ACT OF 1909-Continued.

not exceeding five inches in width, whether in long or short lengths, in coils or otherwise, and whether rolled or drawn through dies or rolls, or otherwise produced, and all other wire not specially provided for in this section, shall pay a duty of not less than 35 per centum ad valorem; on iron or steel wire coated by dipping, galvanizing or similar process with zinc, tin, or other metal, there shall be paid of 1 cent per pound in addition to the rate imposed on the wire of which it is made: Provided further, That articles manufactured wholly or in chief value of any wire or wires provided for in this paragraph shall pay the maximum rate of duty imposed in this section upon any wire used in the manufacture of such articles and in addition thereto 1 cent per pound: And provided further, That no article made from or composed of wire shall pay a less rate of duty than 40 per centum ad valorem; telegraph, telephone, and other wires and cables composed of metal and rubber, or of metal, rubber, and other materials, 40 per centum ad valorem ;

# wire heddles or healds, 25 cents per thousand, and in addition thereto, 40 per centum ad valorem.

ACT OF 1913-Continued.

dipping, galvanizing, or similar process with zinc, tin, or other metal; all other wire not specially provided for in this section and articles manufactured wholly or in chief value of any wire or wires provided for in this section; all the foregoing 15 per centum ad valorem; wire heddles and healds, 25 per centum ad valorem wire rope, 30 per centum ad valorem.

GENERAL INFORMATION.

ROUND IRON AND STEEL WIRE, PLAIN AND COATED.

Description and uses.-A large portion of the round iron and steel wire produced is converted to some other form, as wire nails, barbed wire, wire rope, etc.

Production was relatively small in 1914, being 834,387 short tons of iron and steel wire, 45 per cent of it coated. This wire is only one among a number of the products of the industry. Approximately onehalf of the product was made by establishments purchasing their raw material (wire rods); the other by the wire-drawing departments of rolling mills and other concerns. The location of the wire industry corresponds to that of the iron and steel industry, with Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio leading. Germany and Great Britain are the chief foreign producers.

Imports amounted to 7,725 short tons in 1914, and to only 27 tons in 1918. They are composed of wire of special quality for certain uses-as the making of needles, wire rope, and in musical instruments--which require wire of great purity (freedom from phosphorus and sulphur). Since the decrease of imports following the war, American-made wire has been successfully put to these uses.

Under the act of 1913, up to June 30, 1917, 98.7 per cent of the plain and coated iron and steel wire entered under paragraph 114, 1.3 per cent under paragraph 645, which admits certain wire for fencing and for baling hay or other commodities free. Coated wire formed 3.3 per cent of the imports.

Exports. Statistics for plain and coated wire are not available. A more extended classification of wire products indicates that such exports are of importance.

COVERED WIRE (EXCEPT WITH RUBBER).

Description and uses.-Wire is covered with cotton, silk, paper, and other materials for use in the manufacture of millinery, novelties, toys, artificial flowers, clothing, and in electrical manufactures.

Production.-New York City is a producing center for this industry. Imports in 1918 were valued at $1,582; for the nine months ended June 30, 1914, they were $20,881.

CORSET CLASPS, CORSET STEELS, DRESS STEELS, FLAT WIRE, STEEL STRIPS.

Description and uses.-Flat wire and strip steel are produced by cold rolling or cold drawing hot-rolled flat rods or wire, and sometimes by hot rolling. The commercial sizes vary from 0.010 to 0.375 inch in thickness and from 0.5 inch to 24 inches in width. These strips may be used in this form or further drawn or stamped into various shapes. They are used for making springs and hands of watches and clocks, corset and dress steels, in the manufacture of pens, and for many other purposes.

Production.-Approximately 30 establishments manufacture these products. The large industrial centers of New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts are the important producers.

Imports in 1918 were valued at $17,238, and over four and one-half times that amount in 1914.

TELEGRAPH, TELEPHONE, AND OTHER WIRES AND CABLES.

Description and uses.-This item includes all insulated wire and cables-submarine, underground, and other-in which rubber insulation is used.

Production of insulated wire and cables was valued at $69,500,000 in 1914. Over 60 per cent was made in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut also contributed substantially. Great Britain and Germany are important foreign producers.

Imports in 1918 were valued at $23,025; in 1914, at $31,062.

ALL OTHER WIRE.

