T. D. 18256, 18296, 18303,18323,

sonal adornment, toilet articles, and similar personal effects in the baggage of persons arriving in the United States will subject such articles or merchandise to the additional duties provided for in section 7 of the administrative act, as amended by section 32 of the tariff act of July 24, 1897.

ART. 581. In case passengers are dissatisfied with the value placed upon articles brought by them in excess of $100, they should be advised of their right to make application for reappraisement within two days from time of ascertainment of value by the appraising officers, in order to have the question of value reviewed by a general appraiser.

ART. 582. The following rulings are cited for the information of all concerned:

(1) Bicycles, dress patterns, rowboats, ecclesiastical 18352, 18363,19448. robes, cameras, guns, etc., are not free of duty as personal effects, not being wearing apparel, articles of personal adornment, toilet articles, or similar effects of persons arriving in the United States.

Section 1. act of March 3, 1875.

(2) The oath or declaration to be presented to the officer of the customs at the port of arrival may be subscribed to before any notary public, justice of the peace, or officer of the customs empowered to administer oaths.

(3) No invoices are required for personal effects accompanying the passenger.

(4) Ladies' wearing apparel brought by a man is not free of duty, and vice versa.

(5) Personal affects of domestic origin not accompanying the incoming passenger are nevertheless free of duty, upon their identity as such being established, under paragraph 483 of the tariff act.

(6) No protest is required in the case of personal effects.

(7) Articles purchased abroad by residents of the United States must consist of wearing apparel, articles of personal adornment, toilet articles, or similar personal effects, to entitle them to free entry.

(8) Each member of a family is entitled to entry free of duty of $100 worth of personal effects purchased abroad.

(9) The personal effects must be of a character suitable to the station in life of the owner and the season of the

year.

FUR-SEAL GARMENTS.

ART. 583. Section 9 of the act approved December 29, T. D. 18718. 1897, prohibiting the killing of fur seals in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean provides as follows:

That the importation into the United States by any person whatsoever of fur-seal skins taken in the waters mentioned in this act, whether raw, dressed, dyed or manufactured, is hereby prohibited, and all such articles imported after this act shall take effect shall not be permitted to be exported, but shall be seized and destroyed by the proper officers of the United States.

ART. 584. In the case of passengers departing from and arriving in the United States, with fur-seal garments, it is prescribed

1. That all garments made in whole or in part of seal skins and taken from this country may be reentered on presentation of a certificate of ownership from the collector of customs at the port of departure, which certificate shall have been obtained by the owner of the garment by offering the garment to the collector for inspection before leaving this country and presentation of the following affidavit:

and that prior to the 29th day of December, 1897, deponent was owner of a fur-seal garment described as follows:

which was purchased of

18-.

at

on or about

Deponent further says that he intends to depart from the United States on or about embarking at the port of

-per

—, h-destination being- -, and with the present intention
to return to the United States on or about
with said
fur-seal garment in h― possession for personal use.

T. D. 21042.

Subscribed and sworn to before me, this [L. S.]

day of

This affidavit should be accompanied by a bill of sale or copy thereof, if obtainable.

3. Upon presentation to the collector of customs at the port of departure of an affidavit in the form above prescribed, he will issue a certificate of ownership in the following form:

FORM NO. 42.

OFFICE OF THE COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS,

No.

This is to certify that

Port of
residing at

has sub

mitted for my examination the following-described sealskin articles:

T. D. 18939, 18955.

T. D. 18921.

T. D. 18718.

18886.

[Here describe garment-, giving length, weight,

character, value, style of lining, etc.]
intends to leave this country for

about

―, per

on or

and to take the above-described article-, and return to this country with same in about [10-cent U. S. internal-revenue stamp.] This certificate is issued in compliance with Treasury regulations, Department Circular No. 214, dated December 30, 1897.

[L. S.]

Deputy Collector.

Certificates as above should be presented to the collector of customs on return of the passenger to the United States, and may be used at ports other than those at which issued. No fee will be exacted on the issuance of such certificates. An alphabetical record of such certificates should be kept in the custom-house, showing number, date of issue, name of passenger, name of outgoing vessel, and character of garment.

4. In cases of the arrival of residents of the United States returning from abroad with sealskin garments, but without certificates as above, it will be competent for the collector to take evidence, supported by affidavits, as to the date the garments came into the possession of the owner, and unless thoroughly satisfied that they were purchased prior to December 29, 1897, or made from skins taken in waters other than the North Pacific Ocean, or, if from those waters, prior to above date, the articles will be taken possession of and sent to the public stores for careful examination and inspection, in accordance with D. 18807, paragraph 5 of the regulations of December 30, 1897; and unless proof is produced within one year showing that the articles were not made from fur-seal skins taken in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean after December 29, 1897, the same shall be deemed prohibited and held subject to the orders of this Department for destruction in accordance with section 9 of the act.

