The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-05-11
From the Manufacturer and Builder
How Cigars are Made.

has attained such rapid growth within tn,
past year in this country, and particularly
in this city, as that of pure Havana cigars
The internal troubles in Cuba have neces
sarily resulted in the emigration hither o.
large numbers Of natives Of that island who
by trade cigar makers, possess every re
quisite of knowledge and skill to establish
and continue their industry, and for whose
labor there seems to be constant and
growing demand in the many factories on
the Cuban plan which are rapidly coming
into existence.
We lately visited the well-conducted fac
tory of j. M. Mora & Co., Of 50 Water
street, in this city, and witnessed with con
siderable interest the entire process OF
making cigars. ThetObacco is imported in
bales, and costs from three dollars to ninety
cents per pound, according as it is used for
wrappers or filters. 1t is first inspected, III
order to ascertain its quality and also the
length Of time il can be allowed to remain
wet This is an important fact to ascertain,
as the tobacco must always be fampened
before it can be made up, and must remain
i'll this condition some time-while, if the
material be poor, and it be allowed to re
main in a wet state too long, it will decay,
| and so occasion considerable loss. This
| question determined the tobacco is placed
| in an inclined trough, so that the pure
water with which it is wet can readily drain
off
The first process which it then undergoes
| is stemming the filters. Eachiworkman has
pile of leaves before HIM, which he takes
up one at time and removes the stem ruI1s
/ ming through its centre. If he comes to a
leaf larger than the generality, he puts it to
one side for as a wrapper. Cigars, as
our readers arc Colbtless aware, are com
posed Of two parts-the wrapper and the
filler. The former must be a perfect,
smooth leaf. while the latter is simply the
pieces which are made into a bundle and
form the interior of the cigar. Besides
these men who stem the filters only, are
four others who perform the same process
with the leaves used for wrappers, and with
them is the foreman, who examines the lat
ter, selects them according to size, and dis
tributes them to the workmen who make
the different varieties Of cigars.
A word of explanation is here necessary
regarding these different kinds. Every
smoker has his pet brand, though not
many know the difference between the ci-
gars as indicated by their names. For in
stance, "ooncha" is a short, thick cigar,
SO called, we presume, from its fancied re-
semblance to a shell-shape, the Spanish
word having that meaning. "Espanola"
is another common brand, which takes its
name from the ribbons with which the ci-
gars are tied these being red at the ends of
the bundle and yellow in the middle, max
ing the colors Of the Spanish (EspanoD
flag. 'Partagas" are long cigar, and de-
rive their name from the owner Of the
manufactory in Havana. "Regalia" speaks
for itself, and indicates a large sized cigar,
finely made and usually quite costly in
price There is still another classification
of cigars as regards their quality, for in
stance, ''fior" signifies ''flower, OF the best
Of tobacco below this are "bueno, good
and superior" Then, as regards strength,
cigars are colorado, red or light colo
RADIO maduro," red ripe or somewhat
stronger and darker, and ''maduao," ripe
and Of full strength.
The manual labor (for the cigars manu-
factured at this factory are made entirely
by hand, requires considerable skill and
practice. Sitting at separate tables We
found twentyfour men each one had a
piece Of hard wood before him, which, with
a PECULIARLY shaped knife and little pot
of paste constituted his stock Of tools BY
his side were two heaps Of tobacco, one
composed Of wrappers and another ct fill
ers. Taking leaf in his hand, the workman
spreads it out on the slab before him,
smoothing it carefully to remove all creases;
then with his knife he cuts it into peculiar
nearly semi-circular shape, He then picks
A n r. l.. 4 RI
hand, making it into a kind of bundle of
course this requires an accurate judgment
as to the amount required to make the. ci-
gar Of the exact shape and thickness. As
soon as he has collected enough leaves, he
presses them together and lays them on the
wrapper before him. Then, by peculiar
sort of twist he brings up the edges of the
lattrr and WItH quick roll envelops the
loose bundle. The form Of the cigar is at
once apparent. He now finishes off the
end for the mouth by carefully trimming
the leaf and smoothing it to apoint, fasten-
ing the extremity with little paste the
other end he cuts off smooth A few more
rolls between his flat knife and the slab and
the cigar is done. The celebrity and neat
ness Of the work is incredible, and. Of
course, evidences refinement Of skill.
These workmen are paid according to the
number of cigars they manufacture, some
completing as many as from 200 to 400 per
day.
There was one popularity about this es-
tablishment which we wish might be intro
duced into every mandatory in which the
machinery is Of such a nature as not TO
drown by its noise the sound Of the voice.
That is the reader" Every man paws
twenty five cents per week to this function
airy, whose sole duty it il to read aloud to
them during their work. The perusal Of
newspapers, works of fiction, and histories
of different countries, in Spanish, we found
constituted their daily literary fare, which
continues almost uninteTuptedly during
the whole day. This is an excellent idea
and if it could be generally adopted where
practicable, our workmen would have no
cause to complain that they had no time to
read either the Manufacturer and Build
er," or any other periodical from which
they might derive useful information.
In another apartment men were engaged
in asserting the cigars according to their
strength in the classes above referred to.
1t is in this department that the incest dis
elimination "a needed. A workman stands
before pile of finished cigars, and with
the greatest rapiAity holds each one up to
the light, glances ut it and places at in its
proper heap. Howshe could distinguish
the difference we were at loss to compre-
hend, for although we could see that the
two extreme heaps were not alike in color,
in the intermediate ones we were unable II