Description and uses.-Copper is the most important of the nonferrous metals used in wire drawing; bronze and brass, its alloys, also find extended use. Aluminum wire has to some extent been used as a substitute for copper for electrical purposes. As examples of other wires and their uses-too numerous to be set down with completeness—may be mentioned wire of alloys containing nickel, used for electrical resistances and for purposes in which resistance to corrosion is of importance; tungsten wire, used for the incandescent filament of electric bulbs; and a wire of an alloy of platinum and rhodium, used in pyrometers. A large proportion of wire of nonferrous metals is used in the manufacture of wire cloth. Wire of a cross section other tha round is drawn for special purposes. Triangular and lozenge-shaped wire is used in wire rope to some extent; pinion wire in the manufacture of small pinions for clocks and watches.

Production.-Wire of nonferrous metal to the value of over $60,000,000 was produced in the United States in 1914. Copper, brass, and bronze wires, valued at $58,791,000 in 1914, were made largely by the same manufacturers; lead and aluminum wire, by companies producing other forms of these metals; wire of the precious metals, by many different kinds of establishments. Shaped wire is produced both in establishments making iron and steel wire and in those making wire of other metals. Wire of the nonferrous metals is better suited to the continuous process of wire drawing than wire of iron and steel. Producers are located in the industrial sections, particularly in Connecticut. Germany is the principal foreign producer.

Cost of manufacture.-The cost of raw materials of all wires save iron and steel is a large part of the total for the finished product. For copper, brass, and aluminum wire the bar metal is over 90 per cent of the total cost. With iron and steel wire, on the other hand, bar metal is only 60 per cent of the cost of the finished product. For instance, brass bars costing 25 cents per pound are drawn into wire, the product selling as low as 27 cents, and seldom over 30 cents per pound. Iron or steel bars costing 3 cents, when drawn into wire sell for 5 cents per pound.

Imports for 1911-1914 averaged the same as for 1915-1918, $144,000. In 1918 imports were valued at $100,425. Aluminum wire formed 0.5 per cent of this total; bronze wire, 1 per cent; brass wire, 3 per cent; copper wire, 14 per cent; wire of metal compositons, 20 per cent; all other wire, 61.5 per cent. The last group includes wire of the metals not enumerated, shaped wire other than flat, and coated wire other than iron and steel. Among metals not already enumerated may be mentioned bismuth, wire of which was imported prior to the war. Exports of copper and brass wire in 1918 were valued at $6,920,073, going largely to Europe.

MANUFACTURES OF WIRE.

Description and uses.-Manufactures of wire, not enumerated in this paragraph or elsewhere, are included. Among these articles may be mentioned wire cloth, poultry netting, and an endless list of fabricated products, as bird cages, rat traps, strainers, carpet beaters, etc. Fourdrinier wires (wire cloth) are used in paper machinery.

Production of this classification was $34,000,000 in 1914. Over 60 per cent of this output was made by establishments which did not draw their own wire. About one-half of the remainder came from the wire departments of rolling mills and other concerns. The industry, except as confined to industrial centers, shows no marked geographical concentration. Germany (wire cloth, bird cages) and Great Britain are the principal foreign producers.

Imports in 1918 were valued at $190,000, approximately 60 per cent of the value of the imports in 1914. Manufactures of aluminum wire were small; those of bronze wire formed 1 per cent of the whole; brass wire, 2 per cent; copper wire, 7 per cent; wire of metal compositions, 30 per cent; and all other wire (including iron and steel), 60 per cent. Imports of manufactures of wire, both of copper and of metal compositions, show marked increases since 1914.

Exports of the manufactures of iron and steel wire alone-not including barbed wire and woven wire fencing (par. 645) or wire rope and cables (par. 114)—were valued at $4,500,000 in 1918.

WIRE HEDDLES.

Description and use.-Heddles are a part of the "harness" of a loom, the mechanism by which some of the threads of the warp are raised, others lowered, upon each passage of the shuttle. The heddles themselves are formed of wire or string, attached at each end to the shafts of the harness, and having a loop in the center through which the warp threads are passed. It is estimated that about one-third of the harness in use in the United States is equipped with wire heddles. Imports in 1914 numbered 65,702,000, valued at $52,723; in 1918 they numbered 16,214,000, valued at $20,683. Imports have come from Germany, France, and Switzerland.

WIRE ROPE.

Uses.-Wire rope is used as guy rope in construction and engineering works and on shipboard; also as running rope in hoisting and hauling and in the transmission of power. Construction works, mining, and logging are industries consuming large quantities, though nearly every industry uses it to some extent.

American engineering practice has tended to throw the burden on the rope to a much greater extent than the more conservative European practice, and the American manufacturer has developed the quality of his rope accordingly.

Production of wire rope was valued at about $13,500,000 in 1914. Since that date production has probably doubled to meet demands arising in connection with naval and military operations.

