The Washington herald., 1909-02-28

Fru1 the Sez Tozk Tribus
A modern treasure house is TIE New
York building whose ten acres OF floor
space are heaped with silks and rugs.
teas and diamonds, old masters and
sugar. Donderous machinery and fragile
china, pianos. drugs. salt fish, mumraies.
butterflies, dynamite, orchids, and what
ever else is produced BY the Industries OF
the world. Yet nothing Is for sale on the
premises, nor IS the public invited to
view the wondrous products Of every
cline. Every day the whole collection.
worth perhaps q million dollars, IS hus-
tied out OF the building. and q new Iot OF
staples and curios is brought r. A big
Job and a strange procedure Is It the fan
tastic whin Of q multi-millionaire TO gioat
upon a banquet Of world commerce.
changing the menu every day?
Not exsctly- Your Uncle Samuel owns
the building and orders the layout. II he
gloats while he examines. Il Is not with
out a shrewd calculation Of profit. FOR in
years when business Is good he nets
about $290.ooo,0oo a year By looking over
al these articles, So much are the Gus
toms duties. or cne-quaTter the total
value OF the merchandise imported here.
The collection al the United States ap-
pTa1Ser's warehouse. an armory-Iike struc-
ture that you notice at the CHRISTOPHER
street station Of the Ninth avenue eIe-
waited road. is certainly vast and bevyiI-
oering. but Il represents only 10 per cent
OF all goods imported. II these are only
samples. what q monumental heap the
total COnsignments would r1akzI II Il
takes a full regiment Of men now 10 ap-
praise the samples, il would require an
army corps TO handle II all
School as Well as Warehouse.
Greater than department store OF uu-
scum, the appraisers warehouse Is also
university where such branches as chem
istry and art, metaIlurgy and music. are
taught 70 perfection. The graduates r.
ceive no degree, but they are likely 70 De
enrolled IN the staff Of one hundred ex-
pert examiners and get the average sal
ary OF college professors. t Is sonethfng
OF liberal education for g visitor 10
look and smell around the building for
Few days Some years OF smelling made
K J. Fearns tea expert. and an assfir-
Gus looking at canvases qualified Charles
K Hecht 10 pick out masterpieces from
caseful Of 6aCbs- The delicate nose and
the esthetic eve were trained solely in the
government service, and while tee own
erS were occupied with subordinate d7l-
ties II you have & good sense OF touch.
Try for messengership OF something
In the textile department. ard you nav
feel yourself into a desirable position.
II IS rUnored that tariff rates are going
70 be pied" That would mean A ior, q
readjustment Of the infinitely conpiicsted
machinery OF appraisal. To change All
tne textbooks OF a university at once &
hard on the professors Men have almost
gone mad figuring the conundrurs oF
the present schedule. Is an irnfts+ie1
stone dutiable a - per cent a6 vaIorer,
as fake jewel or 50 per cent as deco
rated china2 Is a sofa q piece OF FIR
niture at low rate or embroidery at a
nigh hgure7 Would you tax a Iarp *
per cent for its metal base or s. pe- cen
Tor It's glass chimney II this article *
a smokers ash tray il comes high bur
Il may be something else. The manicure
set IS a maddeniRg riddle. being con-
posed CT leather dUtisble Al . per cent.
metal at q and mirror at 50 per cent
Importer as Humorist.
The importer is q sly hunorsst. be has
fun st the expense OF the examiner
knowing that duty is assessed according
to chief value" OF an article. and that
cotton textiles are listed much chespa-
than silk, he may order. q lot OF woven
goods that contain one tiny strand more
Of cotton than silk. The expert has 70
play Sherlock Holmes with he micro
scope and count all the strands. and ha
may ne able - prove that the Joke is On
the importer 10 the runs OF several thou-
sand dollars. II the goods contain an in
fnitesimsl fraction above % per cent of
silk they are classed as silk Everything
seems TO be considered fair IN the strug-
gle between importer and appraiser
When the government vas beaten n
court n IT'S attempt to collect Ss1a COS
duty OF a new artificial six which it
classified as silk. Il brought the importer
70 speedy terms by threatening 70 call
the stun cotton and charge four times
as much, estimating the duty on the
basis OF the very numerous threads IN
the new substance
Once there was an ANTIQUE vase .bat
wandered into the ceramic department.
The examiner intuitively felt that Il had
twin that would enhance the value Of
both So he kept the vase FOR sorse
months, and when its mate came across
from another point IN Europe he put
them together and marked q good round
valuation for the pair Similar was the
case Of the Leeds necklace. involving
Sll0ooa. and which is stiIl in litigation.
with the latest decision IN favor OF the
government Small lots Of loose pearls
kept coming into the devisi0n. which Is
IN charge Of Assistant Appraiser Ma
than. As precious stones they were du-
table al 20 per cent. but the expert saw
an affinity between those pearls, and he
saved them until he coslld match them up
as rars and costly necklace. classified
as jewelry at 50 per cent. Not the string
makes necklace, but the expensive -
lection Of stones matched and graduated.