The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-12

| imposed on the various imporlations.
But the actual work Is accomplished,
not on the piers, not at the architecture
ally beautiful custom house. but in the
appraisers warehouse. The general
public has little konweldge of how
| these custom inspectors work.
| The duties are assessed according 10
the value OF the article imported, on
the basis of weight or measurement.
or according to both quantity ana
value, and IL is the appraisers duty to
verify weights, measurements and tie
contents of packages as shown by the
| invoices. and to see that each is class
flied according ito the customs tariff.
One of the clerks at the stores re-
ceives the invoice OF the foreign ex
porter and from that he estimates the
preliminary duties But the law re-
quires 10 per cent or one case of mer-
chandise out of 10. to be taken to the
appraisers store for actual sxamina-
| tion.
The entry clerk designates the 1c
cases he considers are most representa-
tive. Within As hours after actual ar
rival the other 90 per cent Is on its
way to the importer. The law requires
and the theory is that he holo this an
| tact. but, owing to business necessities,
this has become dead letter.
Seven Grand Divisions
The goods are carted to the store at
they are distributed among the respect
i've floors. At the head of the tre-
mendous customs organization, which
examines goods ranging from radiu1n
to toothpicks, is the appraiser, Fred
lerick A. Higgins, and the special deputy
/ appraiser. Henry NJ. Clapp. There also
| are two deputy appraisers and seven
iassistant appraisers. The Organization
lis divided into seven grand divisions.
One concerns itself with textiles and
all manufactures of fabrics and raw
materials that compose them. another
with tobacco. another with liquids, and
others with metals, wood, etc.
All the appraisers and examiners are
lhighly qualified experts, for In fixing
the ad valorem duty they must be able
to determine exactly the value of the
goods. Each examiner has q certain
classification assigned to him and he
must be able to tell of just what ma
terial or materials the article is made,
Ihow much the materials are worth in
the market from which they came, and
Lust what was the value of the labor
lexpended upon them.
Not only that. but he must know the
market value of material and labor at
time of shipment This must he deter
mined on his own knowledge and not
ON the word of the shipper, for he
might have to go into court TO back
lup his statements.
In order to make this possible the
appraiser receives information from ev-
cry portion of the globe. He receives
trade papers and frequent reports from
consular agents.
Then, too. scores of investigating
lagents of the United States treasury
department report, while in Now York
lefty the employees of the stores are
lcontinrally making the commercial
rounds in order to ascertain condi-
tions.
All the fashion papers from Paris,
Berlin and Vienna are read from cover
to cover in order to get a clear idea
lof the probable movement of the mar
ket. up or down, in silks. laces, linens
Ietc. The gem experts study the sta
tistics of diamond production in South
Africa.
Has to Know Goods
The appraiser not only has to know
values. but he has to know goods as
we'll. For instance. in the textiles de-
Ipartment. the examiner must be able to
tell whether a piece of goods contains
cotton linen or silk and in what pro-
portion. Having determined this. he
must know the quality of the material
If it is silk. he must determine whether
the silk is artificial or natural: IL silk,
what kind of silk, and where 1t comes
from.
| If he is in doubt about the matter,
The refers a sample to the laboratory,
| where the fabric is subjected to a
Ichemical test in order to determine, ac-
Icurately its composition. So careful are
they In the examination of textiles
that the threads in. the article are
counted and the yarns tested, while in
laces and In embroideries such as those
from ST. Gall. Switzerland. for instance
even the number of stitches In the pat
tern are counted
Take the examination of tea; no duty
pure to enter this country. In the tea
room of the stores. 100000 samples of
tea must be tested per year, which rep
resents an import of about $4,000, 900
pounds. During the test of the tea many
Icups are set upon table. each cup
containing a different sample of tea
identified by number at the bottom
of the cup, and one sample of the STAN
ldard tea.
The examiner arranges the cups ac-
cording to the color and taste, and
after the grading is done the samples
are thrown away and the cups turned
upside down to show the Identifying
numbers. All the samples on one side of
the stapdard are passed as good tea.
while Those on the other side are re-
Ijected. p
Test Is Repeated
To make sure that no error has been
made the test is repeated with a Sec
!onu set OF SdIllpltS, anu III OrlcT 10 de-
ltect any pigment the leaves are
lmashed on piece of white papers
which is next examined with a micro
scope for faint spots Of co1oring mat
tier.
One of the most tedious tests is that
of sugar. The tariff on sugar depends
upon the proportion of cane sugar the
samples contain, and this is determined
accurately by means OF a polariscope,
which analyses the light that passes
Through samples of the sugar syrup.
The chemical laborato are con-
lstantly engaged testing liquors to find
the proportion of alcohol used. while
metals are searched chemically for their
alloys, vanadium, titanium. chromium
and other unpronounceable and unheard
of constituents. Quantities and quail
tative analyses of acids, alkalies and
drugs are made, and groceries. liquid
and solid. are weighed, measured and
,anaylzed.
4 How important is this careful exam
fnation, and how much money it saves
the government Is obvious when 1t is
learned that the examiners last year
fixed $1,000. 9.319.S8 additional TO what
the invoices called for and a knowl-
edge on the part OF the importers of
the difficulties Of evading the law, and
the danger of attempting to do so, led
them of their own volition, to pay an
additional duty of $3.3S7.551.90
Although as a general rule only 10
per cent of the goods must be exam