Imperial Valley press., 1924-07-05
All NIGHT Search Reveals Childs Body in Water Ditch
PITIFUL SCENE
ENACTED W Hen
BABY Is FOUND
2 Year Old Child Falls
Into Irrigation Ditch
Near Home

Caught by the branches of over
hanging bushes that line the banks I
of the Eucalyptus irrigation canal
southwest Of FL Centre, the body of
Ellen Tamura, two and a half year
old daughter of G. Tamura Japan
ese raneher, was found early this
morning by members Of searching
parties that had been commbing the
canal all night for a distance of two
miles. The little girl had been in
the canal for more than IL hours
when her body was recovered.
More than 90 Japanese and Mex
leans worked all night to recover
the drowned girls body under the
direction of Deputies Evans and
Leonard of the sheriff's department.
All efforts to locate the body fail
ed until after most of the water in
the canal had been run ont. The
little girl had drifted less than 200
yards down stream and was swept
into lateral by the current. The
branches of some bushes held the
body from straying farther away.
Ellen was the only child of Mr..
and Mrs. Tamura, ranchers on the
Campbell and Garland ranch about
four miles southwest of FL Centre.
Her parents missed her shortly at
| ter four o'clock yesterday after
noon, and after tracing her footsteps
to the bank of the canal, they noti-
fled the sheriff's office and ask
ed for help in finding the body.
Groups of Mexicans and Japanese
scattered along the canal for dis.
tanee Of two miles, and divers search
ed every corner near the head gates
in vain. 1t was not until the sun
was just appearing over the hori-
zon and the canal was almost empty
that Refugio Montez, Mexican en-
! plove Of the water company, located
the body.
Search All Night
| AS the lifeless little form was
brought to the cottage where the
Tamuras have been living, a silent
| group Of Japanese friends gathered
in the ranch yard. The father, "a
keen-eyed man, stopped at the gate
long enough to thank the officers
! for their help and then went into
the house where the mother of the
little girl sat quietly beside the
body. At least the uncertainty was
over !.
| All during the night members Of
of silent Japanese ranchers had
searched the canal for the body of
the missing baby. As the level of
the water in the canal fell lower
and no trace of the lost girl was
found, her father, heretofore as 81
lent as his fellow country men, sat
! by the side of the ditch, where
the trampled grass marked where
his baby had been playing, and
broke into low sobs. ..a,s
Within n few rods, the littla
mother, tragic-eyed, but stole in her
silence, sat immobile, staring at the
ground before her.
Running back and forth along the
path where the little girl must have
strayed, Jack, her inseparable com
panion, a big bull terrier, sought
to pick up the trail that would
lead him to his little mistress. At
! tuc tuSc diiSotf ieN'7
ed, and whining, would look into
the muddy stream. Occasionally he
ran along the banks trying to catch
the scent that would lead him to the
girl.
| Tamura and his wife, have lived
\ at the ranch for the past two and
half years, coming directly from
Japan. This, their first tragedy in
the new world, comes just when
they were apparently getting a
start.
| Scarcely able to speak or under
stand English, the little couple seem
ed utterly alone as they sat wait
ing for the waters in the canal to
drop low enough to reveal the body
of their only child. Thousands Of
miles from their homeland, their
blow is indeed a crushing one, in
creased by the racial gulf between
them and their white neighbors 10
whom they have been simply japan
ese ranchers.