Granada Pioneer, Vol. II, No. 18A

              FIRE  DESTROYS  11H  APARTMENT:  DAMAGES  HEAVY
   Amache’s  first major 
fire     that     had     the  local 
fire" department in "dithers"
occurred    Monday afternoon
about     3:30  o' clock,  at the 
Sugi  Morimoto  residence, 
11H-6B.     The    Morimotos 
were     absent     at     the   time 
the blaze was discovered.
   The alarm was sent to 
the fire department about
3:40 p.m. by a neighbor who
saw the flames through the
front windows.  Both fire
trucks answered the call
under assistant Fire Chief
Jerry Sullivans’s direction
and the blaze was brought
under ccntrol after much
difficulty due t heavy
smoke.
   Considerable loss was
suffered by Morimoto and
his family with all their
household goods and cloth-
ing burned and subsequent-
ly damaged by water.Apart-
ment was ruined beyond re-
pair and must undergo com-
plete rebuilding before it
can be tenanted again. But
actual estimation of damages
was not released by Fire
Chief Vern Campbell.
   Origin of the fire was
not known but it was be-
lieved to have been caused
by short circuit,according
to the center fire authori-
ties .
   Granada  PIONEER
Vol.  II, No. 18A    Amache, Colo.   January 5, 1944
AIRCRAFT    PLANT  OFFERS 	
SKILLED JOBS TO NISEI
   Nisei interested in air-
plane assembly work are
given the long-awaited war
plant clearance from the
Internal Security Division
of the 6th Service Command
to place themselves at the
Tuttle and Kift Inc., ac-
cording to word received
here  from the ChicagoWRA
office.  This concern man-
ufactures air craft as-
semblies, PT boat galleys,
and electrical control and
switch equipment.
   Out of approximately
350 employees there are
about 20 nisei on the pay-
roll who are operating
drill and punch presses,
power brakes, riveting,
welding, and heat treating.
General working conditions
are said to be satisfactory
since the turnover among
nisei workers has been at
a minimum, and employee
relationship is rated as
excellent.
   This plant operates on
24-hour basis o f three
shifts and the wages range
from 60 cents to $1 an hour
depending on employee's back-
ground and aptitude. And
the night workers will re-
ceive ten per cent above
day-shift rates. Automatic
departmental bonus plan
increases monthIy income
on percentage basis, which
becomes effective after
two weeks of employment.
   Only citizens are eli-
gible to apply and all ap-
plications should be for-
warded to Elmer L. Shir-
rell, relocation supervisor,
266 West Jackson Blvd.,
Chicago 6, Ill. Further
information may be gained
at the center employment
office.
MOERS SELECTED
PERSONNEL OFFICER
   "I consider it a dis-
tinct privilege and plea-
sure to be part of the won-
derful work that is being
done here at Amache,"states
Walter Nicholas Moers,new-
ly appointed personnel of-
ficer who arrived on this
project Hew Year’s day.
    Moers will handle the
 ---continued on page 3---
150 LEAVE CLEARANCE CASES
LEFT;   400 FINISHED TO DATE
   Approximately 400 eva-
cuee hearings have been
processed so far and there
are about 150 cases left
on the docket at present,
stated waiter B. Knodel,
placement  officer, Monday.
Six persons have been de-
nied clearance but supple-
mentary hearings may change
the status of several.
   If possible the process
will be speeded up to about
60 hearings a week with
two three-men board meeting
twice a week and handling
about 15 cases at each sit-
ting, disclosed Knodel.
   Average time consumed
at each hearing is estimated
at 20 minutes and takes
anywheres from two weeks
to several months before
the final decision is re-
ceived here from the leave
clearance  section of the
Washington WRA  office.
There  are three steps to
the process:
1. Cause for the hear-
ing.
2. Hearing before the
project board.
3 . Final decision from
Washington.
   In case the person cited
for hearing is out on a
leave there is an added
step of having the nearest
relocation officer  take
his   testimony.
   Any evacuee denied clear-
ance may ask for a re-hear-
ing if the project board is
assured that he has new
"evidence" to add to his
original   testimony.
103 DECEMBER  INDEFINITES
BOOST 1943 TOTAL TO 1532
  With the 103 indefinite
leaves is sued for the month
of December the grand net
total for 1943 reached 1532
persons relocated to normal
life on the outside, ac-
cording  to information re -
leased Monday by Mario Vec-
chio, ass’t  placement of-
ficer.
   Seasonal leaves for Dec-
ember hit the year’s low
of seven placements due to
travel restrictions and
low-ebb of seasonal works
during winter months. To-
tal placements for the year
was 1488 with August, Sep-
tember and October as the
peak months. There were
7 5 8 seasonal placements
during the month of October,
which incidentally was the
highest for the year.