Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/79

 COLONEL HENRY ERNST DOSCH Japan to make an exhibit at the Lewis & Clark Fair. They had appropriated $800,000 for an exhibit at St. Louis and I wanted them to appropriate a further sum of $200,000 to bring their exhibit to Portland. I found that it would be hopeless to have the measure passed by the Japanese Diet. The only thing left to do was to use a little diplomacy. I had a warm friend and advocate in one of the Japanese officials, and succeeded in securing the appropriation. As an indication of their appreciation of my work, I had conferred upon me the Order of the Sacred Treasure which is a military decoration and at that time very few had been bestowed upon foreigners. In 1903, while in Japan, I met Baron Chinda and Baron Komura. They told me of the trouble they were having from Beri-Beri.. The Japanese soldiers and peas- ants were eating rice from Cochin-China. This rice cost two and three-fourths cents a pound. I said, 'Why do you not buy Louisiana rice? You can get it at the same price and your soldiers and citizens will not get Beri- Beri from it.' Possibly a year after that I was sent to New Orleans to invite Louisiana to take part in our ex- position, and as I went into the St. Charles Hotel I no- ticed three Japanese sitting in the lobby. As they caught sight of me they rose, bowed low, and one of them said, 'Are you not Colonel Dosch?' Looking at him closely I recognized him and remembered his name, which was Watta Napa. I said 'Yes, my name is Colonel Dosch and you are Watta Napa. You are the chief clerk in Baron Komura's office.' He said 'Do you remember, Colonel Dosch, teling Baron Komura about Louisiana rice?' I had almost forgotten the circumstance. I thought a mo- ment and said, 'Yes, but nothing ever came of it.' He said, 'Oh yes, very much came of it. I have just dispatched a shipload of rice from here and am planning to contract for the entire crop.' As a matter of fact, they did purchase that year's crop of Louisana rice, and the Japanese-