The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-06-27
HAVANA CIGARS
HOW the favor1te Weeds Are Manufact
ured-some Interesting Items ofInfor-
[From the Mobile Ra,is+er,

From the Mobile Registerl
4. III. Meyer, formerly a cigar
maker III Havana, gives considerable
interesting information concerning
Havana cigars and how they are
made. Mobile, although so near to
Havana, is very different in her
clgar-maklng methods, and Mr.. Mey
er STATEMENTS will doubtless be read
with interest.
any person may become a manu-
facturer IN Havana after obtaining
a license from the government. Each
manufacturer has q trademark or
as many trademarks as he wishes
but he alone is entitled to use them
Small manufacturers have no brand
or trademark, but work for the other
manufacturers. When a brand is
placed upon the market it usually
goes lor a very small price, but as it
increases IN popular favor the price
rises rapidly. Immense profits are
mace by the owners of well-known
brands. / : manufacturer of q we'll
known brand desires to retire he can
dispose OF the brand at aconsiderable
price. Sometimes, however, he pre-
1ers 10 furnish poor class of cigars
at hlgh prices until the brand falls into
dispute and no one wants the cigars.
The manufacture is chiefly carried
on IN Havana, and the manufacturers
are Spanlards or Creoles. The cigar
makers are OF all classes, Creoles.
Spanlards, coiOred people and negroes.
Many OF the latter are slaves. but there
Is not much profit in their labor, as a
good slave cigar maker costs from 500
to $1,000 and he must be fed and
clothed. Sometimes he isill, of course,
and at other times ne runs 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 or the poor
yleld OF the tobacco crop. Ii the yield
Is good and abundant, there is hardly
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 become
tractable. In flush times, the manu-
facturer who offers the largest advance
OF wages obtains the greatest number
OF hands. The system OF making adj
vances is also Of great damage to the
manufacturer, as he loses large sums
IN that way. The cigar makers who
cannot or will not repay are thrown
INTO prison. Sometimes so many men
are thus locked up that the scarcity
OF hands is severely felt by the manu-
lecturers. Another nuisance consists
IN having to pay off the hands three
times day, at breakfast, dinner and
night.
1.-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 fiat piece of wood
with a hole in it, through which the
cigar can be drawn. In making a CT
gar, the workman 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 the hand.
and finally applies the wrapper. His
chief aim IS to cover the veins or place
them all one side. BysuCcess in achiev-
ing this the good operator can be rec
Ognized. The heads of the cigars are
not fastened with gum or any other
similar sticky substance, but simply
by wheat bread. This bread the
workman carries with him. The taste
can hardly be noticed in the cigars.
The most skillful hands usenOthing at
all to fasten the ends, but secure them
by many twistings that wind into each
other. This requires more time, how
ever, and is chiefly practiced with fine
cigars.
''The smoker would hardly enjoy
his cigar il he were t 0 see it in process
ofmanufacture. Should you see the
dirty negro working amid the unclean-
illness of many of the factories, where
much tobacco is lying on the ground
and frequently coming in contact with
the spittle and naked feet OF the work
man, you would feel a strong desire to
let the cigar alone.
"All persons employed in a factory
smoke as much as they want. In the
evening the workman takes at least
six cigars home with him, and these
so taken are not the worst as, you
may imagine. None OF them CONSIDER
it stealing to take cigars or tobacco
with them. Although large thefts
often occur, the police do not inter-
fere. If the proprietor makes COM
plant he must not forget to
mention that he does not ex-
pect to have any of the stolen goods
returned, but only desires the discov-
cry of the thief In case he should
wish to recover thegoods the expense
would amount to two or three times
the value of them. The working
hours are twelve hours a day, winter
and summer Every fifty cigars
made by workmen arebound together,
the finest cigars being placed on the
outside, with the veins on the inside.
The number OF bundles depends upon
how many cigars a man can make IN
a day. The average Is 2OOto2 5O.'