68
FEDERAL
REPORTER,voL 40.
stance, and' that but a slight amount of labor is necessary in order to inflate the bags, and prepare them for sale, does not, as it seems to me, essentially chnnge the qttestion in this Case. The gas is orie of the component mll:terials of the completed article. Without the addition of the gas 'they are not usable for. the purpose intended, and they can only be said to be Ii completed article when inflated and closed, so as to become buoyant, lind attractive as a plaything. I am therefore of opinion that the collector erred in the classification of thesegpodsJand that the plaintiff is entitled to recover.
MORinset .aZ.
'II.
SEEBERGER, Collector.
Court, N. D. IlZinO'lB. July 18, 1889.)
L
Ctn5roMS DuTiES-CLASSIlI'IOATION-PAVnm
TILEs. Hard,baked, hard.bodied, glazed tiles, which are used for hearths, wainscoting, and on the :floors of vestibules, entrance halls, bath.rooms, and oonser.vatories inpri. vate residences, and sometimes as a borde!' in the fioor of rooms, I!>nd which differ from the ordinary paving tilein that they are glazed,are fpr duty at 20 per cent. ad vaZorem, under customs act March S, 1883, Schedule B, oL 7, as "pavlUg tiles." ,.':" . " :
9.
SAME.
Glazed tiles made of' clay} Cornwall stone.; and :flint, which 8.re. ·mad.e peron.s, and of a white or light-colored Dody, so as to mQre readily receive the glaze colors, and which are usl!d for chimney fronts, and to BOme extent in hearths, and for borders in fioors,' and'for vestibules and bath·rooms,',are not "paving tile&," too brittle in structure and soft in material for such purpose. So, als0l tiles of the same materials, which are of irregular shapes, some being in toe form of an ogee moulding, others a longitudinal; segment of a cylinder, and which are intended to take the. place of wood base-boards and chair-rails, cannot be classed as "paving tiles, "under the similitude clause, all they are manifestly intended for other purposell' nor are they manufactured articJ.eSDot otherwise enu.Dot spemerated, as they clearly fa ii within the description of glazed cially enumerated, under clause 4 of Schedule B. ' '
8.
SAME-SKIRTING, MOULDING AND SUlIFAOE TILES.
At Law. Action to recover excess of custom.s duties. P. L. Shuman, for plainti[s. ' . W. G. Ewing, U. S. Diat. Atty., and G. H. Ha1'T'W, Asst. U. S. Atty., for defendant. ; BLODGETT, J. Plaintiffs imported into the port of Chicago a quantity of glazed tiles, skirting,' moulding, and surbasetiles, which the collector classified and assessed for duty, a part thereof as decorated enware,uuder the second clause of Schedule B of the customs act of March 3, 1883, at 60 per centum ad valorem, and a. part thereof as glazed earthenware, under the fourth clause of said ScheduleB, at 55 per centuniad valorem. Plaintiffs protested against such classification and assessment for duty, insisting that said goods should have been 88sessed ata duty of 20 per cent. 'ad '/:alorem, under the seventh clause of saidScheduleB, as "paving tiles'," and·under section: 2499 of said act, aamostresembling pavingtiIes in the material of which composed, and
,
II. 8EEBERPER. '.
69
Ulles tQ they were applie,d, and under section 2513 (,)f said act, q.s ar;ticle!! ml!-nufactured, in .whole or in part, 110totherwise. provided for; paid ..the duty under protest; appealed to the of the treasury, by whom the action of the collector was affirmed; and brought this suit in apt time to recover the excess of duties so claimed to have been paid. The goods in question embrace three kinds of tiles;. all of which are glazed: (1) A hard-baked,hard-bodied tile, the body being of a brown or bricI.tcolor, which artl used for hearths, and to some extent for wainscotlng, and .for the breast or front of fire-places, and on the floors of vesUbules, entrance halls; bath-rooms, and conservatories in private resThey are also laid sometimes as a border in the floor of rooms, around next to the base-board. (2) Glazed tiles made of clay, Cornwall stone, and flint, which gives them a white or light color, and makes a more porous and white or light-colored body, which more, readily receivestheglaze and colors applied thereto; and these, as the proof sho'Ys, are used for chimney fronts, and to some extent in hearths, and for borders floors, and for floors in vestibules and bath·rooms. While trey may be said to be hard-burned, they are not of as firm a texture as the hard-bo<;1ied brown tiles first mentioned, and are much more easily broken,and the gla2;e thereon much more readily cracked or defaced, by reason of the material being more porous, and not as strong. (3) Moulding tiles intended for bases around the sides of the room. to take the place of the ordinary base-board, and surbase and skirting tiles; the surhase and skirting tiles being also sometimes used for the edges of hearths, and to lay along on the floor as a trimming to the base-board tile, and also. for chair-rail strips. Plaintiffs' contention is that all the flat glazed are dutiable at 20 per cent. ad valorem, under the seventh clause of Schedule B, as "paving tiles," and that the moulding, skirting, and surbase tiles are also dutiable at 20 per cent. ad valorem, under the similitude clause of section 2499, as articles manufactured, in whole orin part, not otherwise enumerated under section 2513 of said act; and on this ground it is sought to recover by this suit the excess of the duties so assessed over 20 per cent. ad valorem. The proofshows that there has been for many years a tile manufactured abroad, and imported to this country, and also manufactured ill this country, made of earthy materials, with a plain, unglazed surface, the materials being pressed very hard and firmly together, and fired or burned so as to make them very hard, or what is known as "hardbaked," which are known in the trade as "paving tiles," and used quite extensively floors in the vestibules of churches, and the halls and vestibules of public and private buildings; and the hard-baked, hardbodied tiles now in question are made of the same material as such plain, unglazed paving tiles, and are in all respects similar to the plain, hard-baked, unglazed tiles, except that the tiles in ques.,. ti011, being glazed upon one side, will, when laid in the floor with the glazed side upwards, make a floor with a glazed surface. As has already been said, the white-bodied tiles are composed of different material, and made intentionally more porous, for the purpose of making them of dif-