Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1885-07-18
HAVANA CIGARS.
How the Favnrit" Weeds ar" Manufac
notwithstanding Information.

MIR. F. II. Meyer, formerly a cigar
maker in Havana, gives considerable
interesting Information concerning
Havana cigars and how they are made.
Mobile, although so near to Havana. is
very different in her ~cigar-making
methods, and MIR. Movers statement
will doubtless be read with interest.
ANY person may become 4 manu-
facturer in Havana :ilcr obtaining a
license from the government. Each
manufacturer has 4 trademark or as
many trademarks as he wishes, but he
alone is entitled 10 use them. Small
manufacturers have no brand or trade
mark, but work for the other manufac-
turers. When Il brand is placed upon
the market it usually goes for a very
small price. but as it increases in pop
ular favor the price rises rapidly. Inn
mcnsc profits are made by the owners
of well-known brands. If a manufac-
turer OF Il w~cil-known brand desires to
retire he 4 dispose of the brand at a
yer, he prefers to furnish q poor class
OF cigars at high prices unit! the brand
falls into disrepute and no one wants
the cigars.
''Ih" manufacture is chiefly carried
on in Havana. and the manufacturers
are Spaniards or Creoles. The cigar
makers are OF all classes, Creoles.
Spaniards, colored people, and ne
groes. Many of the latter are slaves.
but there is not much profit in their
labor. us a good slave cigar-maker
costs from 500 to $1,000. and thcn he
must be fed and clothed. Sometimes
he is i'll. of course. and at other times
he run away and his master never
sees him again. AS a class, the cigar
makers form the toughest and most
miserable of the whole population.
Their behavior is regulated by the good
If the yield is good ami abundant. there
is hardly a way to manage the men
properly, as a great want Of workmen
is felt. Ii, on the other hand. the crop
is poor, there are plenty of hands, and
with the reduction of wages they be-
come tract.,!c. In flush times, the
manufacturer who offers the largest
advance of wages obtains the greatest
number of hands. The system of
making advances is also of great dam
age to the manufacturer, as he loses
large sums in that way. The cigar
makers who cannot or will not repay
ar" thrown into prison. Sometimes so
many men are thus locked up that the
scarcity of hands is severely felt by the
manufacturers. Another nuisance con.
sis's in having to pay off the hands
three times a day, at breakfast, dinner,
and night.
The most renowned manufacturers
chiefly make their cigars smaller than
the standard sizes. The cigar-maker,
when at work. has before him a wood.
en- model Of the cigar he is expected to
make. He has also a flat piece of wood
with a hole in it. through which the
cigar can be drawn. In making a CT.
gar, the workman has two or three
pieces of leaf and places them flat in
his hand; he then takes as many small
pieces as may be required, rolls them
altogether in his hand and finally ap.
plies the wrapper. His chief aim is to
cover the veins or place them all or
one side. By success in achieving this
the good operator can be recognized.
The heads OF the cigars are not fasten.
l Gu "itl SuAi VI oLs OtuS1 SlAllldl sunny
substance, bnt simply BY white bread.
This bread the workman carries with
him. The taste j hardly be noticed
in the cigars. the most skillful hands
use nothing at all 10 fasten the ends,
but secure them by many twisting:
that wind into each other. This re.
quires more time, however, and i:
chiefly practiced with fine cigars.
The smoker would hardly enjoy hi;
cigar if he were to see it in process o
f manufacture. Should you see the dirty
negro working amid the u%ncleanlines:
OF many Of the factories, where much
tobacco is lying Oh the ground and FIRE
quently coming in contact with thu
spittle and naked feet of the workmen
you would feel a strong desire to le
the cigar alone.
"All persons employed in a factor,
smoke as much as they want. In tn
evening the workman takes at leas
six cigars home with him, and these S,
taken are not the worst, as you may
imagine. None of them consider i
stealing to take cigars or tobacco will
them. Although large thefts often oc
cur, the police never interfere. If tn
proprietor makes complaint. he mus
not forget 10 mention that he does no
. expect to have any of the stolen good
returned, but only desires the discov
cry of the thief. In case he SHOULD
. wish to recover the goods the expens
would amount to two Or three time
the value of them. The working hour
arc twelve honrS a dav winter an,