Schiff v. United States

On January 18, 1906, the appellants imported into this country a quantity of plateaux, which are flat, circular bodies composed of straw braids and used in the manufacture of straw hats. They are made in various sizes; the representative sample first put in evidence is 22 inches in diameter. However, some are larger and some smaller than that size.

*90The collector held the importation to be untrimmed straw hats, dutiable at 35 per cent ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 409 of the act of 1897.

The appellants duly filed their protest to this ruling and advanced various alternative claims…