The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-08-02
UPSET THE COURT.
Wives Of the Supreme Justices De-
eide that Anchovy Paste Is
Not Sauce


An important CASE, involving the uues-
ton What is a sauce" was decided by
the Supreme court Of the United State
not long ago i'll way satisfactory 10 a
| certain New York firm, but the records
| of the court fail to explain how the d"
ci>ion WAS rcarh' d. 1t ha; just trar,-
pred that the judges had reached an "is-
posite opinion, and Justice Gray~was to
write their decision that fish past" was
~auc", When il" happened to mention thu:
cas-" t" iiis wife and. changed his mind.
IsNh"n the other judges consulted their
1awiveS they also clia1Ige,l ff,.ir nljllds f
ana :" the Supreme court of the L uited
4 States bad to reverse it, Judgment Oh
sauc. III" p,artic;l common s"n>t' ni
1 The i'9uaei'"l upset the eutire judicial
bench. and Justice Gray was instructed
paste Is not a salc".
! lib" ca"" Was brought by William r.
Boyle. Ruluf Lylese Alexander Scott and
I5William 7. Boglt, plaintiffs i'll error
against the cnll"ctor Of the I"r, nf New
York. The suit MAS t. r.cnv"r III exc. -
81 duties paid upon goods imported as
| hsh paste. The custom I',la,. H.s,ts>,pI
| theag"o'l- IS 'rauces.' At he trial in 1n
| circuit court Oh" of the plaintiffs testified
that tn" -"o'iS W +" Imported as .hnrl,"v!
taste and 'bloat"r paste Webster.
dictionary Was quoted to fix the ,lctintirn
of sauce and III spit" Of tn" evidence
| that arho,y past" and ll"ater past" Wrr"
"Ot rrcognlztd in trad" sources. tn"
circuit court directed that . vrr,l't IL"
rntered for the collector Of thr port. un
the ground that III" term ''s:,n'.rS Of all
kinds i'll the tariff act was 10 be. taken
i'll tn" ordinary meaning and not in i.
trade meaning
Then came the hearing before the -S,l
prtIne court. the only jlisti'" absent be
ing; Justics. Jackson
| Justice Fields story.
Justir" Field interrupted the pr"'r'I
ilgS on"" to tell story NJ which tl.'
alleged sauce reminded him
| FINER" WAS once Il young Irl>lIln1n. IN
9TH or Of the English innccr<. who hal
served with Wellington in the prnill~,ilar
Var. ~a!l the j,l'l4e. It pom his return be
attended Il dinner and wa~ asked by h.
nelgh''or, a bnriy Young English officer.
1T ne would nave SOME Of til" an hrvI"~
/ Indeed and | will !, >,pil.l.el tho
1ancpr have seer them growing IN
Spain
"Hmwing: repeated the other i'll sur
prise.
YES growing. r"turn"1 the celt. "x
aSprat,tl at tn" In' St"n. Nv" sell
| them. too.
~; 'lon are crazy. man. eiarnlat"d III"
Briton. Anrh"vi"> don't grow on
bushes: they swim in tn" sea-
9Th" 1ri>hman. already hot with WING.
gave the other the lie. and tn. nevitale
wer" placed next morning tn" Ir<h1nan.
second whispered t" him. Shoot low. ms
boy and see him cut MP caInrs
"At that word til" 1ri>l'nan cried out
'Hnlh. | am WRONG. 1t WAS caWr>. not
| anchovicS. | Jaw growing in 81 ain.
Ting ,,p:lSal IA ru,l,. In fh,.
was much enjoyed. and the SPECTATORS
We're 50 interested Ill th'. nurrnln" that
they took side and several of tI,'~ who
knew what anchoYy past" took tho
! opposition. on the sauce side. down Ia
! ChambrrIins and gave them substantial
proof. washed down with III" ru<r"mar.
| sparkle.
What the Judges Decided.
| After the arguments Were. r,,nrl,rl".l
the judges considered tb" points; and w"r"'
Il unit i'll favor of npll"ldn. th. decision
Of tn" lower court. and the definition If
| Nehster'S Unabridged dicti"uary. and
making Mes<rS. Boyle ct ~. pay ~ ,.I
| cent. adj ralrrrm on '>aut.
