Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-03-10
Havana-s Cigar Factories

Entering the cigar factory in Havana,
one is at once struck by the admirable cool
ness and ventilation of the place. The
wind passes through and through il, and,
although there are over 500 men, women
and boys at work, the air is rs fresh and
cool as on mountain top. On the ground
floor is long warehouse, where over :, 900
bales of tobacco are stored. Besides this
stock, the proprietor has warehouse in the
city, where there are 1000 bales. This is
all tobacco of the crop IF 1879, and, as the
present crop is almost an entire failure, the
manufacturers are making only enough
cigars I'd ill their orders. They prefer TO
keep as much on hand as possible, expect
Ing higher prices very soon. The average
value of a bale OF tobacco is about s75.
Some of the very findest kinds of wrappings
cost as much as S4O0 a bale. Insurance is
very high. the rate being one and half per
cent upon the stock at the factory and one
per cent upon that warehoused. At some
factories the rate is even higher, on account
Of the wooden lining OF the buildings.
When the tobacco is taken from the bales
it is distributed to the pickers, who take
the bundles, sort them, stretch the leaves,
remove the strong fibre that runs down the
middle of the leaf and place the leaves that
are TO serve as wrappers upon one side.
For this work they receive ten cents gold
for every ten bundles. The Filings, or
pieces of leaf that are too small for wrap
pers, are then carried up to the second floor,
where they are spread out and separated
into five different classes, according TO the
strength of the flavor and the fneness of the
leaf. Five shafts run down to the floor
beneath. and each shaft is fed with tobacco
of a different class. These shafts deposit
the tobacco in the room where the cigar
makers are at work, and each man, when
ne wants more tobacco, takes square piece
of canvas about the size OF a large pocket
handkerchief To the attendant, who nils II
from the proper shaft Besides these five
kinds of Filings there is a still liner quality,
composed of the pieces cut of the wrappers
Of the best cigars, and used to fill the cigars
that are - command the higeSt price III the
market. Meantime the wrappers are hand
ed over to skilful operators. who carefully
sort them according TO their fineness and
color. This is the most important part Of
the whole process, as the profits of cigar
making depend upon the nice jugdment
shown by the men who separate the wrap
pers and who give the cigar-makers the
kind suited to their Filings. Should fine
wrapper be used for an inferior cigar il
would be clear waste, and if fine cigar be
wrapped in a rough leaf it would be thrown
out by the man who separates the cigars.
The room in which the cigars are made is a
large, lofty apartment, with a stone floor.
The cigarmaker sit in rows at benches,
which are divided Off by low partitions, to
prevent the tobacco or cigars of two adjoin-
| ing makers becoming mixed. A little
board. black with tobacco juice, lies on the
bench. Upon this the cigars are rolled.
The cigarmaker takes from his heap of fill
ings enough tobacco to make cigar. This
he fashions into shape, and then, taking a
leaf from his heap of wrappers, he folds ii
carefully round the Filings, beginning at
/ the small end, trimming it with sharp
knife, and cutting it square Off at the other
end Then he takes a small piece of grease.
smears it on The wrapper, and thus closes
the smaller end of the cigar. Many cigar
makers give the end twist in their mouths,
and this is especially the case with the neg
roes engaged in this department. Each
operator has little mould marked with the
size of cigar he is making, and the cigar
must measure exactly the proper length
marked on the mould, and must pass through
hole bored in it, As soon as fifty cigars
are finished they are tied in bundle, and a
slip of paper marked with the number OF
the maker is stuck under the string. When
the time for paying comes the proprietor
goes over these bundles and pays so much
per thousand for the cigars made. The
rate varies from S1l to $40 per thousand,
according to the size of the cigars and the
excellence of the leaf. The best workmen
are employed on the very finest kinds, and
can make as many as seventy-five cigars in
the day. The rough and cheap kinds arr
much more easy to make, and good folder
can turn out over 200 cigars In eight hours
White men, negroes, and coolies are EN-
ployed in cigar-making, but white labor j:
found to be by far the most intelligent, anC
coolie labor the least so. Indeed, the coolies
are mostly employed in opening the bundles