THE CHINESE EARS

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 155, 2 July 1937, Page 6

THE CHINESE EARS

A TROUBLESOME IMPORT

The Department of Commerce of the United States has faced some difficult decisions in its history, but few have been more tiresome than that of the Chinese ears. An Indianapoliefirm which specialises in the technique of plastic surgery was anxious to import from China three pairs of human ears, in order to experiment with a new process developed by a Chinese surgeon (reported the New York correspondent of "The Times"). The laws governing the entry into the United Spates of persons of Oriental race are extremely strict, and when news of the ears (which will be obtained by some means which have not been disclosed) reached San Francisco, the Collector of Customs there was in a quandary. Was it legal to import three pairs of Chinese ears with no Chinese attached thereto, and if they were allowed to enter what duty should be levied upon them? The collector, who had no idea of how to classify these original items, turned helplessly to Washington for advice, and after a long interval the reply came back (via Indianapolis) that the ears were intended for legitimate scientific research. Dr. Thomas Parran, Chief of the Bureau of Public Health, was then approached, and gave it as his opinion that the importation of the ears would not constitute a threat to the health of the nation. N'ext the Post Ofhce Department was u-ked whether the ears might be posted to their destination, but the Department wns linn. Xo ears should pass through the mails: the purchaser must devise his own method of transport in r them from San Francisco to Indianapolis. Finally, the Department of Commerce announced that. i:i spite of their best efforts, they had been unable to find any regulation forbidding the import of ears, and had decided that they should enter the country free of duty. This glad news is now on its way to China. There is a lurking suspicion, however, that the Department of Commerce and the other officials involved may be the victims of a hoax. Doctors say that there are plenty of ears in this country and that in any case there is no uifferenco between American j and Chinese ears.