Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-06-22
ALL FOR CHARITY.
THE GERMANS SAVE THE CIGAR TIPS

The tip or 'hcad" Of the cigar, which
by tho American smoker " bitten oil
and tossed away, IL IN some parts Of
Europe carefully preserved, and made
the basis OF vast, organized charity.
The history Of Us use, which only dates
back some fifteen or twenty years, IL an
illustration Of the results that may be
accomplished by economy in small
things, Some German philosopher of
n practical turn calculated that much
valuable tobacco was wasted by cigar
smokers In the rejection Of the tip, and
that II u general collection of the tips
could be made and the material could
he put to use, n handsome revenue
would be the result Tho conccit was
laughed ut, but was put TO the test
half seriously by number of smok.
crs.
For want of an organized effort tho
first results were not encouraging, but
the thing was talked Of and created
attention. Smokcrs' clubs were organ.
lied in all parts of Germany-so'callcd
"spitael-yclino' Tip socioties) and q
regular system of collections was de.
vised, The members of the clubs made
it their business TO collect cigar tips
among their friends, and boxes were put
in cigar stores and saloons for the same
purpose. Every month member Of
the club made his collections. As
charity was understood to he the object
of the collections, sums of money were
frequently found in the public boxes
among the tips. AT the end Of the year
the tobacco was sold to snuil manuiac.
turers, or for smoking tobacco. With
the money the clubs bought clothes and
Christmas presents for orphan children
or the inmates of other charitable insti.
tutions. The system, as it became
general, grew to extraordinary proper
tions. Hundreds of poor children are
to-day clothed and fed in Germany
through this simple means, despite the
fact that Germany is rather pipe
smoking than IL cigar-smoking coun-
try,
In Berlin alone there are more than
twenty collection offices, and the annual
contribution of the "spitzel.vereine"
forms considerable item in the sup
port of the state orphan asylum, the
patroness of which is the empress, In
Baden an effort is being made to build
an orphan asylum by means of contri
buttons, of which cigar-tip collections
are an important item. The traveller
will ohoo,ya Il, tnbo,on OF QUO, 4l,n,,nb
out the country, and, in fact, throughout
Europe, cigar cutters that bear the in.
scription "For charity-save the tip"
In Germany or Austria dealer, in pre-
senting to buyer purchased cigars,
will often cut off the tip of each one,
partly as q compliment to the customer
and partly as help to his collection.
The plan has been adopted with sue
cess in England, where the proceeds of
the collections are given to hospitals.
In Denmark the collection of cigar tips
furnishes material support for chart
table hospital in Copenhagen, and pays
for the education and support of num-
Der of poor girls up to the time of their
confirmation, when they are able to
take care of themselves. In France the
system does not appear to have taken
root as yet. The Partisan tobacconist
sells his cigar tips to florists, who fumi
gate their greenhouses with them to kill
insects.
In this country, where more cigars
are smoked than in all Europe together,
the tip is contemptuously rejected. OF
late years cigar cutters have come into
use in tobacco stores, but without the
Saving" clause that accompanies them
in Europe. A few beggars collect the
tips at certain stores and smoke them,
but most dealers throw them in the ash
barrel. In the German districts an oc-
casonal collector will be met with, and
in prominent German club an effort
was made not long since to introduce
the system, but the departure for
Europe of the promoter of the scheme
put an end to the effort. Tobacco deal
ers in New York generally declare them
selves ready to support and share in the
should an attempt be made
to rouse public interest in it for charity's
sake.