18247. Adulteration of   canned   salmon.    U.   S.   v.   4,350   (1,271)   Cases   of
Salmon. Tried to the court. Judgment for the Government. De- 
cree of condemnation and forfeiture. Product released under 
bond to be reconditioned. (F. & D. No. 25203. I. S. Nos. 1100, 1191, 
1194, 2054.    S. No. 3478.)
Samples of canned salmon from the shipment herein described having been 
found to be tainted and stale, the Secretary of Agriculture reported the matter 
to the United States attorney for the Western District of Washington. 
? On October 28, 1930, the United States attorney filed in the District Court of 
the United States for the district aforesaid a libel praying seizure and con- 
' demnation of 4,350 cases, each containing 48 cans of salmon, at Seattle, Wash. 
Subsequently the libel was amended to cover the 1,271 cases which were all of 
the product seized by the United States marshal. It was alleged in the libel, 
and in the exhibit attached thereto and made a part thereof, that the article 
had been shipped on or about September 2, 1930, by the Superior Packing Co., 
in interstate commerce from Tenakee, Alaska, into the State of Washington and 
that having been so transported, it remained unsold in the original.unbroken 
packages at Seattle, Wash., and that it was adulterated in violation of the food 
and drugs act.
Adulteration of the article was alleged in the libel for the reason that it 
consisted in whole or in part of a decomposed animal substance.
On January 30, 1931, the Superior Packing Co., Seattle, Wash., having ap- 
peared as claimant for the property and having admitted the interstate ship- 
ment and identity of samples, the case came on for trial before the court. 
Evidence having been introduced on behalf of the Government and claimant, 
the court took the case under advisement. Before the entry of final judgment, 
however, the court ordered that the case be reopened and that a joint examina- 
tion of further samples be conducted. On March 27, 1931, the results of the 
joint examination of samples were presented to the court, and arguments by 
counsel for the Government and claimant were heard. On March 30, 1931, the 
court handed down its findings of fact and conclusions of law, which were 
embodied in the decree entered on the same date sustaining the allegations of 
the libel and ordering condemnation and forfeiture of the product. The decree 
provided, however, that the product be delivered to the claimant upon payment 
of costs and the execution of a bond in the sum of $4,000, conditioned in part 
that the portion that was not adulterated be separated from the portion that 
was decomposed, under the supervision of this department, and that the former 
be released and the latter destroyed.
ABTHUB M. HYDE, Secretary of Agriculture.