The Washington critic., 1888-01-28
SMOKERS AND SMOKING
Observations of a Dealer of Forty
Years Experience,
THE PRICES AND QUALITIES,
Chewing TUbaccOs Cigars smoked
In NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
"No Good "

III Nasbinelpn-NlRR lRRfCiir7
$40 Good"
ayes, sir the TOBACCO crop = very
short indeed this year, and chewing
tobacco is advancing in price every
day" remarked Mr.. George W.
Cochran, the well.lnown toblcconist,
TO a CRlric man in search of informa-
tion.
GLOW about leaf tobacco?"
"Cigar leaf has not advanced as
yet" he replied, "but will certainly
do So"
"From what States docs the supply
principally Gomez
"In the way of cigar leaf, as every
one knows, the Island of Cuba pro-
duccs the best tobacco known to the
world. But the demand for tobacco
there has become SO great Of late
years that quality is sacrificed 10
quantity, and the relative proportion
of fine tobacco is gradually growing
smaller every year, yet no country
can produce as fine quality. This
is due TO the peculiar location of the
Island. In former days Connecticut
ranked as the best tobacco-growing
state, but at the present time Penn
| sylyania tobacco, when properly
cured, makes the best American wrap
rcr. Maryland tobacco is all exported
to foreign countries, as 1t is not con
sidcrcd good enough for home con
sumption"
Gin REGARD 10 CuEwtNG-ToBACco"
"Wcll, as all Chewers know, the
Graveley ranks among the finest.
This famous tobacco is grown along
the Virginia and North Carolina to-
bacco belt, and turned out of the fac
tory at Lcatherwood, Va. Virginia
and North Carolina have long pro.
duced the best grades of chewing to-
baccos; but the taste of consumers
seems to have become vitiated, uud
now Kentucky, Ohio and Missouri
supply more chewers of both plug ant
fine-cut than the States south of us
FINE-CUT.
"When did fine-cut tobacco com,
into general use ?" the reporter asked
"Only of late years has it come t,
be generally used. Forty years ag'
the amount thus used, as compared Il
plug, was not five per cent. 1t wa
not known outside the large cities
The plug tobacco was used by tin
miners and factory people North an
East, who smoked it. They wer
mostly made up of the foreign elC
ment, and were not addicted to Tia
habit of chewing. The chewing G
tobacco is distinctive America
habit, and the Americans for year
We're the only nation that used tobacc
in that form. 1t is safe to say tbs
forty ears ago there was not e
} baeco Chewer known in Englant
, .esnce, Germany, or Scotland. r,
that the people who mostly indulge
it, if they wanted to.
"About three-f fourlhs of the tobacC
, consumed in the United States
known as sweet tobacco, and
, heavily charged with loaf-suga
. licouce or molasses. 1t is fallacloi
/ TO suppose that tobacco contains col
Q peras or other deleterious substance
9 There is nothing poisonous whateyt
i'll their composition.
"What class Of chewcrs use tl
GraveleyV
cold Southern gentlemen mostly
who have been chewing for the pa'
, forty or fifty years.
"What might be called the cent?
, of the leaf tobacco tradeY' was aske,
, "New York, undoubtedly; and I'll
! centre of the chewing tobacco trade
in Louisville, Ky"
: SMOKERS AND SMOKING.
"About how many cigars are mani
factured in this country annually ?"
"The figures at the close of the lisc;
wear ending June so, 1886, showed thi
3,5l0, sos, ASS cigars were manufacture
that year, and il would be safe to ad
, 10 per cent for the past year. III
z number of cigars imported for til
I same period was 2,SSl 900. The est
{ mated yield of tobacco on the Islam
G of Cuba is about $50, 900 bales per ~
c mum. The number of cigars pr,
e duced in Havana annually is abol
Y go, ,000, 900, of which about one-tliI
|, comes to the United States. The est
J mated wholesale value of cigar
:, cigarettes, tobacco and snuff for tn
: year 1856, was SlS5, ,63l ,4l3; the est
mated cost to the consumer or reta
price was 1924, $40, ,267 Think of il
The number of operatives engaged /
, the making of cigars in this countr
r is ~, ,000--males, $4,000; females, II
F.; eco.
r "The estimated number of cigal
: smoked in Washington is put at $50
j Geo per day. The number of cigarette
is past computation"
D THE EFFECTS OF SMOKING.
! On the subject of smokers an
/ smoking Mr., Cochran said CATER a
Q experience of over forty years in Ill
! business, have found but few state
/ men, literateurs or students who d
!, not smoke. A good cigar has alway
! been recognized as solace to tn
turbulence of life, and not only thu
it is said to be one of the best agenci,
for the concentration of thought, an
in all my long experience ! hay
known but few of its devotces VIII
' have ever relinquished their ciga
;. in point of fact, 0s man grows olde
y he clings all the closer to his che
\ ished cigar, and deems il the one q
r scntial to his enjoyment.
# Among his patrons Mr.. Cochra
u numbers many who have been dea
IS ing with him for thirty-fve or fort
,f wears, and their consumption OF Cigal