The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-01-10
To the Dilemma Confronting the
Man Who Enjoys q Good
Cigar
Pay More, Smoke q Poorer Ar
ticle, or Get Himself
q Pipe.
One Of tho Three Must Ie Chosen, ~ All
Goods Have Advanced In
Price.

W Uuo ROOtic VIM W uhO WV buNlup IN III
the imported box rather than the actual
cigars, as far AZ discrimination AZ to their
merits or dement's ID in question, says the
New York Times.
The advance In price under the Mckinley
tariff bill 20 long delayed has come at last,
and tho cigar smoker has three courses
open to him: First, to pay more for his
regular smokes; second, to smoke q poorer
grade Of goods and pay the old price for
them, and third, to give up cigars and
smoke = pipe. Tho Anti Tobacco league
may, perhaps, add fourthly, don't smoke at
all; but that is not worthy Of consideration
where a smoker Is concerned.
What ID a cigar and what docs the average
smoker know about 1t? is q very pertinent
query and must be handled with gloves, for
il there is a subject on which every man
thinks himself a standard authority and
expert, it is on what constitutes Il good
cigar. The answer hinges on two points;
rome, and a very important one, is the taste
of the individual smoker. BE the cigar a
three-for-hve-cents stogie or n ffty-cent
imported Havana, il IL tastes good to tho
smoker it Ia a good cigar.
With the cOnnoisSsur and the expert the
finest cigars in the world are madeof Vuelta
tobacco, that is to say, Of tobacco grown in
tho district OF Cuba known AZ the Vuelta
Absjo. This tobacco realizes the highest
price, and the next grade is called Partido.
TO mark the difference between these two
the Cuban market it is only necessary TO
point out that n Vuelta cigar, p~erfecto
Nhape, will cost nearly twice as much rs a
Partido cigar, perfecto shape, and of equal
weight. Yet we, as a nation, prefer the
Psftido goods. and pay the ssme price for
higher grade-ench one sells here at rs
sents. Nearly 70 per cent. of the cigars i'm
ported are made of Partido tobacco, and so
it becomes very difficult to stand boldly up
and say what is a good cigar, when the
speaker knows that the bulk of the people,
smoking imported goods. are smoking sec,
ond grade tobacco for the first grade and
actually like it better.
Why is this? A fact easily come at, be-
cause in the first place so many smokers
smoke with their eyes rather than with
their p~alates,. and so prefer the bright,
glossy Partido. rather than the dulIer.
DRYER leaf of the Vuelta. In the next place,
n great number of smokers smoke inyol-
unfairly, like n chimney, ms a matter of
habit, rather than in q way to enjoy all the
delicate fragrance and flavor to be ex-
tracted from a cigar properly and artistic
ally smoked. Not one man III ten really
tastes his cigar; he just draws the smoke
into his mouth and pntfs it out, and that
is all there 10 to 1t. Consequently, the Par.
lido suits the average smoker. 1t IS light
fore the Vuelta, it abounds in rich gum,
and is a light. innocuous smoke. so that a
man can smoke more cigars in a day with
out feeling any ill effects than he could If
he were smoking cigars made of Vuelta
leaf. This is a darker, heavier leaf, not so
change in character. After being stored for
twelve months, the Partido will lose its
rich gloss, turn gray and lose much of the
little flavor it ever possessed, but the Vuelta
cigars, if properly kept, will go on improv-
ing year after year. The Vuelta is a heavier
man cannot smoke from morning till night:
nor docs he wish to as n rule, for he will
his sense OF favor becomes less and less.
unless he ceases smoking for a time and let's
the faded palate clean Itself. One can eat
bread at any time-a rich cake clogs.
Perhaps the most distinctive difference
between the two growths is that Vuelta
cigars may be lighted, partly smoked, al
lowed to go ont, and reliqbted the next
hour or the next day without any appreci-
able loss Of flavor. There is no other growth
be said, and Partido cigars served in the
same way are rank beyond words. There
ia one other grade Of cigars that improves
by %relighting, and that is the ''twofer;'' it
has no distinctive taste when first lighted
save that Of hay: at the second lighting it
may be clearly defined.
The effect of the new tariff will be to adj
vance imported cigars costing $50 ner 1000
to $l1O, those Mt S102 to $127, and the finer
grades at 1907 to $40. Part of this advance
has been made. and the other part il to fol-
low at once. This means that the three
~for-a-quarter cigars will be sold at "ten
cents straight" and those at two for n quar-
ter at Fifteen cents straight or seven for
a dollar. So the consumer must pay more
for these goods or switch off to domestic
clear Havana.
The great bulk OF the clear. Havana cigars
They are made entirely of tobacco grown in
Cuba. bought by experienced judges, and
manufactured in Tampa, Key West. or New
York city by Cubans, in the same way ms in
the Havana factories, under the system
known all over the world as "Cuban hand
work." This means that every separate
piece Of leaf is so graded that the whole
cigar is of the same color throughout, with
every piece with the leaf veins running one
way. to insure perfect burning, and every
detail of the cigar. shaping and all, made
without machinery of any description. Fol
this class of work rs high as $40 per 1,00t
has been paid in New York for making
alone, that being four cents for each cigar
There is claimed for the imported cigar Ger.
tain points Of excellence due to climate
water, accurate ana artistic blending OF the
various vegas, Crops grown in different sec.
tions or fields which must be allowed for
the finer grades and sizes, but the
smoker of the two and three
for a quarter imported may nov
with advantage turn his attention to the
staple clear Havana cigars manufacture
by any of our leading firms, unless. indeed
he is DESTROYS of following his old branC
into the advanced scale. These goods also
bear an advance due to the increased dut,
on the raw material. but they are still con
siderably lower priced than imported good,
of the same denomination imported from
Cuba.
When the bill was first passed, the seet
and Havana (properly Sumatra and Ha
vana) goods were not expected to advance
in price for six months or 30. But this waf
due to the manufacturers thinking that, III
their Havana filler duty was the same al
previously, and as they had secured larg'
time at the old prices. They did not fgur'
on the immense influx of advance orders
which swallowed up their stocks in 81,
months less time than they anticipated
and 30 made the advance in prices neces
sary.
A meeting WAS held recently to make
concerted and equal advance, but it failcs
in its object. The secretary, not being
practical manufacturer, called the meeting
two mnnths too late, and IL WAS found tina
each manufacture had mnde his own ar
engagements for an advance in price amount
ing to from SO to sig per 1,0O1. This ad
vance must also come out Of the consumer