The Penn's Grove record., 1886-07-10
now CIGARS ARE MADE.
A Brief Description of the Process of
Manufacturing Them.

The process OF cigar-making shows
vast amount of skilful work, fairly ma
thematical In its eXactness, and /
many cases artistic in the extreme.
The deft fingers of women are target
employed in the manufacture OF cigars
and the skilled labor OF women IS gen
orally preferable to that of men. WorH
ing with tobacco softens the skin OF tn
hands to such an extent that you sci
dom find a person engaged In tn
manufacture of cigars who does no
have genteel hands. Neither does tn
tobacco dlscolor the hands. The re
porter saw women making cigars II
Denver recently whose hands nigh
well have been the envy Of the finest
lady in the land. Those with long
taper fingers seemed to be the most sue
cesSful manlpulators, and rolled Thu
plant tobacco into the most exac
shapes, much a. the soft fingers of som
aristocratic lady roll fancy lamp-light
ers for a church affair.
The finest grade of tobacco comes
from Havana and is used for what /!
called filling. The wrapper used mostly
throughout the Union, is the SumatIa
leaf, and is the bandS0meSt and best IN
use.
In the first place all tobacco is moiS-
tened with water, and left standing be-
tween twenty-four and ~forty-eight
hours, according to the texture of the
tobacco. 1t is then stripped, that is the
stem is taken out, and the leaf opened
and spread between two boards for the
purpose of keeping 1t open, and of CIV
ing it a flat surface. In this stage, the
leaf IS dried, and worked into cigars as
filters. The greatest precaution is al
ways taken, that the filler be perfectly
dry, or 1t cannot be smoked, and there
fore the cigar would not fulfill Its pur.
pose IN the least.
Cigars are rolled on fiat stones by a
def motion quite indescribable to those
who have not seen it,. The rolling is
but the work of an instant; the tobacco
is laid ON the stone, the practiced fin
gers touch it-one minute more and
there is a cigar of perfect proportions,
which is rapidly passed along to the
next man, who SHIPS off the pointed
end with a small cutting machine made
for the purpose, after which it is passed
to another man who ties ii up into
bundle with many others of its kind.
AS a rule the inside wrapper, called tht
binder OF a cigar, is composed of either
Connecticut or Wisconsin tobacco
which, on account of It's being very
thin and flimsy, and having little taste
does not in the least mar the taste o
the Havana 6.ler. Although there arr
a great many cigars made without bind
ers; still as a rule, the cigars supposed
to be made without them are nearly al
binders. After the filler is enclosed il
tie binder it is termed in the trade {
''bunch;' the outside binder is thel
cut, rolled and finished, which com
pletes the process of making what ar
known as Handmade cigars"
Cigars are also made in moulds il
blocAs of twenty forms, or shapes o
tlgars. These blocks are gTooyed II
che exact shape of the cigar when fin
ished. "Bunches'' are made by hanC
and placed in these grooves. after wheel
"a cover fitting the mold exactly is place.
yer 1t, like a cover, and is heav,
enough to act as a press upon the ciga
under it.
In cheap work 800 punches are Pre-
pared at once, inferior cigars bein!
made this way for the reason that the.
can be made so much cheaper AM
faster. These are naturally not as gooC
as the handmade cigars, as machine
making somehow spells the flavor o
the tobacco. They are more SHAPED,
than the handmade cigars and lOol
better, but it is said, do not taste s.
well.
The secret of the tobacco trade is +
make cigars even, spongy and well Glle.
out. The tobacco must be worked II
proper condition, and 1t takes an ex
perieEced man always to determin
upon what that condition is. Aftt
the cigars are made they are assOrteI
IN as many colors as the tobacco vii
run, some varieties running many NOR
than others. 1t Is generally selected il
tive colors, after which each color j
selected into five, SIX, seven, or ever
dozen shades, the bundles running int,
Ewes, tens. ffties or hundreds. Loos
cigars are also packed IN boxes fifty il
number.
Fine cigars nowadays run entirely il
light shades, and inferior ones IN dark
Fashions IN cigars change just as the,
do In everything else, and are no NOR
like they were ten years ago, than is
lady's bonnet of the present time, Xix
one made a dozen years since. TIL
principal method of obtaining dark to
cacco is by steaming it in a close,
chamber, which is the process called re
sweating.
At the larger Denver factorie
the reporter found many Span ards an,
Bohemians employed, most of whor
are very sklllful workmen. Womel
are seen everywhere, and numbers O
children earn from S. to 81 per wee
making cigars. The workmen are pal
by the thousand, the best of them earn
ing from SIS to $40 per week.
One of the proprietors said he ha
smoked for t~hIrty-hve years, and he bt
lIeved il had never hurt HIM in tn
least.
All classes of men smoked, he said
professional men, business meI
scientists, authors, day.laborers-an
one seemed to enjoy it as much as an
other; there Vas no way of deeidin
upon what class smoked most. Phy
sicians were inyeteterate smokers, bt
SO, he repeated, were NTH from a
other walks in life. AS a rule, h
thought a man will chew tobacco or
cigar when he is worried, but viii nc
smoke unless his mind is comparativel
at rest. Smoking was 4 great afte.
dinner enjoyment, and, he though
promoted digestion. 1t never mad
him sleepy, but rather reused his bra
and made HIM able to think bette
Men, on an average, smoked about fou
cigars per day. at an expenditure {
about 80 cents. Cuban and Sout
American women were great smoker
but he had seldom seen respectful
women smoke in this country.