BORGFELW:lee '. . ... ' . .... , , . . ! \ -'
at. · ' ",'
'1'.
ERHARDT;
Collector. '.. . '. ; :.
(01n'outt Oowrt"S. D., New ¥ork. Janna'17,18?Q.) \'.." '\.
'L CUSTOMS DUTIES-F'REE-LIST-HORN STRIPS.
!,olisbed born strips, ready and completed for UJe as bones or stays for ladtes' COtsets ok-dresses, are free of duty, ,under paragraph 518 of section 2503, Rev. St, U. Sl,(Free-List.) The commeroialdesignatioli is the first and most imp6rtant designation to be ascertained in ilettling the mea,ning andapplieation of tbe tariff laws. ,
,9. Snl:B,;-CONSTRuortoN OF AOT-COMMEROIAL DESIGNATION.
At Law. This was an action against the 'collector ofthe port dfNew York to recover duties alleged to have been in excess of the lawful duty. The plaintiffs on May 27, 1889, iri\.potted cartain merchimdise, consist· of pieces of horn of .cattle, cut into strips, polished and ready Jforuse as bones or stays for 'ladies' corsets and 'dresses. The collector classified the merchandise as manUfactures of hOrri,under Schedule N ofthetariffact of 1883, (Tariff Index, 399,) at 30 per centum ad valorem. ;The plaintiffs protested, and claimed that by virtue 'of the provision in the free-list of said actthe merchandise was exempt from duty as" horn 'strips." Upon the trial it was shown that the horns were cut from cattle in: India, brought from there to Paris, and split lengthwise. The solid tip: of the horn was; cutoff. Then the horn is soaked, and ll-fterwardsput into an hydraulic steam-press, with a steel plate between each layer, and ,pressed down and flattened. Then they are planed into strips ofvariouB, lengths, and ,out into uniform lengthsjthen they are l!oSsorted,some of them scraped smooth, others polished, some allowed to remain with the end perfectly square, and others are rounded off, and holes punched in the ends. As a,matter of fact, the merchandise was a mauufa:cture of horn, but it was shown by the testimony of many trade witnesses that the merchandise in any and all of the conditions above mentioned, after being stripped from the horn, WM known in the trade and commerce of this country at and prior to the passage of the tariff act of March 3, 1883, as "horn strips." The clause of the free-list (seotion 2503. Rev. St. U. S.) reads as follows, (Tariff Index, 513:) "Horns and parts of. horns, unmanufactured, and horn strips and tips, (free.)" At the close of the testimony, the counsel for the defendant moved for a direction of a verdict on the grounds (1) that the plaintiffs had not proven facts suflicientto entitle them, totecoverj and (2) that, under a proper construction of paragraph 513 of section 2503 of the United States Revised Statutes! only unmanufactured articles were intended by congress to be included therein, and the uncontradicted evidence in the case tended to show, that the merchandise in suit, by whatever name they might'be called, were in fact ml\nufactures of horn. Counsel for plaintiffs also mo.ved fora,directiou of a verdict on, the ground that the articles in suit were commercially known as "horn strips," whether manufactured:'or ,not, and were included in the language of paragraph 513 of the free-list. Q)ursen Q)uTsen, for plaintiffs.
STONE t. THE JEWELL.
103
Edward MitcheU, U. S. Atty., and Henry O. Pzatt,'Asst. U. S. 'Atty., for defendant. LACOMBE, J. The construction contended for by the defendant would probably be the sound one if the word "unmanufactured" were found, at the end of the 513th parap;raph. Inasmuch, however, as the word "unmanufactured" is inserted in the middle of that paragraph, the natural inference w'ould be that the phraSe "horn strips and tips" covers both manufactured and unmanufactured horn strips and tips, provided they are not so advanced in manufacture as to become something, else. Apart from that, however, the case here is entirely clear upon other prinCiple, to-wit, that ofoommercial designation. The evidence shows conclusively that articles exactly like the articles in suit here were regularly by the trade prior to March 3, 1883; that they were universally known in the trade as "hornstripsi" imported as suchiaind, under the free-list enumeration of the successive tariff acte then in force, paid no duty. In view of that fact, it is to ,be assumed that when congress passed the act of March 3, 1883, it must have known that these articles were recognized in the trade as horn strips, and legis!ated accordingly. When, therefore, it used the words "horn strips" in the free-list we' are to assume it was entirely familiar with these articles, and included them within that term. Verdict directed, for plaintiffs.
STONE '/1. /
Tn '
JEWELL"
(Dt.8trlct OOWrt,S. D. Alabama. December 28,1889.)
1. ,
S:u.V..,GB-SERVIOE-DEFINITION.
I.
Salvage, as an act, is the relief of property from an impending peril of the lea by the voluntary exertions of those under no legal obligation to assist; and its merit varies with the peril of the property and difficulty of relief. . . .
SAME:....COMPENSATION.
Salvage, as a compensation, is a reward for meritorious Bervice in saving proPr erty in peril on navigable and is allowed as an encouragement to Buch en, deavorll· '
.. SAME:""BASIS OJ!' AWARD.
4. 15.
Salyage oompensation Bhould be liberal, but not extravagant; and, where the,circumstances Bhow the Bervice to be of a low degree, it may be diminished tomera wages. If the peril is not in fact implinent, but is thought to be BO by the master, andha requests assistance, the ship cannot ,refuse to pay for the services then rendered; on the ground that the vessel would have been saved without them. ,
SAME--'-REQUEST OF MASTER .PO:\!. ABSISTA.NCE.
SAME-VESSEL ,AND CARGO.
The vessel is not liable for the proportion of salvage due by the cargo; and,on Ii libel against the vessel alone, no award can be made agaiD.st the cargo for its pro'o portion. . ,
In Admiralty. Libel on a claim for alleged salvage serviceatOa Bteam-boaton the Alabama river. IBeportedby Peter J. Hamilton,Esq., of the Mobile bar.