The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1885-10-12
THE COMMON HABIT.
Facts Of Interest Concerning the SAGE
OF T"baeeg---f he ;fiiI. and SMDk-
ing-.The Popular Brands.


ARGUS reporter.
"When you call for plug of tobacco, "
replied the dealer, you certainly get a
moiicum of the fragrant leaf, but it bears
only small proportion to the amount of
other ingredients with which it is cons
bined. The leaf is dipped in a heavy So
tuition of rum, molasses, l;corice, glyce~
fine, and other 'flavoring' substances un,
til it absorbs fully IS per cent of them.
Time was when the tobacco was the prin-
cipal part of the plug, today, however,
only the filler and wrapper are of the
weed pure and simple and as have said,
they are only as to in the weight ads
ded of foreign ingredients. | think this
accounts for the growing tendency of
young persons to the chewing habit. The
odor which comes from the breath of the
cbewef, you may have noticed is not that
of tobacco, but of licorice, and the new
and most popular brands are those which
contain the most sWeetening. But no
matter how the plug is made ii sells, and
the sales are increasing Some Of the new
style plugs bear fancy names, being called
wine and spirits, and the chcwer is led to
believe that genuine champagne or old
port enter into the detection with which
the leaf Is doscd This is. of course,
merely an appeal to the imagination, and
the wine or spirit flavor is partly due to "a
more or less large compound of the in
gradients have named with, no doubt,
IN increased admixturc of rum or low
grade alcohol
As there a large profit in plug tobac-
cor" asked the reporter.
Not at the present time except to the
manufacturer. The retail trade is very
much cut up, and suppose III no other
business is there so much close compete
ton. AS soon rs man establishes to-
bacco store and works up IA trade with
fair prices and a moderate margin OF
profit he is speedily handicapped by spec
ulntors, who will start next door, or in the
immediate vicinity, and make trade by
undcrselling, even if they have to sell al
wholesale prices to secure that end
as fine cut subjected to tins heavy
style of tlavoringS'
ITO some extent it is, but the fluvorina
and other ingredients is largely lost by
evaporation when the tobacco is cut, con
sequently man has more genuine iobac>
co in an ounce of fine cut than four
ounces o. plug. Strange to say, how
ever, the consumption of fine cut has been
steadily decreasing Of late yeats, and
believe in Rock Island alone only one
quarter of the amount is sold today that
was sold fifteen years ago.
as it not Il fact that the chewing habit
is ON the declneY
"lt is among persons of position and
culture. 1t seems To have becone an
xiom that no gentleman should chew to
bacco. Among the working people the
habit is on the increase, and it is to then
that the manufacturers look for the bulk
of their trade
"lIas smoking increased in proportion
to the decrease of the chewing hablt?'
1t undoubtedly has. Domestic cigars
are improving in quality and diminishing
in price Before the war domestic cigars
were both good and cheap, but after the
war they deteriorated in quality and in
creased in price, and the habituai smok-
ers either resortcd to the pipe or ii they
could afford it smoked imported cigars
Today there are thousands of brands of
cent cigars One New York house alone
has copyrighted 1000 different brands.
care Favored cigars in demand2"
mot so much as formerly. The per
fumed' cigar, as it was termed, is happily
thing of the past and experienced
smokers always ask for an uniiavored
cigar, well knowing that opium is used
more or less in all cigar tiavors. By the
use of fiavoring mixtures the poorest
kind of tobacco, cheap Pennsylvania OF
low-grade Connecticut, can be utilized
the wrapper stained to any desirable
color, either colorado or 'matluro, and
the young smoker easily deceived; and
not the young smoker only, for only one
man in fifty is connoisseur of cigars and
knows an imported regalia from a 'c|eal
seed highly favored. The cheapest
grades of cigars are wholesaled at from
IS to 81 per thousand, which allows ar
enormous margin of profit. These
grades include the celebrated election
smokers and brownspaper weeds. The
best 5-ccnt cigars, made of Havana filler
either long or scrap, with good Pcnnsyl'
vania or even imported Sumatra wrapper
cost the dealer all the way from SOS Il
$45 per thousand. Only those deal
with good clientele eau afford to sell
the high priced goods at : cents, and
then only as a Leader. Within the las
two or three years eastern manufactures
have established factories in Key West
Fla, and have put on the market large
quantities of mixed cigars composed o
seed leaf and Havana as Key Yves
cigars The genuine old~time Key
| West was clear Havana and had {
rough, peculiar, but appreciated natura
| flavor, but you can now buy the rankes
kind of seed goods in boxes bearing
Key West brands
rs the imported cigar trade increas