Arizona weekly citizen., 1884-03-01
CIGARS.
TUCSON SPENDS DAILY NEARLY S2,0t0 FOR
 ONE LUXURY.

In the city ot Tucson. place Of little less than 1e,OO0 inhabitants,-and 1f this number fully two-fifths are MeIicans who smoke cigarettes, there are con sumed every day l5,GOO cigars. This state rnent may arouse the incredulty of the quiet and conservative citizen, who seeks his bed at an early hour Of the night. and arises with the sun to attend to his | legitimate occupation, but to the 'man ] about town" the reporter of the CITIZEN | for instance, the statement IS not over whelming. People generally do not real iZe the amount otmoney spent in smoke daily In this city. Ii is beyond their comprehension. Yet the following in- terview with prominent tobacco dealer will furnish conclusive facts
 This morning q CITIZEN man ap- | preached him. He has been in the busi- ness for years; knows all the ins and outs of the traffic, and can furnish facts and figures 10 prove his statements.
 Excuse me but do you think thou | sand cigars are sold m Tucson daily:' asked the reporter.
 "A tbousandr' was the exclamation in return, ''why 1 sell more than that my self. If you put the figure at l5.000 you will then fall short of tie true amount"
 "But there are only 10000 men. wo- men and children in the town. Of this 1 l.a- F,,- o.1a,,1,4.y.,, about 2,OO0 smoke cigars This would make ten cigars eachY"
 ''Yes, that IS all true, but mary con- sume more than this, some as high as twenty a day. Any one accustomed to smoking wIlI pay for five or six during a day"
 "Let me have some 6guresE was the suspicious query of the reporter.
 Certainly. We will take 1t for grant ed that there are seventy saloons m the -own. I know two that sell never less than 300 per day. Others may sell only two hundred and many alcoholic dealers feel lucky fl they dispose of one box, "r even half one But you see ct once. 1 that if an average WAS drawn and 1j0 l cigars were allowed to every saloon the amount would be 10,590 This Is a min mum idea. Now there are half dozen regular cigar stores and the aver age sold Is 1000 cigars per day. l sell more and others may sell less, but l am | endeayoring to give far opinion"
 "All right We will take the amount as you name it. Now let us get at the f. nsncial value of these daily sales. What kind of cigars do Tucsoners generally pre'er?"
 Two for a quarter cigars are generally demanded, although l have a steady run for higher priced brands. I have regu- lar customers who buy from five to ten | five-centers, but I have learned by eX- | peTience to keep a larger stock Of "bit' cigars. This is the price paid at the saloons. and the customer who wants a smoke will naturally throw down a quarter and take two cigars"
 Then we will place the average price paid by retail buyers of cigars at l2l cents. This seems reasonable from your statement
 ''Yes, and when we multiply l2i by l5,000 we frd that every day Tucson spends for cigars alone Sl,S75.
 Pretty big. where there are hundreds of people about the streets wanting bread" suggested the reporter.
 Well, if you want to noralize, I must confess that 1t is, but let me go a little further and assert that fully $500 are spent for cigarettes. Why l never order less than lO0,0O0 at a time, and l am "l,liged 10 repent the order often during the month. And am only the proprietor of one store"
 .Tben" finally answered the writer mourntullv, ''this little frontier town, struggling under heavy burdens for an active city life, spends every day over 5000 for a luxury"