Evening star., 1942-08-28
BY RELMAN MORN,

oil bilC VI lOSC maj hCu ulidtllEltt
June "a.
Then there was stiffness agair
and the hot darkness, folding ovel
the ship and the harbor and the
low hills of Yokohama.
In cabin below decks an Amer
lean newspaperman leaned against
bunk, staring through the port
hole. He said, There's a launch
coming out . fast, too blink
Ing her lights"
Some one said so what? An
other false alarm, that's ALL
A week before, more than soc
Americans had come aboard the
ship, the Asama Maru. They were
going home, to be exchanged under
an agreement between the United
States and Japan They had come
from prisons, from camps, from
internment in all parts of the en-
pire. Some had been tortured
many of them beaten, all were
hungry.
The newspaperman said, Looks
like some officials are getting into
the launch"
The others said, Relax . lust
take 1t easy" They had been wait
Ing a week. Just waiting.
Tension Raised Higher.
Nobody knew why they had been
held there. Gradually rumors began
to fly. Everybody had heard some
thing-the exchange was off, nego-
tlations had broken down, every-
body would be put on shore again.
Each day screwed the tension
tighter.
1t was 12:4o now. From the
launch q Japanese voice called,
Bon voyage, Mr.. Grew"
The men in the cabin glanced at
each other, sharply. They're say
ing good-by to the Ambassador. Did
you hear that?" At the same in
slant the ships engines began to
throb. The anchor chain ratified.
The men plunged for the door.
stumbling, racing up to the deck.
1t was dark out there, pitch black
except for the few yellow lights of
Yokohama, far across the bay. And
then there was sudden blaze of
light. a binding incandescence in
the hlackness.
1t came from four large crosses,
studded electric bulbs, rugged to the
sides and stern of the ship to give
her identifying protection against
submarines at night.
The sea swished and hissed against
the sides. The ship trembled a
little. She was moving.
The people on deck stared at the
lights and at the sea and then at
each other, stunned, unbelieving.
All at once, as though at a given
signal. cry arose. They shouted
and cheered and sang, even though
tears of excitement, they locked
arms and danced, up and down the
decks and stairways.
Travelled Two Months.
A strange vaRAge had begun, an
almost incredible voyage.
Z Before 1t was finished in New York
this week, these 500 repatriates were
Joined by more than 1000 others.
They Travelled two months, across
$4,000 miles of water. three-uuarters
OF the Fearth's circumference. touch
Ing four major continents. They
passed from summer in the Orient
to winter In Africa, and then to
summer again, nearing New York.
There were two ships. The JAP
anese liner, Asama Maru, brought
exchangees from the Japanese En-
pire, Hong Kong, Indo-C China and
Siam. The italian ship. Conte
Verde. started at Shanghai, bringing
people from occupied China.
On the two ships were nearly
j 500 persons, diplomats who had
made history and men who could
list no occupation unless they had
simply said beach comber," mis-
sionaries, business executives, news
papermen, students, six nurses from
Guam, archaeologists from the
depths OF China, sailors off an Amer
lcan freighter that they had scuttled
In Hong Kong, lawyers and dentists
and doctors and radio operators.
ships welders, a stranded vaude-
william, a bouncer from Hong Kong
dive.
At Singapore. the two ships met.
They stayed there four days, turn
Ing an twisting like a halfback re-
turning a kickoff, the Asama led
the way through the mine fields.
The Conte Verde followed, turn for
turn.
Asama's Rudder Jammed.
They stayed within sight of each
other through the next two weeks.
except one night when the Asama
came to sudden stop, her rudder
lammed, In heavy sea.
Then through the Sunda Straits.
the narrow channel between Java
and Sumatra, the last Japanese-oc-
cupied land areas.
A curious, almost visible change
spread over the two ships that day.
Until then, people had been nervous.
Voices were dry and harsh. People
were restless. The children cried.
unendingly.
OF their experiences in prison.
they spoke only in whispers or not
at all.
Beyond Java, all this vanished,
magically like smoke in a fresh
freeze. Somehow, being beyond the
area Of Japanese conquests made the
difference. Now you could hear
what had happened, the stories of
torture and murder, imprisonment,