yelling "Haba-haba" at all the girls.
One day when they were eating, the workers noticed that there was a new waitress on their tables. They noticed that the girl behind the milk pitcher was far from unattractive. The workers did not yell "Haba-haba" at their new waitress. She was not the type of girl to yell "Haba-haba" at. She had class. She smiled very shyly at the workers, and this made them fall in love with her.
The next day there was a great change on the operation crew tables. It was strangely quiet around the worker's tables. It was as if something was wrong. But there was nothing wrong. The workers sat eating their food with very contented looks on their faces. But food was not the only thing they were feasting their eyes on. She was smiling shyly and the boys were continuing to fall in love with her.
Area D is a very quiet place now. There are no more workers who go around wearing sloppy "T" shirts, dirty cords, and "Lil' Abner" shoes. They do not yell "Haba-haba" at the girls anymore. They go around wearing crisp white collars with neckties and their shoes are carefully polished. They all head for Fourth Avenue. That is where the waitress lives. She sits on a bench in front of her house and smiles shyly. This makes the boys fall in love with her more.
It is wonderful what women can do, especially to men.
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MOTTO
When we play, we play
When we work, we play, also
MORE ON ROLL CALL
Continued from page 1
At 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. daily, a designated checker visits each apartment in his block for a roll-call of all individuals in his territory.
Members of work crews will be checked by timekeepers. The personnel officer in each area has been designated as the responsible person for gathering block reports and submitting them to the WCCA.
The Camp Harmony
NEWS_LETTER
EDITOR ................................... Dick Takeuchi
Managing Editor .......................... Dyke Miyagawa
Ass't Managing Editor .................... Taka Oka
Sports Editor ............................ Kenji Tani
Copy Editor .............................. Makiko Takahashi
Reporters ................................ Ruth Yoshimoto, Gertrude Takayama, Mitsuko Yagi, Hana Okamoto.
Circulation Manager ...................... Daiki Miyagawa
Art Editor ............................... Keith Oka
Mimeographer ............................. George Minato
Page 4
Sports
VACATION SCHOOL
After a month of inactivity, 312 children of grammar school age went back to school, as Area A's vacation school officially opened its doors last Wednesday.
Under the direction of Education Officer Joanne Mori, classes are held twice daily: 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. Teachers number 16 with the classes ranging from first to the eighth grade.
Interest groups also began their session beginning last Wednesday. The schedule follows: (1) First Aid -- Tuesdays and Fridays from 7 p.m. at mess hall 1; (2) Creative Writing -- Mondays from 7:30 p.m. at mess hall 4; (3) Shorthand -- Tuesdays and Fridays from 7:30 p.m. with the beginners meeting at mess hall 5 and the advanced students, mess hall 6; (4) Public Speaking and Parliamentary Law -- Wednesdays from 7:30 p.m. at mess hall 6; (5) German -- Wednesdays from 7:30 p.m. at mess hall 1; (6) English -- issei meet on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. at mess hall1 and 2 while the kibei meet on the same dates from 7:30 p.m. at mess hall 6.
SPORTS DUST
A recent visitor to Camp Harmony was the well-known P-I sports commentator, Royal Brougham -- with volleyball, badminton, horseshoe and ping pong sets now in Area B, Athletic Officer Tomeo Takayoshi is rounding a well balanced program of recreation for everyone......a sectional horseshoe pitching tourney is planned for this Saturday in Area A announced Athletic Officer Art Sasaki. Section 2 will "pitch" against 4, 3 will take on 5, and 1 and 6 will play...talk about ping pong talents, Area "A" seems to have a corner on them...for evidence, there are such luminaries as Tak Higashiyama, Tak Kubota, Akira Hoshido, Art Sasaki, Frank Yoshitake and many others. Sumo and judo artists are going at it hammer and tong in Area D....
AREA "A" SOFTBALL LEAGUE STANDINGS
CLASS A CLASS B CLASS C
W. L. W. L. W. L.
Sec. 5... 2 0 Sec. 6... 2 0 Sec. 1... 3 1
Sec. 3... 1 1 Sec. 2... 1 0* Sec. 6... 2 1
Sec. 2... 1 1 Sec. 1... 1 1 Sec. 3/4. 2 2
Sec. 6... 1 1 Sec. 4... 1 1 Sec. 2... 1 2
Sec. 4... 0 1* Sec. 3... 0 1 Sec. 5... 1 3
Sec. 1... 0 1* Sec. 5... 0 0*
*Denotes tie games
With ole Jupe Pluvius on the warpath, Area A's softball program was virtually inactive.
However, in the few games played thus far, Section 5 sets the pace in the fast "A" circuit with 2 straight wins. In the "B" loop, the powerful Section 6 team with 2 overwhelming victories continued to sparkle. Section 1 leads the "C" teams with 3 wins against 1 loss.
Weather permitting, the league-leading Section 5 will battle Section 1 and Sections 3 and 4 will tangle in the next "A" doubleheader.
Timely hitting plus Frank Kanemori's pitching prowess have been the chief reasons for Section 5's diamond success in the "A" loop.
On the "B" scene, Section 6 captained by Ed Kurimura is the dominant team. In their first game against Section 3, the rampaging 10th and 11th Avenuers squashed their opponents 9-0, while in the next tilt they blanked Section 1, 11-0.
In the "C" loop, Section 1 leads but they are closely pursued by Section 6. In the latest "C" games last week, Section 1 overwhelmed Section 5, 17-2 but Section 6 also displayed hitting power when they mauled the combined Section 3 and 4 team, 12-3.
The next "B" double bill will find Section 1 slated against Section 5 while in the nightcap Sections 3 and 4 will collide.
Meanwhile the "C" circuit will have completed their first round play with the next triple-header games.
YOSHITAKE WINS PING PONG CROWN
After four hard fought sets, Frank Yoshitake subdued Art Sasaki to become the Class "A" ping pong champ during a recently held tourney in Area "A".
Frank dropped the first set 16-22 but rallied strongly in the next three frames to capture the "A" crown. However, after sweeping the second and third sets 21-12 and 21-15, he was extended to the limit before taking the final and deciding set 24-22.
Meanwhile, in the "B" finals, Frank Komoto also was extended to four sets by Art Susmi before winning out. After capturing the first two sets 21-19 and 21-18, Frank was edged out in the third frame 19-21. However, the fourth set saw him outpaddle Art 25-23.
A Class "C" tournament is being held this week.
CAMP SOFTBALL TEAMS MAY MEET
Weather permitting, there may be inter-area softball competition Athletic Officer Chick Uno indicated yesterday.
In discussing this plan, Uno said all games will naturally be played on Area A's Pitcher Field. To facilitate matters, movements between areas will be confined to players only and not to spectators, Uno added.
Judo and basketball competition will also be inaugurated, Uno revealed, if softball is successful.