Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-09 00:00:00

THE NORTHER Iki TIMES; SATURDAY, APRIL 9/1859:

THE LATE CIGAR CASE AT THE ASSIZES.

THE " HABANA COMPANY" v. COPE.

The London Standard publishes the following on
this extraordinary case :
A curious species of playful combat once became prevalent
in certain circles of Parisian smokers. The two antogonists
placed themselves in defiant attidudes so close to each other
that the volume of smoke proceeding from each mouth and
cigar came, without dispersion, full upon the hostile face.
He who, under those circumstances, was the first to flinch
was deemed loser in the game. A contest by no means
dissimilar to the above was carried on at Liverpool, last
Saturday (April 2), in the presence of Mr. Justice Byles and a
special jury. Not only was the matter in dispute connected with
smoke and puffing, but the discussion itself was of the
nature of smoke, looking strong at first and attenuating as
it went on. The plaintiffs, who of course blew the first
whiff, were the Habana Cigar Company," proud of
dealing in genuine articles, and hostile to that system of
geography which gives the name of Cuba to certain premises
in Whitechapel. Desirous of spreading civilisation and a
taste for unadulterated tobacco through the north of
England, they had entered into an agreement with the
defendants, Messrs. Thomas and George Cope, manufac-
turers of British cigars. These gentlemen were to be sole
agents for the sale of the company's goods in
the north of England, with power to appoint sub-
agents, and they bound themselves, under penalties,
not to sell any imitation of the company's goods, nor any
foreign cigars at all save those furnished by the company.
As for British cigars, sold as British, these did not come
within the terms of the agreement, and Messrs. T. and G.
Cope might employ native talent to any extent they pleased
in the manufacture of Lopez and Cuba, provided they did
not exhibit them as imports from the sunny region of the
Havannah. The agreement had only been entered into last
June, and with the fogs of November came unpleasant
reports to the effect that the cigars furnished in the com-
pany's name, through the medium of Messrs. Cope, were
not fit to smoke. What ! The fair fame of the " Habana
Company," which, with limited liabilities, undertook to
reform the taste of Great Britain, was this fair fame to be
sullied with fumes emanating probably from cigars of
British manufacture ? The matter must be sifted, and Mr.
Silberberg, the company's manager, undertakes the investi-
gation. Convinced that a shop in Liverpool, ostensibly
kept by one Mr. Robinson, really belonged to the Messrs.
Cope, he sends to that establishment a confidential
emissary, disguised as a chance customer. To this emissary
the unsuspecting Robinson sells, in a box marked
with the company's brand, a pound of cigars,
which turn out to be as thoroughly British as
William in " Black-eyed Susan." The experiment
being repeated, with similar results, Mr. Silberberg goes
himself to the establishment of Messrs. Cope, at Liverpool.
Company's cigars are there shown to him, which are un-
deniably cigars of the company ; but the dealings at
Robinson's shop have made a painful impression on the
" Habana" memory, and an action for breach of contract
is brought against Messrs. Cope. This volume of smoke
puffed out by the company looks dense enough, and blackens
not a little the Liverpool manufacturers. Are we to have
another " thread case" with British cigars in " Habana"
boxes, substituted for reels marked " 300 yards," and
containing 250 ? By no means ; the smoke no sooner
reaches the face of Messrs. Cope than it disperses into thin
air, leaving behind it neither scent nor smirch. Messrs.
Cope, as will presently be seen, had the game entirely in
their own hands ; but, however, as they had been whiffed
upon by the " Habana Company," they were determined
not merely to disperse the threatening cloud, but also to
give a puff in return. And for this purpose they employed
a mouth-piece of well-known efficiency, called by the name
of Edwin James. Not only did they sot imitate the
" Habana cigars," but they contrived to leave a very strong
impression on the minds of the jury that the " Habana
cigars " were not worth imitating. As early as July they
complained that the cigars, with which they were supplied
in pursuance of their agreement, were heated and musty,
and therefore not fit to smoke, and informed Mr. Silberberg
that, unless these defects were remedied, they would lay
their grievance before the directors. Away with the
slightest suspicion that can affect the Messrs. Cope ! As
soon would Messrs. Taylor, of Leicestershire, sell reels
containing 300 yards of thread, and modestly marked " 250,"
as Messrs. Cope would pass off their own noble British for the
specimens of heat and mustiness supplied by Mr. Silberberg.
Sooner shall real gold be palmed off in lieu of pinchbeck upon
the unwary purchaser ; sooner shall the lover of economical
magnificence be persuaded that he has bought German silver
when he has actually possessed himself of the choicest produce
of Potosi. After all, smoking is clearly no such easy matter.
Mr. Silberberg, buying a po and of cigars of Mr. Robinson, finds
they are " unfit to smoke ;" Messrs. Cope complain that
the company's article, supplied via. Silberberg, is "unfit to
smoke " likewise. One is almost tempted to imagine that
a cigar " fit to smoke " is a fragrant ideal never to be
realised in this sublunary globe, and that all those small
tempting cylinders, conical at each end, exhibited in the
shop windows of tobacconists, have been manufactured for
the same purposes as Peter Pindar's razors. The whole
action is explained away by Mr. Edwin James into a
vindictive attempt on the part of Silberberg to blacken
Messrs. Cope on account of their inconvenient fastidious-
ness. Silberberg had wanted Messrs. Cope to resign
their agency, but they stood to their agreement.
The " unfitness to smoke," which was so unpre-
possessing a quality in the " Habana cigars," did not how-
ever constitute the defence set up by the Messrs. Cope,
Than this defence nothing could be more simple ; indeed it
was so very simple that we doubt whether a single reader,
after perusing the facts as we have described them, has
actually detected the fatally weak point in the plaintiff's
cme, The cigars about which the question has arisen—
namely, those vended by Mr. Robinson—may have been
sold with the company's mark, or they may have been
ostentatiously branded with our union-jack, to denote their
British origin. They may have been more fragrant than
the rose, or more repulsive than the Thames last summer,
and so may the articles furnished by Mr. Silberberg to
Messrs. Cope. The " Habana Company" may have been
actuated by a pure love of justice and good smoking, or
the action may have been trumped up through demoniac
malice on the part of their agent. Neither on fraud, nor on
honesty; neither on fragrance, nor on- stench; neither on
easy drawing, nor on hard drawing ; neither on malice nor
on magnanimity, does the case depend. Mr. Ralph Robin-
son, the vender of the cigars that have caused all this mighty
hubbub—all this blackening and counter blackening comes
into court, and states that his shop is his own, and that Mr.
Cope neither has nor ever did have any interest in it. Con-
sequently with the cigars sold by Mr. Robinson Messrs.
Cope have nought to do. These assertions of Mr. Robinson
are believed by the jury, who, of course, find a verdict for
the defendants. Thus a smoky case, all about smoke, and
smokily conducted, ends in smoke. Unless the jury have
committed a flagrant injustice, which we have no right to
suspect, it is impossible to conceive anything more absurd
than the rush into a court of law by the "Habana Com-
pany," under the circumstances described above. Mr. Sil-
berberg, who takes such pains to catch Robinson in the act
of selling a pound of cigars in a wrong box, without ascer-
taining his connection with the Messrs. Cope, must, accord-
ing to all appearance, be the very dullest of amateur detec-
tives, and all the professional police who were present in
court must have shuddered at the blunder.

