The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-23
ouTobncco is Prepared.
.'r, v scKSk--ruE MANUFACTURE OF

r have discovered a new counteroiast
ra,ns, tobacco have found out way OF {
nr;np ,nyeterate smokers Of their pernicious 3
sh,te heg TO recommend my meshoa 70 =
he respec.ab,e individuals who trace all tne (
lls of our age to nicotine, and stipulate .
,nlv that I be appointed an honorary mem' 4
Mr. of the Anti Tobacco-Smo Assocs,
ion. My remedy Is simple. Inc nevo'eeos
tohaeeo has only to run over TO far's, auo
,hen drive straight to the Msnutacture ues
Tahacs. large building situated on the
onav inst beyond the Hotel des lnValues.
N 3 uisit there will not cure him hts csse Is
henaiess, His very FIRST step into the estao.
I,shn,ant 10 enough to set confirmed smoker
so.snSt HE fayorite consolation. For no is
nv once taken into o long, low she'd, ~nefe
s,,ea, ,,nseu,ar uep, naked to the waist, are |
Hroanins and persptripg under huge ioadso:
she VIRGIN leaf. Tobacco Is beaped every
shore on the aoor. 1t is piled up in dense
y,asses against the wall, gust like ssurkraut
outside novels Ia Germany, and 1t smetls As
strong. Our guide picked up FIRST one a,rty
3esf and then another, telling US this was
MARYLAND and that Algerian; but We couia
not detect any variation 10 the nastiness Oh
the smell. In the next room the process OF
fermentation was going on ana snotuer
Of tobacco which lay foot deep upon The
Moor nlunred his band into the midst OF the
manure. like mixture. and offered Us some OF
ahe stuf. that we might feel how hot it was
to the touch. After fermentation toe tobac-
90 Is left to cool and dry, and it Is eighteen
months. so our guide informed us. BEFORE II
a a, Tor snuff. In another ball the leaves are
rnoistened with salt water. and 10 anotner
are rows OF machioes worked by steam for
chonpine the tobacco into shreds. Endless,
jndeed- are the complicated contriVanees for
SITTING and trituratlng the weed, and WOE
derfrl are they to the unsophisticated mind.
But the heat OF the rooms, the quantity OF
fobacc dust In the air, the half-naked work
men, ADD, above all, the oppressive and
iutoierable stencil, almost inclined one to the
belief that the great factory was organized
by the State for the special purpose OF dc.
grading the population 10 an EASILY governed
condition. The place reminded me OF q
someN hat similar experience once naa 10
Italy. had been revealing for weeks IN the
macaroni which they prepare better 10 ia
bella Nopoli than anywhere In the world.
One duy happened to make an excursion to
Amif, and there, In that earthly paradise,
nv the shore of sea which on that coast
takes more heavenly tints than anywhere
else on Its splendid borders, l saw field of
macaroni being trodden by men without
aboes or stockings, and 10 fact with no CLOTH
ing at all except canvas trousers. Alter that
day ate no more macaroni.
TTnstairs we reached long rooms, where
hundreds OF women were making cigars.
Some were cutting the outside leaves into
atrIns of about an inch wide, pointed at each
end. Others were filling the strips with
tobaceo-and, oh such tobacco such shreds,
and matches, and sticks as made one cease to
wonder why French cigars won't draw, and
why they are SO noXious when they DO.
when the woman had rounded one eXtremi.
ty into point she fastened it together with
a black.lonkiDg mixture, said to consist oil
-four and tobacco juice, and then stuck the
end into sort of glass cup to harden while
she was making the next cigar. After few
had been made the blunt ends were cut off
BY machine, and the cigar was ready for
sale. "You work very fast" said to one
woman. 81 do not Think So" replied she;"I
find that l work too slow, for l have to
make $50 cigars for forty SOUS" Let me
hasten 10 add, for the relief Of those who
have read awful stories Of the way in which
cigars are made in Havana, that there was
nothing whatever dirty or disgusting 10 the
way 10 which the cigars were made. 1t was
only the contents Of the leaves that were so
nasty. In another set of rooms cigarettes
were being made, and it was very pretty to
see the defines with which the girls folded
the small papers so rs to give each the small.
est possible edging Of gun, then folded each
paper round a pencil, and fastened up the
end. These cases were filled With equal deX-
terity by other women, and then made up
into bundles.
Still more interesting was it to watch the
extraordinary skill with which three women,
who literally played into each others hands,
weighed out the tobacco. cut the paper re.
cepiacles, filled them by help of machine
worked by hydraulic pressure, and labelled
the packets ready for sale. As though IL
were not enough to weigh an once by ma
chinery, each Individual packet Is afterWard
separately tested by q forewoman; who puts
on one side, to be made up atresh, every
packet weighing fraction below or above
its due aoportionment Of tobacco, so every
purchaser OF O two-Ouuce packet of
Government tobacco may be perfectly
sure that he has his proper quantity. But
surely the establishment must lose more in
the salaries of these female overseers than it
could in the dispensing of few additional
grains of tobacco. No less than sixteen hun.
dred women are employed. Another room
is filed up entirely by the tobacco, which is
seized on the frontier. The guide told US it
was mixed up in certain proportions with
other kinds, and with the shreds OF leaves
cut up from cigarS-"for nothing is lost
here" said he, and l believed him-to
be made into snuff. The to6ac de
saisie is worth nothing, he declared,
tearing up some packets vita 8 contempt
uous air and what he showed us was even
worse than an average French tobacco. So
it is charitable to conclude that it is in con-
sderation for the public health that makes
the customs authorities look SO sharply after
the importation Of the weed from abroad.
Lastly we came 10 the pig-tan department,
wherein the leaf was being made into black
ropes OF various sizes, from the thin tobacco
string affected by the student to the thick
guilds prepared for sailors use. The pig-tai
Is pressed so as to get rid Of the superf1uouS
nicotine, and it was with sickening qualm
that one looked at the thick treacly juice tia:
exuded, and reflected on the quantity Of
the stuff that we must have consumed in
the course of many years indulgence OF the
weed in various conditions. The sale OF
cigarettes has increased enormously of late
years, was informed and should like to
know il the preference for this form OF 10.
baceo is to be attributed to the deterioration
10 the quality OF the cigars supplied by the
Government, or to the necessity which added
taxation has imposed upon the population
since the war to restrict the sums they for.
merly spent on luXuries.
The revenue obtained by the Government
monopoly must be enormous. remember
reading lately an account OF how the r9sie
came TO be established. AT some reception
during the First Empire lady appeared
adorned with more diamonds than were pos.
sesed by any Of the beauties of the court.
The Emperor asked who she was, and Wastold
that she WAC he Sridnyu of xs-ho no.