CONTENTS. CHIP, GRASS, STRAW, ETC. (OTHER THAN INDIA RUBBER). [Bone, horn, and combs of horn or horn and metal. See paragraph 369.] INDIA BUBBER, HARD RUBBER, AND DRUGGISTS' SUNDRIES. Summary. Summary table.. Description and uses... Domestic production- Geographical distribution. Exports. Foreign production. Imports.. Prices.. Tariff history. Tariff considerations. Statistical tables: Domestic production Boots and shoes, by States.. Belting, packing, and hose, by States. Total rubber manufactures.. Imports, by countries India rubber manufactures. Gutta-percha manufactures. India rubber and gutta-percha manufactures. Straw and grass manufactures. Palm leaf manufactures. Palm leaf (natural). Chip manufactures. Quill manufactures. Whalebone, unmanufactured. Imports for consumption Druggists' sundries.. Hard rubber manufactures. Gutta-percha manufactures.. India rubber manufactures, n. s. p. f. Automobile tires.... Rubber sponges. Drinking straws.. Manufactures of grass and straw, n. s. p. f. Palm leaf (manufactures). IVORY, MOTHER-OF-PEARL, SHELL AND HORN AND MANUFACTURES MANUFACTURES OF CHIP, GRASS, HORN, PALM LEAF, QUILLS, STRAW, WEEDS, OR WHALEBONE, N. S. P. F. GENERAL INFORMATION. 1913 TARIFF PARAGRAPHS. PAR. 368. Manufactures of bone, chip, grass, horn, india rubber or gutta-percha, palm leaf, quills, straw, weeds, or whalebone, or of which any of them is the component material of chief value, not otherwise specially provided for in this section, shall be subject to the following rates: Manufactures of india rubber or gutta-percha, commonly known as druggists' sundries, 15 per centum ad valorem; manufactures of india rubber or gutta-percha, not specially provided for in this section, 10 per centum ad valorem; palm leaf, 15 per centum ad valorem; bone, chip, horn, quills, and whalebone, 20 per centum ad valorem; grass, straw, and weeds, 25 per centum ad valorem; combs composed wholly of horn or of horn and metal, 25 per centum ad valorem. The terms "grass" and "straw" shall be understood to mean these substances in their natural state and not the separated fibers thereof. PAR. 369. * * * manufactures of *** vulcanized india rubber known as "hard rubber," or of which these substances or any of them is the component material of chief value, not specially provided for in this section, 25 per centum ad valorem. PAR. 643. Whalebone, unmanufactured. Horn and manufactures of, and combs of horn or metal (treated under paragraph 369). Manufactures of India rubber, druggists' sundries, and vulcanized rubber known as "hard rubber" (treated separately, see p. 9). DESCRIPTION AND USES. This paragraph includes a considerable variety of manufactures of chip, grass, palm leaf, quills, straw, weeds, and whalebone, the qualification n. s. p. f. not restricting narrowly the number of items. Among articles held dutiable are mats made of braids of straw sewn together with cotton; millinery ornaments consisting of natural straw twisted together loosely and looped or tied, used as centerpieces in the crowns of straw hats; palm-leaf baskets; baling twine consisting of two strands of grass braided; bottle covers and caps of palm leaf; and so-called paintings on straw mattings. Horn and horn strips are used chiefly for making combs, knife handles, buttons, and various novelties, such as napkin rings. Whalebone is a light, flexible, strong substance obtained from the plates with which baleen whales are equipped instead of teeth. The plates vary in length from a few inches to 10 or 12 feet. Chemically it is composed of albumen hardened by phosphate of lime. From it are made bristles for brushes and stuffing for mattresses; knobs for canes, umbrellas, and parasols; whips and artificial flowers; and formerly umbrella ribs and stiffening for corsets. It has been supplanted by steel in umbrellas, while gutta-percha, celluloid, and similar material are used in dressmaking. PRODUCTION. Official production data are lacking in most cases. The domestic whalebone catch is entered chiefly at Alaska and Washington. In 1914 the total reported was 58,000 pounds; in 1916 it was 36,624; and in 1918 it was 9,250, the last amount being entirely from Alaska. EXPORTS. Manufactures of straw and palm leaf are the only articles for which exports are shown in official sources. In 1920 these amounted to $1,602,941, and since 1913 have averaged $900,000. They are chiefly to Canada, Cuba, and South America. Whalebone is exported to some extent to England, Canada, and France. IMPORTS. Manufactures of quills imported consist largely of quill toothpicks Products of palm leaf, straw, and grass are the largest imports of this class, averaging since 1913 about $400,000, or less than half the average exports of the same item. Canada, China, and Japan are the chief sources. Imports of chip articles were small prior to 1914, but increased to $53,000 in 1919 and over $100,000 in 1917 and 1918. Imports of manufactured whalebone are nil, but the unmanufactured material is imported from Russia and Canada, and lately from the Falkland Islands. TARIFF HISTORY. Under the act of 1883 baskets and all other articles of grass, palm leaf, whalebone,. * * * or straw were dutiable at 30 per cent ad valorem; the act of 1890 made manufactures of bone, chip, grass, horn * * * palm leaf, straw, weeds, or whalebone, n. s. p. f., dutiable at 30 per cent ad valorem; this was reduced to 25 per cent under the act of 1894 but again increased to 30 per cent by the act of 1897. The act of 1909 added manufactures of quills and increased the duty to 35 per cent. Under the present act manufactures of palm leaf are dutiable at 15 per cent; manufactures of bone, chip horn, quills, whalebone, at 20 per cent; and manufactures of grass, straw, and weeds, at 25 per cent. |