GOLDEN SHAG,

VIRGINIA BIRD EYE,

LATAKIA,

HAVANA,

CUT CAVENDISH,

IN SIXPENNY LEADPOIL PACXITS,

t the Factory,

LORD NELSON-STREET.

pubfir Amuumtuts.

However much purveyors of foreign cigars may
,dilate upon the superior excellence of their goods, as
compared with those of English make, we strongly
suspect that, in most instances, the difference is
purely ideal—the delusion being kept. up by the
trade as a means of obtaining undue prices for their
goods. It is a positive fact, although not generally
known, that nine-tenths of the cigars smoked in this
country, are of English make ; an, if the manufac-
turers, instead of imitating,
.fac sinzile, the packages
of foreign houses, were boldly to acknowledge thir
own goods, marking with their own names, and giving
the public the advantage in price instead of pocket-
ing it themselves, we think the public would not be
slow to appreciate their honesty, and would reward
the enterprising innovator with a large trade. If, on
the other hand, smokers, by shutting their eyes to
facts, continue to make " fibs" profitable, then they
have only themselves to blame. For their enlighten-
ment, we subjoin an extract from one of the principal
Tobacco Broker's Circulars, dated 1858 :

---
The show of cigars latterly has been so utterly miserable,
that many must have been sent on blindfold. Manufacturers
in the Havana must forget our duty, or they would never
send on goods actually inferior, especially in make, to British
goods, and expect to get more money than British can be
sold for, when the buyer has afterwards 9s. 6d. duty to pay.

IrANCOUVER'S ISLAND.-PLENTY. OF GOLD !
Every Emigrant should be provided with one of HEmmiNos'
PORTABLE HOUSES. " They att simple in construction, perfect
in arrangement, efficient in character, and are exceedingly neat,
comfortable dwellings." Bristol Mercury.
Houses, Stores, and every kind of building manufactured by
t'amuel C. Hemming & Co : Offices, 23, Moorgate-street, London.

HOMEOPATHIC

OR
DIE T E TIC COCOA

The utmost care and attention have been bectowed upon the
manufacture of this ureparation, so as to render it a light, nutritious,
and wholesome article ct diet for common use. .
It is recommended by alinost a;1 medical men, in preference to tea
and cotlee, in cousequenee of lb nn3.stiniulating properties, white
tcan be surpassea by 110 artloie in its nutritioui and agreeable
properties.
Each genuine Pellet will to labelled, Thompson and Capper, Liver-
pool; Price is 6,1 per lb.
SOLD W'..4OLY,SALE AND RETAIL BY
TROM.SON AND CAPPER,

• HOMcgoPATHIC CHEMISTS,
43, BOLD STREET,
Opposite Slater street, Liven:oo:.

COPE'S PACKET TOBACCOS
Aanufactured by a patent process, which preserves the nature

flavour of the Leaf.

Bearing the Signature of COPE BROTHERS and CO.,
Can be had at the Tobacconist° in town and country; or wholesale