AMERICA’S POTATO KING.

Shannon News, 1 June 1926, Page 1

AMERICA’S POTATO KING.

A WtiAliTi-i* JAPANESE'. SAN FRANCISCO, April 21. A fortune of til teen million dollars has been left •by George Shima, Japanese “potato kmg,’’ who has just lied in California. Shima was one of the most picturesque characters California has known. He died in Hollywood, after toiling through ,lo riches in the face n£ obstacles that meant ruin for men ot less persistence. The full extent of ohima’s wealth was shown when his will was filled for probate in the Alameda County Court. The bulk of the • cate was left to three children. Shima came to the United States with a thousand dollars and lost the money in unsuccessful ventures. Startagain, he went into the Delta section of the San Joaquin and Sacramento stivers, specialising in the production of potatoes, but wisely rotating his crops. n-abouring from sunrise to sunset saving his money and gradually expanding, Shima grew' to be a po\ve> m the region. At first he rented land from American owners, but later he acquired property in the name of his children, American born. The Alien Land law was invoked in an attempt to show that Shima could not control property in California. Tht Japanese won out after carrying the case to the Supreme of the United States. Shima was shrewd, clever and lion est. It was said of him that he never gave or asked for written contracts and that he never broke his word. In ins later life, he built hotels in central California cities and made severa. girts to the University of California.