The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-05
THE HOME OF THE HAVANA.
The Habitat of the Weed Which Cheers
and Solaces Smoking Humanity.
The Manufacture of Cigars in Hayana--SOme
of the Facts and Secrets of the Great
Industry of Cuba.

satisfy the desideratum of the smoker said an
old tobacco merchant, who has spent his best
years in the West Indies, ''as she island of
Cuba. Not only are the finest spot1es of the to-
bacco plant from there but also superior
woody fiber for bundling and cedar wood for
boxing, which SO materially contribute to i'm
prove cigars"
The manufacture of cigars in Havana is car
ried on with more care skill and thoroughness
than any part of the world. 1t is greatly to this
circumstance that the finer aroma and flavor Of
cigars made there are due. Natural differences
in the various kinds of tobacco and climatic
causes, of course, have much to do with this su-
perior aroma and flavor; but, even if other coun-
tries had the Havana leaf, they could not produce
the same excellent cigars. One reason why cigar
confine themselves to one brand only. The
cigars are made with such exactitude
and perfection that they appear to have
been nodded. Not the smallest stem or rib is
allowed to show in any one of the four or five
layers of Havana used. The genuine Havana
has fragrance, apart from that which the
quality Of the leaf and careful seasoning i'm
parts. which must be attributed to the modus
operandi of the cigar maker and the methods of
manufacturing. One favorite brand, called the
Partidos, is manufactured Immediately after the
plant has gone through the process of fermenta-
ton, and while the leaf is almost colorless.
Some people think that fresh tobacco is more
easily handled, because it is softer and moro
elastic but in reality this is not so.
Most kinds of tobacco in Havana must
be immersed in water before they can be worked.
Cellars are unknown there, and, in consequence,
tobacco becomes drier by heat and draughts than
in other countries. Havana tobacco undergoes
fermentation twice, first when it is laid up in
heaps, and again when it is packed in bales. The
stronger and heavier kinds require seasoning
of eight months before they attain such degree
of coloring that they can be used If the leaves
are worked much earlier they yield principally
third-class cigars
The Cuban cigar-makers are mainly colored
people, although many creoles and Spanish emil
grants engage in the trade. The cigar-makers
form the toughest and most miserable
conduct is regulated by the good or poor yield Of
the tobacco crop. If the yield is good and
abundant there is hardly any way to manage the
men properly, as great want of workmen is
then felt II the crop is poor there are plenty
of hands, and with the reduction of wages they
become quite tractable When high wages are
paid the cigar makers become unmanageable,
and manufacturers use every means to entice
laborers from one house to another, often brib-
ing and loaning money with no prospect of ever
being repaid. Hundreds of dollars are spent
sometimes in inducing single workman to leave
one place for another. In times of scarcity Of
hands the state prisoners are released. In 1851
the government freed 800 convicts to supply
nuisance, that in this country we do not feel,
consists liz having to pays employees their earn-
ings three times per day.
Havana furnishes the world with cigars and in
no other place in the world are there so many
cigar factories. Much of the pleasant aromatic
flavor of the Havana cigar is due to the fact that
the filters are stripped and packed in ordinary
-four or potatoe barrels, and allowed to remain
for six months The longer the filters are stored
the stronger the flavor becomes The method Of
Of fpta Iofa
i've, as the exquisite flavor is lost by too much
drying. Rainy weather always interferes with
the manufacture Of cigars, as tobacco easily
absorbs moisture The filters must always
Poor tobacco is improved by being artifcially
favored with Catalan wine, which, undiluted, is
entirely too strong to drink The manufactures
never estimates how many pounds of tobacco
will be needed for thousand cigars, but esti-
mates how many cigars can be made from bale.
The wrapper is selected with great care with
view to giving beauty to the cigar. All the
scraps are either reworked into the body of other
cheap cigars, or exported to foreign countries
for cigarettes Cigars of an inferior quality are
is done in this country, in Havana
it is cut from above downwards.
Great care is taken to cut out the uppermost
part of the leaf, which makes the finest wrapper.
The portion that is almost without veins is
wrapped around the heads.
In making cigar, the workmen takes two or
three pieces of leaf and places them fiat in his
left hand; he then takes as many smaller pieces
as may be required, rolls them all together in
chief object is to cover the veins or place them
all on one side BY this the skillful
manipulation may be recognized. An un-
practiced maker kwill make third-rate
a good workman is the amount of scraps he
makes day A good cigar maker will average
only one-half pound. The heads of the Havana
cigars are not fastened with gum or any other
sticky substance, but simply by wheat bread.
This is tasteless, and every workman carries q
well-kneaded portion with him. With very fine
Havanas nothing is used to fasten the ends, but
they are secured by many skillful twistings that
wind into each other.
The enjoyment of the fastidious smoker would
be blunted if the whole process of cigar manufact
uring were laid open to him. Dirty negroes
throw their spittle upon the leaf and tramp
around it with their naked feet. This, combined
with the uncleanliness of many of the factories,
the Havana cigar Everybody in Havana
smokes, but the ladies in high life are rather
secretive about the matter. The cigar
men smoke continually, and when the en-
ployer does not supply them freely with
cigars of the finest quality the laborers steal
them. Firstclass cigars have fine, smooth APP
pearance, the wrapper being without veins and
of beautiful color Second and third class
cigars are Of fine quality, but not so we'll made.
The different grades of cigars may be recognized
by the different colors of silk bands
that binds them in bundles. Great
caro- is taken in embellishing the boxes Of fine
cigars, some of the orders of the nobility in
foreign countries being elaborate in the ex
IRENE.
Havana tobacco can be harvested but once q
year. Attempts have been made to obtain two
crops annually, but these have been unsuccess-
full. The best tobacco is known under the name
of Tobacco de la vuelta de abaio. 1t grows
in the region of the small rivers in the Sierras
de los Oranjos. Each year this part of the
island is oyeriiown and heavy, rich quality Of
has proved failure in Cuba In the growing
season heavy dew falls each night. but tho
soil, which is a red loan, becomes dry quickly,
and absorbs great deal of moisture Only ono
very good crop can be assured in each five years.
The plant requires great care. Three
dc 1t attaalr