The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-12-05
collectors Make Important Ruling.

Although no official notification has
been received as yet it now seems
practically certain that the duty on
steam plows will be reduced from As
to 20 per cent For a long time the
Treasury Department has contended
that steam plows should be classed as
manufactured iron for which no pro-
vision has been made, paying a duty
of 45 per cent, instead of CHASING them
with ordinary plows. for which the du-
ty is only 20 per cent. The local Gus
toms department at first classed steam
plows as plows with a 20 per cent duty.
but received notification that they
should be classed as manufactured
iron, the department arguing that they
could be put to use as traction engines
and other things for which an ordi-
nary plow could not be used. Collector
of the Port Stackable did all in his
power to persuade the department that
a steam ploW was a pillow, and not
traction engine, even taking the trou-
BILE of sending to the department de-
scriptions and pictures of the steam
plows and their working methods, but
it was all of no avail Steam plows are
very much used on the plantations of
these Islands, where they are absolute
~ necessary on the large sugar. estates
on account of their labor saving value,
and as these plowS can pillow much bet
ter and deeper than any pillow drawn
by animal power could do. The almost
prohibitive duty, however, made the
importation of these valuable engines
a costly thing.
The hardship of this immense duty
has also been felt very much in the
States, and finally OXnard, well
known sugar beet planter, decided to
attempt to have the ruling of the de-
partnent changed. To this end, he re-
paDfIN- rOI.te1 steam niOw To the
States through New Orleans, and put
up a sufficient bond to secure the pay
ment of the charge instead of paying
duty. The machine was taken to the
beet sugar estates, put together and
set TO work After it was working
Oxnard invited the collectors and ap-
praisers of both San Francisco and
New Orleans to come out and see the
machine at work, in order that they
could give q fair ruling as to whether
the steam pillow should be rated as
BLOW or otherwise After inspecting
the machine and its method of working
both the collectors of San Francisco
and New Orleans ruled that the steam
pillow should be claSSed as a pillow, and
consequently be subject to a duty of
only 20 per cent, and it is extremely
probable that, backed by the rulings of
these useful engines will be admitted
under the cheaper rate.
Shipping Notes.
The naval coal barges are now full
of coal and ready to be taken out to
the Wisconsin.
The sugar which the steamer Mil1a-
hala brought from Kauai yesterday
will be put on board the schooner
Rosamond. There are 5000 bags in all.
The steamer Mikahala. which arrived
from Kauai ports yesterday morning,
brought the following freight: 5000
bags sugar. $50 bags rice, and 20 pack
ages sundrieS.
Yesterday morning the steamer
Kauai came off the Marine Railway,
where she has been undergoing extern
sive repairs. She was taken over to
Emme's wharf, where the repairs are
to be finished. She will probably be
ready for the sea in a few weeks.
The captains of local Island steam
ers are complaining that the present
position of the Wisconsin makes the
entering of this harbor by night a very
difficult matter as the battleShip is
shutting off the fair way buoy, from
which these vessels generally take their
bearings.
It is evident that the drivers of the
watering carts on the waterfront have
an intense dislike for driving in the
dust. Yesterday clouds of dust which
equalled the Biblical dust pillar in
height and denseness made the Esplan-
ade exceedingly disagreeable, but no
watering cart hove in sight.