Stirn v. United States

The merchandise in the present case consists of spun silk wound upon beams. The beams are wooden cylinders from 4 to 6 feet long having iron caps fastened to their ends. These may be set into the .bearings of a loom and the threads fed therefrom in the process of weaving. The beams are used repeatedly in making such importations until the caps become loose from wear, when they are regarded as worn out and are thrown away. They are said to be the only kind of beams upon which spun silk is imported into this country.

The collector assessed the silk with appropriate specific duty as spun silk in…