PORT CUSTOMS AND REGULATIONS.

FEDERAL ACTS AND REGULATIONS.

General regulations.-This port is open from 9 a. m. to 4.30 p.m., except on Saturdays, when the hours are from 9 a. m. to 1.30 p. m. Vessels are visited for official inspection at any place in the stream or at the pier. They may clear between the hours of 9 a. m. and 4.30 p. m., except on Saturdays, when the hours are from 9 a. m. to 1.30 p. m.

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE.

Quarantine. The quarantine anchorage is on the south side of the north channel, abreast Fort Johnson, and is marked by two yellow buoys. Vessels are boarded for inspection while at this anchorage.

Hospitals. There is no marine hospital at Charleston; patients are cared for under contract at Roper Hospital, northwest corner Calhoun and Lucas Streets, which is under the supervision of a Public Health official. Other hospitals at the port are:

Riverside Hospital, on Calhoun Street.

St. Francis Xavier Infirmary, at northeast corner of Calhoun Street and Ashley Avenue.

Baker Sanitarium, at southwest corner of Beaufain Street and Ashley Avenue.

QUARANTINE.

The following is a digest of the principal regulations of the United States Public Health Service:

The exclusion from the United States of the quarantinable diseases of cholera, plague, yellow fever, typhus fever, smallpox, leprosy, and anthrax is effected primarily through the inspection abroad, by American consular or medical officers of vessels, their crews, passengers, and cargoes, and through their inspection, detention, and treatment in this country by officers of quarantine stations established at or near the principal ports, and which are provided with adequate equipment and personnel to treat effectively such vessels and contents when infected or suspected of being infected with quarantinable diseases.

With the exception of vessels from certain Canadian, Mexican, and Cuban ports and certain United States naval vessels, all vessels arriving at American ports from abroad must before entering present for examination to quarantine officers stationed thereat the following documents:

1. Bills of health in duplicate issued to them at ports of departure by American consular or medical officers whose authority so to act is conditioned upon the full observance by vessels concerned of American quarantine requirements, including inspection, applicable abroad to vessels, contents, and full personnel.

2. Supplemental bills of health similarly issued at ports of call en route.

3. Passenger and crew lists.

4. Clinical records covering all cases of illness, births, and deaths at sea maintained by ships' physicians.

5. Cargo manifests and necessary disinfection certificates relating thereto issued by the American examining officers abroad. Importation of shaving brushes is also required by quarantine regulations to be covered by consular certificates.

6. Ships' logs when desired, and during inspection.

7. Inspection cards issued by American examining officers abroad to such steerage passengers as may be given transportation.

Quarantine inspection at American ports is required of (a) all vessels arriving from abroad with the exceptions noted above; (b) all vessels with sickness aboard; and (c) vessels from domestic ports where cholera, plague, or yellow fever prevails, or where smallpox or typhus fever prevails in epidemic form. Such vessels shall be considered to be in quarantine under the necessity of observing full quarantine requirements until released, either without or after detention and treatment. Inspection shall be made between sunrise and sunset except in cases of vessels in distress or carrying perishable cargoes and certain regular line vessels.

Vessels, with contents and personnel, shall be placed in quarantine for treatment if bearing, having borne en route, or considered by quarantine officers as bearing quarantinable diseases, or if arriving during certain seasons from ports infected or suspected of being infected with yellow fever, and shall remain in detention until freed from infection, when they will be granted pratique to enter port. Passengers and crews may be detained for a longer or shorter period than vessels, according to circumstances. Quarantine officers in charge of detained vessels are clothed with such full authority and control over them as will insure the most effective execution of quarantine measures.

A departing vessel, foreign bound, must obtain a consular "Bill of health" from the consul of the foreign country of destination. Such vessels must also obtain from an officer of the Public Health Service, or in his absence from the collector of customs, a "Port sanitary statement" indicating the number of cases of certain diseases and the deaths there from at the port of departure during the two weeks prior to sailing. It is required that this statement be presented to the quarantine officer at the first foreign port of call.

CUSTOMS SERVICE.

The customhouse is located on the water front at the foot of Market Street and is open from 9 a. m. to 4.30 p. m., except on Saturdays, when the hours are from 9 a. m. to 1.30 p. m. Customs inspectors are on duty from 8 a. m. to 5

p. m.

Customs material in bond is transferred in trucks or other vehicles by a bonded drayman from ship side to the basement of the customhouse for storage. Duties on other import cargo are paid prior to removal of goods from the pier.

The following is a brief statement of the more important customs regulations affecting vessels and freight in foreign and coastwise

commerce:

DIGEST OF CUSTOMS REGULATIONS.

Customs control.-Vessels carrying freight or passengers, or in ballast, inward bound from foreign ports come within the jurisdiction of American customs laws when within 4 leagues of the coast and enter customs control when boarded by customs officers upon their arrival within any collection district.

Boarding officers.-Masters of such vessels must deliver to boarding officers for inspection the original cargo manifest and one copy thereof for each port at which freight is to be unladen; if an American vessel, the certificates issued by American consular officers abroad covering the carriage thereon to the United States of any returned destitute American seamen; the certified copy of the crew lists, and copies of seamen's customs statements. If a vessel carries passengers, a list thereof shall be submitted for examination if required.

A boarding officer, after comparing the original manifest with the copies therof, shall certify on the former as to their production and on the copies as to their agreement with the original, and shall transmit a copy to the collector of customs of each district to which cargo is consigned. He shall, if the vessel be American, muster such destitute Americans as may be on board in order to verify consular certificates relating thereto; shall check the crew with the crew list and shall seal or otherwise secure hatches covering cargo, and place under seal surplus sea stores.