5. Tourists or immigrants arriving from abroad with sealskin garments must present to the collector an invoice, certified by the United States consul, showing date of original ownership, in default of which the course laid down in paragraph 4 of these regulations will be pursued.

ART. 585. At the larger ports customs officers will be detailed to furnish to passengers the necessary blanks and instruct them in regard to declaring the contents of their packages. Inspectors duly designated will verify such declarations by an examination of the baggage as soon as landed, and dutiable articles found therein must be submitted by them to the appraiser, or officer acting as such, for appraisement, and any duty found due thereon

shall be assessed and collected by the collector's clerk and the articles delivered to their owner. No baggage shall be examined until the passenger has made the declaration required by law, nor can such declaration be amended or changed. Should such duties not be paid, the dutiable merchandise will be treated as unclaimed. No seizure shall be made in the absence of clear evidence of fraudulent intent. Baggage shall be examined on the deck or wharf and not in a cabin or stateroom.

ART. 586. Dutiable merchandise found in the baggage R. S., 2802. of a person arriving from a foreign country, which is not declared and which is so concealed as to indicate an intention to avoid the payment of duty, is forfeitable, and the owner is liable to a penalty equal to treble the value of such merchandise.

ART. 587. The baggage and effects of foreign and United States ambassadors and ministers and packages bearing a government seal are, by courtesy, exempt from examination and will be promptly landed and delivered.

ART. 588. The examination of passengers' baggage by the officers assigned to that duty must be strictly enforced, but care must be taken that the scrutiny be conducted with decency and propriety. Any examining officer guilty of intentional rudeness or disrespect toward a passenger must be reported to the collector for discipline.

ART. 589. Unauthorized persons shall be excluded dur- T. D. 6841, 9119. ing the examination from the enclosure where it takes place, and all baggage not claimed within a reasonable time shall be sent under general order. The senior member of a family, if a passenger, may make one declaration for the family.

ART. 590. A statement must be made of all such collections, with the description and value of the articles and amount of duty paid, and all declarations of dutiable goods must, after being signed by the passenger and verified by the proper officers, be filed in the custom-house. This statement shall be checked with the initials of the collector's and naval officer's clerks, and the collector's clerk shall deposit it with the money received with the cashier, to be included with the cashier's daily receipts in the same manner as any other duty.

ART. 591. Vessels engaged in the coasting trade and touching at a foreign intermediate port must have a room set apart for coastwise baggage, which shall be closed and secured by customs locks and sealed by the officers of customs at the United States port of departure, to be opened

R. S. 3100, 3102.

T.

18701.

only by the proper customs officers at the port of arrival in the United States, and provided with a certified manifest of such baggage. All baggage arriving on such vessels not contained in such sealed compartment and duly manifested must be treated in all respects as from a foreign port.

ART. 592. All baggage of passengers from contiguous foreign territory shall be examined by an inspector at the port of first arrival, and if dutiable goods are found contained therein, the amount of duties shall be assessed and collected. If a passenger refuses to open the trunks or other envelopes containing his baggage, or to deliver the key's, the inspector shall open the baggage, and if dutiable articles are found therein, the trunks or envelopes, with their contents, shall be forfeited.

When practicable, baggage may be examined on cars or boats before arrival at the first port in the United States by inspectors placed on passenger trains and boats for the purpose, who will report to the collector at such port all dutiable articles.

ART. 593. With the consent of the foreign authorities, and under special authority from this Department, inspectors may be stationed at places in foreign territories to examine and pass at railroad stations or steamboat wharves baggage destined for the United States. The baggage so examined, if containing no dutiable merchandise, will be placed in a sealed car or compartment and a manifest be forwarded therewith.

ART. 594. Baggage in transit from place to place in the United States across foreign contiguous territory by railroad lines duly bonded may, after being corded and sealed, be placed in sealed cars or compartments and carried through exempt from examination under the same regulations that apply to merchandise under like circum

stances.

D. 185834, In order to obviate the risk of detention it is directed that hereafter a card, as provided in the following article, shall accompany each piece of baggage to designate the date, check number, and place where manifested. In the case of examined baggage this card should also certify that there are no dutiable goods therein. One of such cards will be attached to every piece of baggage, thus doing away with the sheet form of manifests.

T. D. 6943.

T. D. 12486.

ART. 595. Passengers' baggage in trunks or similar envelopes may be transshipped for immediate export in charge of the surveyor, or forwarded by bonded express