Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-05-14
MAKING A CIGAR.
Some Details or a Great and Grow
Ing Industry.

mians, Italians and occasionally by a
Spaniard or Frenchman. The making
OF cigars IS an industry which thus far
has not been touched by the Ordinary
American or Irish business man. Yet IL
| - about the easiest trade in existence IN
which a man can become his own mas
ter with but slight expenditure OF
money, and the market for the goods
Is always an open and a big one
The cigaTmaker who has $50 In cash
and can secure a bondsman has enough
money for stock and can 60 into the
business for himself. The inter
nal revenue charges are only about
Sl2. and sS soon As that amount Is
pad and the bonds perfected, the sur
plus money will be enoUgI TO start
with and selling his cigars will not be
difficult; 20 the cigarmaker may work
| without fearing masters frown-
| Nhy more of the expert mixers in the
trade do not Lunch out for themselves
IS one of the inrNplicable mysteries of
this usually industrious and hard
working class of skilled artisans
/ How many cigars can an expert
workman make in a week?
! Well, now and then there will be a
steady, energetic fellow who may have
Il l,5OO to hts credit at tbs end of the
u OAN SUN Eases dAc vel IsAlc III
/ deed. Many OF the men. who do not
/ Squander their time recklessly, can turn
out about 900 per week, but most of
them handle few over So, and the larg-
est number of workers are satisfied If
/ they can average wages for GOO when
4 their weekly payday arrives They are
/ paid all the way from sl5 to s3J a
| thousand, according TO the style and
| grade of the article, for the high grade
/ cigar demands more care and labor than
/ tho e which are sold at two for five
/ cents. All the very cheap classes are
/ composed of the wrapper, binder
and nller, but the best handmade cigar
has nothing but the hller and wrapper.
Up 70 this time human ingenuity has
failed TO perfect any machine that can
/ success fully compete with I pair of
hands III making cigar All the ar
| ticl-s that are needed nowadays TO
fashion a tirst-claSs cigar are the stock,
sharp knife like that used ty shOe-
makers, 4 cutting board aud the knowi-
edge how to uss the materials. But
before the raw material reaches the
bench of the maker there IS conSidera-
ble work TO be done with it, and quite
4 number of people earn decent wages
III doing II.
When the bales of tobacco are deliy-
cred at the factory, the first thing done
with the raw material Is TO dampen II,
and when this IS done it Is turned over
TO the ''stTippsTs- These shippers are
usually girls OF from II 10 Is years of
age, and they are often very expert, AMI
always very apt and quick at their work,
which Is both hard and disagIeeaOle,
and has not the compensation of being
well-paId labor. They cannot earn
more than 81 week, and most of them
do not carry home that amount with
them from the factory every Saturday.
| Their work consists in teaIlug away
the leaves from the stem OF the plant,
and the ''cleln stIipper" will not leave
a quarter of an inch of tobacco upon Il
hundred stems. Formerly these stems
were thrown aside as refuse AMI us---
less, but of late they have been utilized
in many ways that make them valua-
ble, 50 that they are now another
source OF profit to the manufacturer
After the stripping is Completed and
the stems examined by a forewoman To
see that every scrap of leaf tobacco has
been taken from the stems, the leaves
are dried and cleaned and then they
are really for the workmen- They are
not, however, given out to HIM with
out a careful account Is taken of the
amount OF stock furnished him, and
for that purpose the stuff Is weighed III
his presence and his receipt taken for
II. The number of cigIr5 which lie -
to deliver over for the stock handel t.
him Is then calculated, anl the num-
Der is made to depend upon the size of
cigars, the closeness of their packing
~ i the amount OF tobacco necessary
TO make a dller.
-, ,Fy,.a Il
make a thousand cigars, and again it
may require from fourteen to sixteen
pounds of stock tJ supply the slTe
uumber. These calculations are 50
easily AMI perfectly made between tie
workman AMI foreman that there Is
scarcely any dissatisfaction on either
side. OF course. it is always unde
stood that an expert workman, no
matter how closely he Is cut down IN
material, will always have enough
stock left to make Il few extra cigars
for his own use, AMI lie never falls To
do so, though tile rule against IL Is eN-
tremely strict, but very seldom ell
forced
When the fller is really the stock is
picked up quickly and dropped into 1t.
ami the eNpzrt, getting II into form IN
N instant, wraps around II a -arge
smooth leaf that Is called the binder.
Then a ribbon of iiue leaf. with as lit
tie grain as possible in It, Is rolled from
the butt of the cigar, oblquely around
1t till il reaches the top, where II Is
fastened with gum and the cigarmak-
er's work is at an end. The foreman
inspects his cigars one by oae, and II
they pass his critic SIN they are handel
over To the buncheT, and thence they
go to the packer, AMI are ready Tor
market,
II he be Spanish cigarmaker-and
that class OF workmeu in this trade are
credited with be n the most expert in
the world-he picks up very deftly
broken leaf and rolls it downward with
his right hand to form the filler.
American cigarmakers, strange to say,
always roll the leaf upward ami to-
ward them. or course the filler is the
most important portion of the cigar.
Experts will tell you that il the grain
allel along the length of the cigar IL
will burn well and level, but IL not the
cigar will draw with difficulty and SO
burn that it will require dozen light
ings to keep 1t in q suckable condition
until 1t is burned out.
How many cigar factories are there
in the United Statesr
Probably twenty thousand regular
registered shops, large and small,
where the work is carried on.
How many c:gar factories in New
York city?
Probably about twelve hundred regu-
lar registered shops, large and small,