Gerhard & Hey Co. v. United States

3 Cust. Ct. 217, 1939 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1789
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedOctober 23, 1939
DocketC. D. 237
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 3 Cust. Ct. 217 (Gerhard & Hey Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gerhard & Hey Co. v. United States, 3 Cust. Ct. 217, 1939 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1789 (cusc 1939).

Opinion

Dallinger, Judge:

These are suits against .the United States, arising at the port of New York, brought to recover certain customs duties alleged to have been improperly exacted on particular importations described in the invoices as “1 MS 111 Echo Sounder Recording Installation complete with all accessories No. 1466.” Duty was levied thereon at the rate of $4.60 each plus 66 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 368 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as a recording instrument of the ldnd therein made dutiable at that rate. It is claimed that said article is properly dutiable at the rate of 27% per centum ad valorem under paragraph 372 of said act as a machine not specially provided for, or, alternatively, at the rate of 40 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 360 of said act as a surveying instrument.

At the first hearing held at New York City on January 10, 1938, the plaintiff offered in evidence the testimony of Morris Fred Ketay, chief engineer of the Bendix Marine Products Co. He testified that he was familiar with the instrument constituting the imported merchandise at bar. A diagram of said instrument was then admitted in evidence as Illustrative Exhibit A, and page 1 of a catalog issued by Henry Hughes & Son, Ltd., the manufacturer of said instrument, showing a photograph of the recording part of said instrument, was admitted in evidence as Illustrative Exhibit B.

The witness then testified that he had observed the installation of a similar instrument on the steamship Queen Mary, and also on the steamship Angol. Using Illustrative Exhibit A to assist him, the witness then described the operation of the instrument or apparatus at bar as follows:

You have a motor which has a rate of one-thirtieth horsepower. * * * That is driven by direct current at 115 volts. The speed is greater than the" speed which we normally require so we have reduction gears to cut the output speed to the recorder. In order to keep the speed of the motor constant within a range of accuracy on the instrument which is approximately five percent, we have a governor on the outside of the gear box.
* * * * * * *
That is “O.” * * * The motor, itself, does not have constant-speed characteristics. That is, it can go at any speed within 200 r. p. m., the rate of speed depending on the shaft of the motor, itself, and the friction in the bearings. In order to keep it at constant speed, we put the governor on, which acts on the balls and spreads them out or expands them and breaks a circuit if the motor goes beyond the speed necessary. The speed at which this motor is set is lower than the normal operating speed of the motor, but everytime the motor drops below that speed the circuit is closed by the governor, and the motor again picks up. So you have the motor running at a constant speed that may be 50 r. p. m., or whatever .it is, depending upon the normal operating speed of the motor.
* * * * * * *
[219]*219The power is transmitted from the reduction box, “B,” through the drum shaft, “C,” to the gear, this gear, to the drum “B.”
* * * and the drum “E,” rotates.
* * * the drum “E,” has a cam surface machined in it. As the drum, “E,”- rotates this cam surface pulls a pen up and hack, gives a pen a reciprocal motion across the extremes of the drum
* * * The drum, “E”, rotates at 90 r. p. m.
* * * In addition to rotating the drum, “E”, this drum shaft, “C”, proceeds down and drives the recording paper through another drum down at the lower end, * * * marked “N.”
* * * It (the record paper) * * * is sensitized paper, sensitized to electric current. * * * the stylus attached to the drum, “E”. That is an electrical stylus. The pen rolls or slides over the chemically treated paper, but the stylus only marks the paper when an electrical impulse is transmitted to the stylus.

At this point a sample of the recording paper was admitted in evidence ¿s Illustrative Exhibit C.

The witness then proceeded to testify as follows:

By Mr. McDonald:
Q. Now, will you please proceed to describe what function the power transmitted from the electrical motor to the shaft, “C”, performs for revolving the drum, “N”, carrying the sensitized paper? — A. First, the pen travels up and back along the paper, and the instant that the pen has reached the extreme left position this contact, which is designated as S-l, is closed. That closes the circuit to a power release which is not shown on this sketch, a sound-signalling mechanism fastened to the bottom of the boat. This mechanism generates sound which is supersonic and cannot be heard by the human ear. It is transmitted at the rate of 18,000 cycles a second. That sound travels down through the water until it hits a solid weight and it is then reflected back again to another mechanism similar to the transmitting mechanism.
Judge Dallingee. On another boat?
The Witness. On the same boat.
You have two mechanisms exactly alike; one acts as a transmitter and the other acts as a receiver of the sound energy. When the sound energy is received, it is converted by the receiver into manufactured electrical energy. That electrical energy is fed into a power amplifier, in a vacuum power amplifier, which increases the electrical energy, and it is fed back to this pen. If you will recall, I said that the pen travels to the extreme left position, and the second action happens when this pen is right at that edge of the paper. That is the contact, and with this contact you have the second action with the sound going down and coming up. All the time the pen is moving away from that edge. The time it takes for the sound to go down to the solid floor of the river or harbor, and the time coming up again is amplified and put on the stylus. At that time, there is a mark put on the paper. So that the stylus may be put here, some certain distance away from the electrical discharge, and you get the data on the paper.
Q. What does the length of the mark on the sensitized paper indicate? — A. It indicates the depth of the river or the ocean floor from the surface of the water.
Q. Do you know what the purpose of this apparatus is; what it is used for? Yes or no. — A. I do.
* * * * * * *
[220]*220Q. Will you tell the court for what purpose this apparatus is used?—
Judge Dallinger. Have you seen it used?
The Witness. I have seen it used.
A. To determine the depth of the ocean floor as it checks up against hydro-graphic maps.
* * * * * * *
Q. Is this apparatus used for making hydrographic maps? — A. It is.
Mr. Weil. That is objected to.
Judge Dallinger. How does he know that?
By Mr. McDonald:
Q. Have you seen hydrographic maps prepared with the use of this apparatus?— A. No; I have not.

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Related

Kelvin & Hughes America Corp. v. United States
53 Cust. Ct. 21 (U.S. Customs Court, 1964)
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41 Cust. Ct. 78 (U.S. Customs Court, 1958)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
3 Cust. Ct. 217, 1939 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gerhard-hey-co-v-united-states-cusc-1939.