Approximately 40 per cent of the 1914 production was made by mills purchasing their own wire. During the war manufacturers have more and more undertaken the drawing of the wire, and in some cases have carried their production back to the making of the steel. Of 13 manufacturers in 1919, all but 4 were drawing the wire used.

Both wire and wire rods have been imported for the manufacture of the better grades of wire rope. During the war domestic material has been substituted without apparent detriment. Great Britain and Germany are the principal foreign producers.

Imports in 1914 were valued at $146,000, 1.1 per cent of domestic production, decreasing to $13,000 in 1918. Imports have come from Great Britain, largely for marine uses.

Export figures include cables as well as ropes; in 1918 a value of $3,750,000 was reported. France, Russia, Canada, Cuba, and Chile ' were the principal importers.

INTERPRETATION AND COMMENTS.

The American wire gauge (Brown & Sharpe) may be used where applicable in determining diameters under this paragraph. (T. D. 34701, of 1914.) Wire 80 per cent platinum and 20 per cent iridium is the article “platinum wire" and not the material “ platinum in wire," and therefore is dutiable under the provision in this paragraph for "all other wire n. s. p. f." and not exempt from duty under paragraph 578. (7 Ct. Cust. Appls., 50, of 1916.) Wire containing 90 per cent platinum and 10 per cent rhodium was also held dutiable under this provision. (Abstract 39865, of 1916.) Grooved wire, used in making pile on velvet carpets, was held dutiable as wire or articles made of wire within this paragraph. (Abstract 37599, of 1915.) Wire is "a

slender rod, strand, or thread of ductile metal," and wire subjected to a coiling process, giving it a use as a spring and also a new character and name, is an article manufactured of wire rather than “wire.” (5 Ct. Cust. Appls., 43, of 1913.) Wire forms of heavy wire about 2 inches long, first bent in the form of a U and then bent in the middle, half way between the ends and the loop, to a right angled shape, and not designed for use as staples (that is, as fasteners), but advanced beyond the condition of a staple, are dutiable under this provision, and not exempt from duty under paragraph 554 as wire staples. (6 Ct. Cust. Appls., 200, of 1915.)

Pins with glass or paste heads and unplated steel-wire stems, steel wire chief value, come within this paragraph. (G. A. 8046, T. D. 37090, of 1917; Abstracts 40876, 41126, 41137, 41209, 41220, 41228, 41314, and 41490, of 1917.) The only metal-coated wires provided for in this paragraph are those composed of iron and steel. Other metal-coated wires and articles in chief value thereof are relegated to paragraph 167, as manufactures of metal n. s. p. f. This includes articles of silverplated wire, the basic metal of which is not shown to consist of iron or steel, which are dutiable at 50 per cent ad valorem under paragraph 167 as articles plated with gold or silver. (G. A. 8179, T. D. 37690, of 1918.) Split-steel rings suitable for use in the manufacture of fishing tackle but requiring copper plating and burnishing before being ready for such use, were held to come within this paragraph as manufactures of wire rather than under paragraph 136 as parts of fishing tackle. (G. A. 7980, T. D. 36768, of 1916; Abstract 41064, of 1917.) Pencil holders or clips, key rings, and similar articles valued at not over 20 cents per dozen pieces, composed wholly or in chief value of wire, covered by this paragraph, are properly dutiable thereunder; if valued at over 20 cents per dozen pieces, such articles fall within paragraph 356. (G. A. 8101, T. D. 37388, of 1917.) Tea strainers composed of wood, wire netting and tin were also held dutiable under this paragraph as manufactures of wire. (Abstract 38166, of 1915.) Cable composed of individual copper wires also comes within this provision as articles composed wholly or in chief value of wire rather than as wire rope (G. A. 8242, T. D. 37955, of 1919), but rope consisting of a hemp core about which are twisted five strands, each made of a number of wires wound and bound together with hemp or marlin, wire being the component of chief value, was held dutiable under this paragraph as wire rope. (G. A. 8136, T. D. 37516, of 1918.)

Card clothing manufactured from untempered round steel wire is dutiable at 10 per cent under paragraph 124, whereas the steel wire from which it is manufactured is dutiable at 15 per cent under this paragraph.

The provision for "telegraph, telephone, and other wires and cables composed of metal and rubber or of metal, rubber, and other materials," does not include such wires and cables containing gutta-percha and no rubber.

Wire and articles manufactured from wire pay 15 per cent under this paragraph, while wire heddles pay 25 per cent and wire rope pays 30 per cent under the same paragraph.

Corset clasps and steels, dress steels, wire heddles and healds, wire rope, and manufactures of wire, provided for in this paragraph, are a different class of merchandise from the basic material wire.