Sign on the Board: “Since the term ‘Jap’ is considered an insult, the Command requests that in conversation when you refer to the Japanese the term ‘Japanese’ and not ‘Jap’ be used.”
The Safety Committee is doing a good job. They have put up a large iron bar with a gong-ringer above it, hung out in front where even a woman can reach it in the night in case of fire. They plan to gather the small boys into a Junior Safety Committee to se see that the littlest boys don’t get into danger spots.
Tomibe thinks as long as we cut our own wood we can have hot plates, which we ourselves supply. He is between the devil and the deep sea, with the Committee and General. The Japanese want to make us feel what their country is going through in blockade, privation, etc. Miss McKim remarked during the long session that she often said good morning to them and received no answer at the office, whereupon Tomibe lit into all his staff about rudeness. He put it down on the line that that there must always be noliteness. Saito could see the point about the “Jap” being an abbreviation but Tomibe was very tense, oppressively silent in long spells, refusing to admit that it was anything but an insult.
The evening show was a huge success. It was “Cabin in the Pines” with Cleo and Jo stealing the show as Mammy and Pappy. The scenic effects of the kitchen were perfect, with the men’s old stove covered with pots stirred by Cleo. The second scene of a Broadway tryout of voices showed Cam as Carmen Miranda, Harry as a flashy promoter of various girl singers. It was the Hillbillies who really brought down the house. The crowd roared, had the best laugh of the year, which was much needed. Five high school boys in short skirts, band-waists which they held their breath to keep on, flashy necklaces and bracelets, waving colored handkerchiefs, switching hips, skirts and shoulders, were a riot.