The times., 1901-05-21
SOME IMPORTANT RULINGS.
interesting Opinions Handed Down
by the Supreme Court.


! The Supreme Court of the United States,
! after announcing opinions yesterday, took
a further recess until Monday next, when
| adjournment will be taken until October.
Ihe application for another hearing in
| the celebrated insurance case of SaIlie L.
| HHlmon against the Connecticut Mutual
| Lie insurance Company was also grant
| ca ana VIII be heard next term. Mrs.
| HHlihon suit for payment of a $1,000 pol
| icy on the life Of her husband has been
pending since 1880 and has been before
the supreme Court once before. The COM
pany resiSts payment on the claim that
Hlllmon is still alive and that there was
conspiracy to defradd The record in
the case is the most voluminous filed in
the Supreme Court in many years.
The court declined to hear the appeal of
the Treasury Department from the de-
clsion of the Circuit Court of Appeals in
favor of Robert McBratney, a New York
importer. involving the classification and
duty on certain doilies, trayCloths. etc.
This action makes the decision of the Cir
cult Court OF Appeals final and will cause
the refunding OF a large amount of duty
which has been collected on these articles
under the higher classification. More
than $500 invoices of these goods already
imported are affected by the decision, ard
the similar sections of the silk and cotton
schedules of the tariff act may also be
involved. The rate of duty depended upon
the construction of the words fabrics
and articles as used in paragraph 346
of the Dingley act, under which. accord
ing to the decision of the Court of APP
peals, doilies, etc, are to pay lower rate
when imported in the piece than as sep
arate articles.
The court granted the request Of the
States of Kansas and Colorado for per
mission to bring suit to determine the
rights of those States in the Arkansas
River in the diversion of its waters for
irrigation purposes.
The application of Deacon" s. V.
White. of New York, for rehearing of
his appeal in the case brought to test the
legality of the stamp tax on calls was
denied by the court. In a recent decision
the court affirmed the opinion of the low
er courts holding calls taxable as
agreements to sell.
In the case of the American Sugar Re-
lining Company against the United States
involving the assessment of duty on sugar.
the court affirmed the ruling of the Board
of General Customs Appraisers and the
courts below in favor of the United
States. The sugar was shipped from Bra
zil while green and by draining during
the voyage lost in weight and gained IN
value. When duty was assessed at the
higher value the importers appealed
The question whether imported bottles
exported as ingredients of bottle beer
was decided in the negative in the case
of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company
against the United States, appealed from
the Court Of Claims. The question OF al
lowing drawback on the imported hops
and barley contained In the beer was also
involved, but these the court held were in
gradients within the meaning Of the tarim
act. and the drawback was allowed
The bottles and corks. said Justice
Brown, were simply the packages. Bottled
beer was still beer, made of the same in
gradients as ordinary beer, and to speak
of the bottles and corks as ingredients OF
the beer was an abuse of language.
Attorney General Knowlton Of Massa-
chusetts asked the court to dismiss the
application of Luigi Storti for a writ of
habeaS corpus, and a stay of execution of
a sentence of death for the murder of
Michele CaIucCi in Massachusetts, in 1893
Storti was sentenced to die by electrocu-
ton and his counsel based the application
on the ground, among others, that that
mode of punishment was cruel and unus-
ing to dismiss the appeal, claimed that 1t
was frivolous, and made solely for the
purpose of delay. The cIse was taken
under advisement.
Chief Justice Fuller announced the de-
cision of the court to hear at the next
term arguments in the case growing
ont of the refusal of the court below to
hold Leo Alexandroff, as deserter from
the Russian cruiser Variag. The CON
struction of the treaty between the Uni
ted States and Russia and the jurisdiction
of consular courts in such matters are in |
YOlved.