, 1875-08-29

The reporter tried it; Of course nobody with
sound oifactories could fail TO note the differ
ence between the o1or OF q dandellon and The
fragrance OF tho magnolia. aud gave vivid i'm
preessou OF the euoImity OF the fraud practiced
bT dealers in Havana cigars generally.
THE r1gsT srEp.
"When do you begin making it into cigars?"
queliad the reporter, aod thereon the FORE
man explained IN detail First. the tobacco
Is taken from the bale or box and "cased,"-
n'oia:eued By dipping each bunch Of leaves IN
tub OF water.-wlen the leaves arc shaken out
And spread on the floor to dry, until they have
reached the proper stats OF ptiablity for further
working. winch It does after from II to ~ hours
exposure to the atr. Tic stems Rre stripped
from the Havana tobacco before it 10 shipped
nave to be removed. This process" strip
psug." it ia called-was Witnessed in another
room. where number OF girls were DUSTY CO.
gagged IN tearing tue stem or spine from the 70
Lacco leaves. This ia work requiring no little
manual dextcrity. it being all important to avoid
tearing the leaf in removing the stem, for, II
to.u It can only be worked 10 for filings or
scraps; and, "a yet. no machine hA been i'll
vented that will do thus
Tbe girls who wero doing this work were OBJ
served to be busy chewing away, and splitting
with no less precision OF ann than that OF vet
er&n cbeWer.
.Cuewlng are they?" queried tho reporter.
"1Ga-bum+ IfFllcu LILO tCE6uaaus Will 91f
grin so it seemed after ali that the constant
landing of tobacco hadn't developed In these
dem oise,les an appot,ts for the weed.
After having been stFspped,--the stems being
set aside to be cut INFO smoking tobacco, the
Ieaves are serted according to qu1ltv and color,
and " booked. '-tl,s leaves beng Strengthened
out by band and plled together like the leaves Of
q book until there are from Y to ~ pounds in
pile when it Is rolled iuto pad, aud theuca
goas into the h2nd OF the workman.
THE SORTING BY coLons
is according to the division Of cigars into the
i've standard brands, '+Maduro," ''colorsdo
- Clara, the Maduro being the darkeat. 1t
may interest smokers to know thai. the
eaFrsna no9ns that e
Aaduro necessarily high-davored, is all . hum
bug. Tue degree OF favor does not at all de-
pend upon the color of the leaf but upon tue
quality and growth OF the plant itself. The
leaf. Tobacco is nos worked into cigars until
from one to two years after it is gathered.
Meanwhile it undergoes the sweating process,
and when that Is thoroughly complete, the leaf
attAins the dark color when partially complete
it is lighter, and though the workmen insist that
it is not 30, perhaps after all the degree to
which the smoking process has gone probably
does affect the flavor OF the cigar. though, ac-
cordiug to the theory OF the ciE Ear-makers, the
oulf cigars ft to smoke ale tho dark ones-the
to single feas,-the wrapper OF she cl.ar, and
however dainty one may be about selecting his
cigars with an eye to the shade, the true favor
depends upon not the wrapper, but the filing
which the wrapper conceals,-al} which the fole-
man impalted, and then showed the reporter
into
TIE c1oAE-MAKERs' ROOM,
where the process Of manufacture might be
see1-
Here we're series of long work-tables, d.
dad 4er< 1Ir. hY+
high set in tbs centre OF the tabletop,
aud c1osswise at intervals of about
81 feet bY strips reaching about half
that height, the space thus mafked OF
being allotted to a workman. On the ooter mar
gin OF the work-tablts On either aide were
curious aprons loope1 up 50 rs to form gutter
for the reception OF the clippings and ps.
On ons side the workman was his boot OF
wrappers whether Havana or seed, and on the
other little pie Of filling. consisting OF the
was block Of some hard wood.-lisnum v1tp,
apple tree, beech, or lockwood. 4 few Of the
# ,rkmen used block covered with zinc. These
blocks, come OF which were square. some clrcu-
inches square. 90 them the wrapper is cut
and the cigar rolled. The process ia oompara-
lively simple. yet requires dexterltv sDd nice-
tv Of touch that evidently can only be &C.
quired after long practice. The Workman
trsr tAkas from book leaf. which, from
the casiug or dampeulnK, is softer and more
pllzbe than the finest glove leather. spreads 1t
out smoothly on the block (sVhen the finer
quality of tobacco nav be at once recognized by
tue soft ve1vety face and the delicate lines Of
the veins III the leaf. aud cuts out OF it strip
from to inches in length, accord ng to the
size OF cigar to be made, and from IN inch to IN
inch and three-quarters broad. This IS for the
binder. Fl ON his pile Of fllers-1esser leaves,
tora leaves. cuttings etc.-he takes The re9nlsise
quanttF, and quickly that it can't be described.
except that It ia sotuewhat a. an expert makes q
cigarette, and deity rolls it within the binder.
Sometimes it is then placed in mold which
is tiRhtened under screw-press, esch mold
holding twenty cigars, to get "set" before
the wrapper is put on. The mold gives q more
uniform shape to the cigar thsn cal workman
BIZ hand: but for some reason it is not favored,
and few Of the better g1aIes OF cigars arc even
so. IN the mold, 1.-the whole *ork beng dune by
hand, With on1y the binder. the cigar il but
Al 1soHoATE THING,
With rough ends, AMI oulY haif-hhaped Then
the wrapper Is cut IN the same manner az WAS
the binder. only with more care, aud ruled over
the binder. It is mystery to most smokers
lo~ the wrapper IS held fast 70 as to keep the
cigar together. But, in TACT, there is DO mys-
tary about 1T; at the tip at the closed
cad of the cigar the wrapper ia fastened
With paste. the veriest triae OF gum fragscanth.
which of all mucllasas seems that alone adopted
10 the purpose The eud Of the cigar to be |
lighted Is then cut of with = gauRe-kuife,-uot |
unlike . immature hav- cutter Of the pr,meval |
t. pe-orthe workman sim; y by mark on the
rolling board cuts the Cigar 80 as TO make 1t OF
the exact length required. |
And that was what the wo.kmen. seated on !
their stons At those long tables. we're doing |
when the foreman directed the reporters atten- |
tion to |
THE SKILL REQUIRED |
for what eeemed 20 easv. SAID he:
In the tilst .lace, the olgar-worser must not |
put too much tobacco iu the cigar; the leaf is |
sold us bY the pound, and We must know |