Reporting arrival of vessel.-The master of a vessel arriving foreign must report its arrival within 24 hours thereof at the customhouse; he must, before entry, deposit all foreign mail on board in the nearest post office and take a receipt therefor; if the district be a nonnaval office district, he must mail one copy of the manifest to the Auditor for the Treasury Department, Washington; and he must make entry at the customhouse within 48 hours after arrival, exclusive of Sundays and holidays. If calling merely for bunker coal, customs entry and clearance are not required.

Formalities to be observed upon arrival and entry.--Upon entry the master must deposit with the collector (a) certificate of pratique issued by quarantine officer upon arrival; (b) original and two copies of cargo manifest; (c) duplicate bills of health if vessel arrives from a port at which American consular or medical officer is stationed; (d) the ship's register and clearance and other papers issued to it at last port of departure for the United States, the register if vessel be American to be retained by collector until clearance is granted; (e) list of sea stores; (f) statement of American consular services without fee to the vessel on its last voyage and copies of receipt from consular officers covering fees for services performed; (g) receipt covering all foreign mail delivered at nearest post office upon arrival; and, if the vessel be American, he must state under oath that delivery has been made at the proper foreign port of all mail received before last clearance from the United States, and also, if the district has no naval office, that he has mailed a copy of the cargo manifest to the Auditor for the Treasury Department, Washington.

Incoming passengers.-If vessels carry steerage passengers, compartments occupied by them will be measured by customs inspectors on arrival. A correct copy of the passenger list must be deposited with the collector and a head tax of $8 for each alien on board must be paid to him by the master or other representative of the vessel within 24 hours after its entry.

Vessels of foreign registry.—If the vessel be of foreign registry, the master must within 48 hours after arrival deposit with the consular officer of the nation to which it belongs, if this practice be reciprocal between that nation and the United States, the register or other document in lieu thereof, together with clearance and other papers issued to the vessel at the port of departure for the United States; and the certificate of that officer that the papers have been so deposited must be delivered to the collector. Such papers shall not be returned to the master by that officer until the former exhibits a clearance from the collector.

Assumption of control of vessel by customs officials.-Entry of the vessel having been made, the necessary permit for its discharge is issued by the collector; discharging inspectors are assigned to superintend unloading and delivery of cargo, and customs guards are posted. Discharging inspectors must take possession of specie and valuables in charge of pursers as soon as possible after they first board the vessel.

Time allowed for unloading vessel.-The legal time allowed for unloading by customs regulations is as follows: Vessels of less than 500 tons, 10 working days after entry; of 500 tons and less than 1,000 tons, 15 working days; of 1,000 tons and less than 1,500 tons, 20 working days; and of 1,500 tons and upward, 25 working days. If additional discharge time is required an extension not to exceed 15 days will be allowed by the collector; but inspector's compensation for attendance after legal time shall be paid by the vessel. "Working days" do not include the day of entry, legal holidays, or stormy days when discharge would endanger the cargo's safety. Unloading between 6 p. m. of any day and 7 a. m. of the following day will be allowed only under authority of a permit issued by the collector when the nature of the cargo or conditions at the pier are such that it will not jeopardize customs revenue. Similar permits are required for unloading or loading on Sundays and holidays. Cargo remaining on board after the expiration of legal time, or additional period of 15 days, which is not recorded for transshipment to some other custom district or to some foreign place, may be taken possession of by the collector and stored at owner's expense.

Ballast.-Ballast of no mercantile value may be unloaded under authority of a customs permit. Ballast cargo or coal can not be taken on board vessels while discharging except on a lading permit.

Entry of goods.-Formal entry of imported merchandise is required to be made within 48 hours, exclusive of Sundays and holidays, after the entry of the importing vessel. Entry must be made of all importations, whether free or dutiable and regardless of their value, and is made principally for the following purposes: (a) Consumption; (b) warehouse, for storage for three years, if desired, without payment of duty; (c) warehouse and immediate exportation; (d) warehouse and transportation; and (e) transportation without appraise

ment.

Unless such production is impracticable, no merchandise exceeding $100 in value, except personal effects accompanying passengers and goods entered for warehouse and immediate exportation, is admissible into the United States without the production, upon entry of the goods, of a "consular invoice" prepared before the shipment thereof describing the goods and specifying the foreign sale price thereof and all charges assessed thereon to the point of exportation, and certified by the American consular officer at the place of manufacture or exportation, or by designated substitutes. The consular invoice and the covering bill of lading or express receipt, or bonds providing for their production, must be presented upon application for entry, together with, when required, a statement by the manufacturer abroad showing the cost of production and the purchase price of the goods.

Delivery of goods.-Entries having been made in writing according to prescribed form by the consignee or agent, and duties estimated and paid, or secured to be paid, necessary delivery permits are issued by the collector. Merchandise for which no delivery permit has been received within 48 hours after a vessel's entry shail be taken possession of by the discharging inspector and stored at owner's expense in general order stores unless an extension of time is granted by the collector. The collector will designate at the time of entry at least one package of every invoice and not less than 1 in every 10 packages, except in special instances, for examination by the appraisers. All packages entered for consumption not specified for examination may be immediately delivered to the importer upon his filing a bond covering double the estimated value of the merchandise for the return of any packages so delivered within 10 days after the examination packages have been appraised. Cargo must not be removed from the pier, however, until necessary customs weighing, gauging, etc., has been done.

Delivery may be secured at dock of all free goods and of such goods entered for consumption as are not selected for appraisement. Packages containing dutiable goods entered for consumption and selected for appraisement will be delivered to the importer after examination if duties paid are found to have been sufficient. Goods selected for