OSAKA. — Three weeks after Japan opened Expo 70, officials in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, received a puzzling cable from the kingdom's Commissioner General to the exposition. "SEND MORE SAND STOP PAVILION PROVING POPULAR."
Sand? Send more sand ten thousand miles to Japan? Can the Commissioner General be serious?
Yes, the Commissioner General, one Bakri S. Shata, was serious. He wanted sand because a small, almost incidental display of sand from the famous red dunes of Dahna was boosting attendance figures to quite unexpected levels. Indeed, by 3:50 p.m. April 14, less than a month after Expo opened, one million people had visited the pavilion. "We counted," reported Mr. Shata happily, "as many as 40,000 people a day weekends and not less than 24,000 weekdays. That's four times our most optimistic estimate.