MILLER V. SEEBERGER.
261
laid into floors in corridors, halls, etc., of public and private houses; but there is no language used in the which determines the size of a marble paving. tile, or whether it shall be polished before importation, and several of the witnesses who were examined in the case on behalf of defendant say they understand by the term "marble paving tile" small slabs of marble, adapted to be laid into such floors as I have named, . the smaller ones being from one and a half to two and a halfinches square, or in octangles or triangles. There being no specification in the law as to the size of marble paving tile, it seems to me that the article in question assimilates more nearly in its use, as well as in the material of which it is composed, to "marble paving tile" than to any other description used in the law. I am therefore of opinion that the collector erred in assessing these bits of marble as a manufacture of marble, and that they should have been assessed as marble paving tiles, to which they are certainly more analogous than anythiug else described. .
MILLER
v.
SEEBERGER,
Collector.
(Oircudt Court, N. D. nUnoiB. JUly 81, 1890.) CUSTOMS DUTIES-CLASSIFICATION-BROWN GREASE.
The fatty matter known as "de gras, .. or brown grease, obtained from wool in the process of cleansing, and principally used by tanners for stuffing leather, which remains of about the solidity of lard at the Ol'dinary temperature, is not dutiable as an "expressed" or "rendered" oil, under the tariff act of March 8, 1883, cl. 92, (Heyl,) but as grease "not specially enumerated," under clause 437.
At Law. Shuman
<to Defree8, for complainant. W. G. Ewing, U. S. Dist. Atty., for defendant.
BLODGETT, J. Plaintiff imported an article known as "de gras/, or brown grease, upon which the collector assessed a duty at .the rate a! 25 per cent. ad valorem, as "expressed oil" or "rendered oil," under clause 92 of HeyJ's Arrangement of the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883. PlaiMiff insisted that the article in question was dutiable under clause 437 of Heyl, which reads: "Grease, all not specially enumerated or provided for in this act, ten per centum ad valorem,"-:-paid the duties under protest, appealed to the secretary of the treasury, by whom the actior). of the collector was affirmed, and now brings this suit in apt time to recover the excess of duties so paid. The proof shows that the commodity in question is the fatty matter which is obtained from wool in the process of cleansing Jar manufacture, it being perhaps well known that all wools contain more or less of this peculiar fatty substance,and of late years it has become the usage, among manufacturers of woolen goods, especially in France, Germany, and Belgium, to save thisfatt)T, or grea:sy' 'lUbstance, and it has gone into use, mainly by tanners, for stuffing
262
FEDERAL REPORTER,
vol. 44.
,leather. It iil not a liquid or fluid oil, but at the ordinary temperature n,laintainsabout the same degrlile of solidity as lard. It has some peculiar qualities,-for instance, only a small proportion of it will unite with alkali and form soap, and yet it is very penetrating, and makes leather very soft and pliable. It is not, as the proof ShOWll, an "expressed oil" nor a "rendered oil," but it is gathered from the water with which the wool is washed by several processes, which have been lately put in use. The case bears, I think, wholly upon the question of fact as to ,w hether this is an "expressed" or "rendered oil." The ordinary defini,tion of oil is a fatty or oleaginous substance, which remains fluid in ordinary temperature; and by the term "ordinary temperature" in these definitions I think is meant the temperature at which the animal system comfortably exists. It does not mean a temperature so cool as that artificial heat is requisite for personal comfort, nor so warm that persons are uncomfortable by reason of the heut, but the ordinary temperature in which people work and study with comfort. The substance here in question is solid at this ordinary temperature, and hence it cannot, I think, be classed as an oil, but, by reason of the chief use to which it has so far been applied in this country, it seems to me to come clearly within the definition of "grease not otherwise enumerated," and should have heen assessed for duty at 10 per cent. ad valorem..
NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE V. TOWN OF GRENADA. (Oircuit CO'Un't. D. Oolorado. December 20, 1890.)
L
MUNIOIPAL CORPORATJONB-INDEBTEDNESS-BoNDS-ELECTTONS.
Gen. St. Colo. § 8312, subd. 6, (section 14 of the act concerning towns and cities,) empowers the city council to contract debts for cQrtain purposes, and declares that "no loan for any purpose shall be made except it be by ordinance .. " .. providing for the levying of a tax, "etc. Subdivision 66 authorizes the council to pass aU ordinances and rules, and make all regulations proper or necessary to carry into effect tl::e powers granted to cities or towns. 8ubdivisions 68, 70, and 76 confer various powers and provide for their being carried into effect by ordinance. Sect1.on 15 declares that "municipal corporations shall have power to make and publish .. .. .. ordinances .. " " for carrying into effect or discharging the powers and duties conferred by this act." Held, that an election for funding municipal indebtedness providing for tj:J.e issue of bonds should be called by ordinance, though section 3419, which prOVides for the funding of municipal indebtedness, does not 'expressly declare that the submission of such question to the voters shall be by ordinance.
lI.
SoUlE-ORDINANCES-PUBLICATION.
Under the provision of section 14, that ordinances providing for a loan of the city's credit "shall be irrepealable until the indebtedness tnerein provided for sball be fully paid," such an ordinance is of "a general and permanent nature," within the meaning of section 25, which provides that ordinances of that nature 'Shall not be in force" until the expiration of five days after II publication. OverrulJ,ng 41 Fed. Rep. 87. ,
8.8.uf1!-CONSTRUCTION OF STATUTE.
Section 25 provides that" all by-laws of a general or permanent nature and those ,imposing any fine. penalty, or forfeiture shall be pUblished .. .. "t and it shall