(5110.)

Charges for cording and sealing machinery examined at mill.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 30, 1882.

SIR: This Department is in receipt of your letter dated the 24th instant, transmitting the appeals (9072 g and 9073 g) of The Conant Thread Company from your decision assessing charges for cording and sealing two hundred and thirty-five cases of machinery imported by them, per "Palestine" and "Samaria," and entered for consumption June 17 and 19, 1881, respectively. It appears from the protest that the machinery was sent to the appellant's mills for examination by the customs officers.

The Department's decision of December 1, 1881 (Synopsis 5072), requires that machinery to be examined at the mill shall be duly corded and sealed before its removal from the custody of the customs officers. The extra expense incident to such examination should properly be borne by the importer, and the Department understands that in the present case the usual fees only for cording and sealing were collected. Your decision is therefore affirmed.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 31, 1882.

SIR: Your letter of the 25th instant, transmitting common-carrier bond, in duplicate, of Houghton Bros. has been received, being in lieu of that given by said firm, approved June 18, 1879.

The bond is hereby approved. Under it, Houghton Bros. are authorized to transport dutiable appraised salt in bond from the port of Bath, Me., to any place in the United States which has been, or may hereafter be, designated by law as a port of entry or delivery, in the following manner, viz., in suitable vessels owned or controlled by the said firm and plying coastwise from Bath, Me.

One copy of the bond is herewith returned, to be placed on the files

of your office; and you are instructed to note the fact and date of the rebonding on the copy of the bond approved June 18, 1879, now in your possession, and retain the same without cancellation.

Very respectfully,

COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, Bath, Me.

CHAS. J. FOLGER,

Secretary.

(5112.)

List of vessels whose names have been changed under the act of March 2, 1881, during the month ending January 31, 1882.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
Document No. 259.
Secretary-I. R. and N.

TO COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

Washington, D. C., March 1, 1882.

The following decisions of the Department for the month of February, 1882, upon the construction to be given to acts of Congress relating to the tariff, navigation, and other subjects, are published for the information and guidance of officers of the customs and others concerned.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 1, 1882.

SIR: The Department is in receipt of your letter of the 10th ultimo, transmitting the appeals, hereinafter specified, of Henry D. Dupee from your decision assessing duty at the rate of 50 cents per pound and 35 per cent. ad valorem on certain so-called ceruleine, which the appellant claims to be dutiable at the rate of 20 per cent. ad valorem.

The article is a dye or color, in the form of a paste, and was classified as an "aniline dye or color" (Heyl, 1350), while the appellant claims that it contains no aniline whatever, and that, not being otherwise enumerated, it should be classified as an unenumerated manufactured article (Heyl, 1816). It is understood that the article in question is a coloring-matter lately discovered by Baeyer, and is derived from pyrogallic acid and phthalic anbydride. The pyrogallic acid is acted upon by the phthalic anbydride, by the acid at a high temperature, which produces galleine. The galleine is then acted upon with sulphuric acid at a high temperature and produces ceruleine, which, in combination with water and bisulphite of soda, forms the commercial article now under consideration. It is also understood that this article is used by printers and dyers in printing and coloring textile fabrics; that it pro

duces fast colors in violets, greens, and other hues, and that, while perhaps not chemically similar to an aniline dye, it is similar, in most of its characteristics, to the colors known as resorcine J., floureseine, eosine, &c., which, by previous rulings of the Department, were held to be dutiable by virtue of section 2499, Revised Statutes, under the provision for "aniline dyes and colors, by whatever name known." (Heyl, 1350.)

The Department therefore affirms your decision as to the following appeals

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 2, 1882.

SIR: The Department is in receipt of your letter of the 23d of December, relating to the appeal (7620g) of Messrs. Stallman & Fulton from your decision assessing duty at the rate of 40 per cent. ad valorem on certain Chian turpentine imported, per "Gallia," October 18, 1881.

The appellants claim that their importation was in no way a preparation, and the appraiser at your port is of opinion that the claim is substantially correct. He reports that the article is simply a resinous or oleo-resinous substance, obtained by making incisions in the bark of the tree, and is imported in the same condition as when taken from the tree; and that, if proper care is observed in collecting the juice as it flows, it is fit for use without any process of refining.

It appears that such resin is sometimes liquefied by heat, and strained so as to remove small portions of bark and like substances. When in a chemically pure condition, it is stated to be used for administration internally, as a specific in cases of cancer.

A report upon the subject has been obtained from the appraiser at Boston, who states that there have been two importations of the article at that port within the past two years, and that in both cases it was classified as a medicinal preparation, for the reason that it was not in a crude state, but had been clarified and prepared for use as a medicine. In view of the facts stated by the appraiser at your port, the Department is now of opinion that, as a matter of fact, the importation

covered by the appeal was entitled to admission free of duties, under the provisions of the free list for "resins crude, not otherwise provitled for." You will therefore reliquidate the entry, and take measures for a refund of the duties.

Chian turpentine which has been liquefied as aforesaid, and strained, or otherwise "prepared" for use as a medicine, is dutiable as a medicinal preparation under the provisions of the tariff therefor, and this Department's decision of November 16, 1881 (Synopsis 4701), relating to an importation of such turpentine.

* *

Very respectfully,

*

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 3, 1882.

SIR: Various appeals have been received by this Department from your assessment of duty at the rate of 3 cents for each quart bottle, and in addition 25 per cent. ad valorem on Apollinaris mineral water, imported by F. de Bary & Co. at your port.

The merchandise was classified by you as an artificial mineral water, while the importers contend that it is a mineral water not artificial, and therefore is free of duty.

I have given due consideration to the evidence presented on both sides of the question, and the following is my opinion on the subject: "There is in Prussia a spring of water known as the Apollinaris spring. From it flows a natural water. This water is a legitimate subject of commerce, and it may be imported into the United States. free of duty. There is no doubt that water from that spring has been and is imported into the United States, and an importation of it gives rise to this case.

"Why should it not come in free of duty? It is claimed that it is not, when it reaches here, the same as is produced by the spring. It is beyond dispute that to transport it from the spring it must be put into vessels of some kind that can be made air-tight, as bottles or jugs. Hence there must be a manipulation of it, and any manipulation that serves to confine it is allowable, and in itself does not change the character of the water or render it an artificial product; for wheat in bags, or crude petroleum in barrels, is still a natural product.

"But it is said that in the manipulation there have been added to it two things, and taken from it one. It is claimed that there has been

taken from it iron.