The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-04-25
LOOKS LIKE PUI-UP Job.
GEORGE MITCHELSON'S TOBACCO
CONSIGNMENT NOT YET
RELEASED
FIVE BALES ONLY PASSED
Amateur Appraisers Badly Nfutilate
IN Few sBaGes-JeaIOusy of New
York Dealers May Be
Responsible.

George Nicholson, the St. Paul tobac-
conist. is still having trouble with the
internal revenue department over those
seventeen bales of tobacco which reach
ed st. Paul last week. He has. however.
managed to secure the inspection and re-
lease of five bales which he has forward
ed to the customers with apologies for
their general appearance.
When Collector of Internal Revenue
Peterson last week refused to follow the
custom of the department for years,
which was to allow his deputy to make
the inspection he said he would wire to
Washington and have a special appraiser
on the ground to look over the goods
Monday morning. Monday passed and no
appraiser put in an appearance. The fed
eral official then promised that the ap-
pratser would be on hand Tuesday, and
later that he would certainly be here
Wednesday. Mr.. Nicholson was urgent
ly in need of his tobacco. and, as no
appraiser had come. Mr.. Peterson decid-
ed to have the work done by local men.
Three St. Paul men, who were not men,
bers of the trade. were put to work yes
terday and began overhauling the con-
Slgnment, bale by bale. AT the conclu-
sion OF the days work, five bales were
turned over to Mr. Nicholson as being
filler tobacco, and they will resume the
oVerhaul1ng of the remaining bales to-
day.
While it is not known positively to be
TACT, there is a suspicion that this
change in the method of appraising to-
oacco is due to the large leaf importers
IN New York city. Every consignment of
tobacco to st. Paul is reported in their
trade journal in New York, and they
have discovered the fact that up to a
few weeks ago there had been purchased
by st. Paul tobacco men since the begin
ning or the year a quantity representing
one-th1rd of the entire amount imported
by Chicago during all of last year. ST.
Paul may have seemed to the New York
dealers to be rapidly becoming very
important manufacturing and distribute
ing center of tobacco. They themselves
in New York may have noticed the loss
IN business, hence, is is presumed, that
they nave been endeayoring with sue
cess, to hamper the trade in St. Paul
through the authorities in Washington.
No other reason can be surmised for
the change which has caused Mr.. Mitch
elson so much annoyance at this time.
The New York people may believe that
a Washington appraiser would be more
strict in his classification of the two
kinds OF tobacco than the local inspec-
tors have been. Tobacco comes in for
use as filler or for wrappers. The
duty on the filler tobacco is IS cents O.
pound, while the duty on that which is
suitable for wrappers is $LS5 a pound.
1t therefore makes considerable differ
ence whether tobacco which has been
purchased for use as filters should by
critical inspection be appraised as wrap
pers.
Speaking Of the trouble he has had,
Mr. Nicholson said last night:
Il have succeeded in getting five of the
bales inspected today, and when the ap-
pralsers got through with them they
looked as If they had gone through a
cyclone. Instead Of picking out one or
two bales, tearing them open and pass
ing upon them, as has been the practice,
these appraisers tore open each bale. A
bale of tobacco cannot be examined
without damaging the tobacco to great
er or less extent. The result is 1 am. not
only Inconvenience in securing the goods
promptly as heretofore, but when do
get them they are all more or less in
jured by the overhauling. intend to
bring the matter to the attention of the
Minnesota members at washington,