Includes: Typed letter signed by Jinzoo Adachi, to B.S. Lyman, Esq. 1½ pp. With stamped, postmarked and forwarded envelope. Lyman, on temporary duty in the Philippines, is invited to stop in Japan on his way back to the United States "to inspect important collieries in the Miike, Chiki-ho, Hokkaido, and Isaki coal-fields, together with the oil-field of Yechigo, and any other points that may be of interest to you..." Framed. Dec. 29, 1906. * Handwritten letter, in both English and Japanese, from Chief-Director R. Oshima, to Lyman, presenting him with "a set of gold cup as a token of our high esteem" for "services rendered to our company..." Framed. Sept. 2, 1907. * Manuscript letter signed by Lyman, to the Secretary of the Treasury, asking that the gold cups referred to in the preceding letter be admitted to the United States duty free, attesting that they "have no commercial character, and have not either directly or indirectly, been purchased, or ordered, or solicited by me at any price whatever..."
Interesting group of documents relating to the service of American engineer Benjamin Smith Lyman (1835-1920) in Japan and the Far East. Lyman was quite suited to inspect the Japanese coal and oil fields in 1907 - he had first ventured to Japan in 1872, hired to survey the coal and oil deposits of Hokkaido and along the Sea of Japan coastline of Honshu. He spent some seven years in Japan, training a cohort of assistants, and studying the language and culture. It seems that the gold cups were in reward for his general service and not the 1907 inspection requested in the letter - he was unable to make the side-trip due to a long bout with dysentery.