.JuSt'" Gray was awarded the, !1nIr,rt-
ant duty of writing III" decision in ;,r,.,i'i
| nnce with this view. and when b. went
homo that night he mentioned 'hr rIH'
ter to Mrs Cray. at tn" sam tim. r"llin.
| Justice Fields story
| When Mrs. Gray learned that ~" -,..tt
| Suprsna. court was going to tlecid. 1l,t
fish paste was sauce all tn" domestic VIZ
or in her soul WAS arnu>'rl. anl >h" II"
ceedtI to rra'l her DISTINGUISHED <Irl~.
| such a l"ctnr" upon the c'liSint and tn.
constituents entering into it that he began
to WAIVER. In Il calm anil lrn"tratiu,
manner she held up the delicious effects
fish uaste would have on Il tender head CT
| lettuce and described its palate pul>ltinc
delight when freely embellllnc chicken
salad
Sauce. indeed" said Mrs. Gray. SO
are sardines and smoked r,I herring.
4 them.
What Their Wives Decided.
Next day. when Justice Gray r.A"h"'
tho Supreme court he called his '-,la.u.
together and acquainted tlr III with ;h,
feminine view Of tn" sauce question:
You ar" all married m.'n lik" myself
he said. "anI mayi" you'd better ~.un.l
Your wives ln fol-" We mak" Il j,r"""'l nj
about anchovy and h"atrr paste being
sauce
This was agreed Ia, an! next day .i-hr
| juStirrS of the Slprem" court MT and ~n!-
emily concurr,l that til. 'u>tnlu> d. ,A1.
ment of the United States and the cir ut
court of The Southern district of New
York and NehsterS | nanidged Drtinil
airy didn't know anything moro about
| what sauce WAS than Il tnntit did about
the Pcntattuch. If Justice Jack>"n had
been there he would have aclui">,rrl. t.,
Did Mrs. Gray Help:
| Accordingly Justice Gray wrote an
other decision. OF course Supreme court
justices write their own ullni"ll> hu,
| there are hints in some of the para graphs
! ensuing of Il pair "f frminll" eyes "'k
| ing over his shoulder. Here is part "f
| the interesting document:
The word sauce. as commonly used.
designates 4 condiment, generally. but
not: railways of liquid form, eaten AZ an al
j a..
food. to give it flavor anu make it NOR"
palatahlr: and is not applied IT, anything
which is eaten. either alone nr with a
bit of bread either for its own SAX" "n'y
or to stimulate the appntlt" for Other
food to be eaten aftrrward. For inst rnr,'.
cheese eaten with bread or han or chi, k
en- eaten in Il sandwich. or anrh"vi',> -:
| behring's. caviar or Shrv,lS nf sal! tl~h.
caten. whether with or without bread.
as an appetizer before a meal would hard
ly he called Il sauce
"In the dictionary of Webster. r, fcrr,rl
to ut the trial. the primary definition Of
sauce is accordingly given as 4 mixture
or composition to he eaten with food tnr
improving its relish: a relishins conli-
mrnt: appttiziny addition IT, the principal
| material "t Il dish.
AT the trial thu, plaintiffs introduced
| evidence that the goods in question were
manufactured out of anchevieS or hlnat-
erS. ground up and >pired: We're used as
| food in Il distinct form. or as m ap,..-
| tizer. principally ia L sandwich. vi >nlr,,-
| times with 4 era, kcr. and not as Il cunli-
| mtnt. and were specifically known aS
'anchovy paste ana 'hl"a'rr paste anil
that i'll trade and commerce the wrrGl
sauce was applied 10 liquids only. and
| not to these paSteS,
| Tho circuit court. in directing 4 verdict
| for the defendant. ruled, in substance
| that as a matter Of law and without re-
| gard to commercial usage. these articles
came within the words sauces of all
| kinds in the tariff act We art. unable
| to concur in that view or to say either
nt our Judicial knnwlrlsr nr in view Of
| thr evidence introduced. that those ar
| tcleS are necessarily. sauces of any kind:
! still less. that, this Is So clear as to eN-
| cludc the usual test of commercial ,ls,:s:
| nation. >
'On the contrary. wez.are of opinion
| that the evidence, of the nature, and the
| use of thr>e@articleS and of their com
mrrr!al designation would have warrant
ed a jury in Ending that they were not
kES.