The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-02
THE KEY WEST CIGARS.
A Glimpse of the Tobacco Factories
and Cuban Workmen.

and Cuban Workmen.
From the Nep York Times.
A visit to the cigar factories Of Key West
would repay any tourist. The finest leaf
from Northwestern Cuba, from the Vuelta
AbaJo, Partidas and Yuelta Arrib T.. is
brought to our shores. where, under the
same climatic influences, it is rolled into
cigar shape. While a novice can roll a
cigar that will smoke, considerable practice
is necessary to become expert enough to
earn $25 or S35 per week, because workmen
are paid according to the number of cigars
rolled. The operator rolls together sutfi-
Gent quantity of material to form
the filling of one cigar. Experience enables
him to select leaves of uniform grade This
filling may also be made by machinery, but
the best Havana brands are always rolled
by hand. The filler is then wrapped in the
inner cover, which is an oblong piece of
leaf, then rolled to bring it into proper
shape, and then rolled in the outer cover or
wrapper, which is SO shaped as to incIose
the whole in spiral cover, beginning at
the thick end and running down to the fine
point, where it is dextrously finished nv
twisting to a point between the fingers
The cigar is then allowed either to dry nat
urally or the process is hurried by artificial
heat.
The finest brand of Havana cigars is the
''veguera," after which come the ''re-
galiasn The former are made of the leaf
when half dried, and no water is used, but
the latter, or regalias, made from the
dampened, dried leaf, are in no way super
Tor to the Key West cigar made from the
same leaf. While the word 'slegitiman
brands Havana cigar as made in that city
and OF Cuban tobacco, the brand key
West cigar" does not mean that the cigar
was manufactured in Key West, because
Tampa and Jacksonville, being in
the same internal revenue district.
are taking advantage of that
fact by turning out key West" cigars, and
1t is for this reason that Key West wishes
to have its own separate district for the
better protection OF its brands of cigar
Tampa and Jacksonville have not the same
| climate as Key West and Cuba, and putting
the cigars OF those two cities on the market
as of key West" make INJURIES that brand
just as much as the California wines made
in Chicago injure the reputation of the gen
| uine brands from the Pacific slope.
While it is all hustle and work at Key
West during the day, after working hours
it is a singularly quiet town. The mild.
soft evenings permit families to sit in the
open air, and in strolling through the
streets at night the lighted ends of cigal s
0h0 ~A6oA GbbSs lAo 81 JLilCk III IrO0E The
houses as to remind one of fire-fes The
little darkies and the children of the poorer
classes Of Cubans play together on a foot
ing of social equality.
On one occasion | saw an amateur min
strel performance by fifteen or twenty little
| fellows not more than IS years old. For
initiative skill had never seen ANYTHING
superior to the little Cubans when mimick.
ing their negro associates. Jokes were
cracked between the lend men" tamborine
and bones were there, and the soft, mello "
little voices singing southern melodies made
as a whole, and entertainment worthy of a
higher stage. | had seen Christy,s. Kelly
a. Icons, Dan Bryant's. the San Francisco.
and Dockstader's ministries, but none of
them had the natural charm of
that Cuban-darky troupe at Key West.
Bright and early on the following morning
these Ministries could be seen working at
the cigar tables with faces SO solemn as to
preclude the idea of any sense of humor in
their composition. The characteristics and
tastes OF different nations as smokers are as
well known to the Key West manufacturer
as to the retailer. For the English market
heavy, strong, richly favored cigar is TIE
tavorlte, while for the continent a mild.
quick burning one must be made. The
United States consumes every kind of
cigars, light and dark, large and small.