The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-11-18
Saxon Cigars.

You can purchase here, if you wish.
cigars ranging in price from nothing in
American money to about 12@ cents. |
| say nothing with all that the word
| implies. Our smallest coin is one cent.
| There are / and % and As Tooth pfennig
to the cent, Cigars can be bought here
for2 and pfennige. 1t is not until you
have invested in two or three of them
that they begin to cost you anything in
! American money.
1t is no eXaggeration to say that there
is more smoking done in Chemnitz, a
city of 1850 inhabitants, than in Chi
cago with a population of over half a
million. Everybody smokes here except
women and children. 1t is as much OF
a habit and custom as beer-drinking.
Formerly, the Germans, as we all re-
member, We're the greatest pipe-smokers
in the world. The pipe Is smoked now
only in the house. 1t is almost entirely
discarded by the better classes; indeed
l might say it is about entirely discarded
by the poorer classes. Cigars are so
cheap that all can afford them, and the
consequence is, as l said before, every
body INDUCES in them. 1t is not an un-
common thing here to see laborer
digging in cellar excavation with s
| cigar in his mouth. The hOd-carriers,
brick-masons, carpenters and plaStererS
smoke cigars while at work, The hack
drivers smoke cigars. The messengers
smoke cigars. The merchants, manu-.
factUrers and capitalists smoke cigars.
A cloud of cigar-smoke arises every
day from the city of Chemnitz which
would in itself be almost sufficient to
hide the sun if the other clouds ever
gave it chance.
Those who can afford to do so smoke
nearly all the time. | have met more
habitual, iAveterate smokers in Chem
nitz than ever before in my life. l mean
smokers who are never contented unless
they have the end of cigar between
their teeth-smokers like General Grant,
for instance, who throw away the stump
of one cigar only to instinctiVely light
another.
read recently. in an American scien-
tific publication of some repute, the
opinions of number of physicians on
the i'll effects of tobacco-smoking. All
agreed that tobacco is injurious to the
health, and some expressed the opinion
that the nicotine carried into the system
from pipes and cigars was the cause of
the widespread prevalence of nervous
and mental diseases in the United States.
One point upon which they expressed
their decided conviction was that the
shorter the cigar became in the mouth.
the more nicotine was consumed; that
is, fresh cigar smoked about half way
down, for instance, was not nearly as
injurious to the health as stump, or
ian old soldier"
l know little about such things, and
would not dare to question the opinion
of these gentlemen, but do know that
in SaXony cigars are smoked until they
are scarcely three-eighths of an inch in
length, and that neither nervous nor
mental diseases are common there. Ii
is the custom to smoke cigar until ii
becomes too short for comfort, and then
put the stump in cigar holder, when it
is smoked until it is almost entirely con.
sumed. The cigars, as rule, are worse
than any we can purchase in America.
The best are no better than those which
we can buy for five cents. Besides, the
SaXons smoke more than we do, ten OF
fifteen cigars day not being considered
an extraordinary number Beer-drink.
ing makes drunkards in America. There
is no doubt of that. There is no good
reason to deny that cigar-Smoking makes
Americans nervous and causes mental
diseases also. But here is a. country
where beer is consumed in enormous
quantities, and there are no drunkards;
where cigars are smoked in enormous
10
Facts are facts.
The poorer classes, of course, smoke
the cheapest cigars made, and these run
all the way from ten to fifty horse power.
The average is about thirty-five An
American dies if placed too close to those
of maximum strength. Either he dies or
the smoker does.
The cigar most popular among the
middle classes is one which costs about
two cents. Sometimes this cigar is not
so bad as at other times, but generally it
is worse. 1t is never good. 1t is seldom
ever tolerable. l have never tried it
myse but have been in its society,
and | have never felt entirely happy
when within ten feet of it.
A better cigar is that which costs about
four cents. Did say better? meant
to say, a cigar which is not so bad. This
quality does not rob you of all desire to
live. 1t simply burdens your soul tenn
porarily, and leaves you ray of hope
that it will go out.
A fair cigar, one which would cost in
America about five cents, is sold for forty
pfennige. This is considered very expen-
sive, however, and is only smoked by the
very wealthiest people. The most popu-
lar cigar is that which sells for ten pfen-
nige.-Ctemnitg (Sarony) Cor. Chicago
NelOS.