The Press., 1893-08-17
TOBACCO IN ENGLAND.
AN ENGLISH MANUFACTURERS VIEW
 OF THE soLACiNG DRUG.

VT tFVC oO6ASuNS GnoS.
 The W0rkingman's Contempt For Ciga-
 rettes-What the Different Kinds of
 Chewing and Smoking Tobacco Are and
 How They Are Made Up.
 workingman. said an English manu- facturer to 8 London journalist, will smoke cigarettes, and he has contempt for the lighter, lnilder, boys tobacco" as he terms the qualities which are most in demand by the middle classes. Their names are legion, often fanciful, and the get up of the packages in lead foil and gold printed wrappings varies with ev- cry passing whim.
 The tendency is to smoke the lighter kinds, and the run Is upon navy cut, which virtually is the same as flake to- bacco. which preceded it in popular fla vor.
 Navy ct tobacco is simply tobacco which is partially manufactured, but the consumer persuades himself that a tobacco cannot be genuine unless he breaks it open himself by rubbing it in his hands. For flake and navy out to- bacco the leaf is pressed, and it is then passed under the knife and cut little coarser than the ordinary sorts. A fine ly cut tobacco, of the milder kind, is hotter to the tongue than the stronger descriptions. It burns quicker, but the tobacco which is softer and slower in smoking is more potent. None is so powerful as cut cavendish, which is first made into thick coil or cable. then pressed and afterward cut.
 Descending into the cellars the visitor saw number of presses, some of which contained in trays tobacco for flake or navy cut; others held blocks of caven- dish and many more were filled with hanks of negro head" in rows, square mail rods" or rolls bound around with Much of these tobaccos is consumed not in the pipe, but as substitute for smok- ing when that luxury might be danger ous one, as in mines. or not permitted by the regulations, as, for example, on board ship or in barracks at forbidden hours. It is not @ pleasant thought, but the habit of chewing tobacco is increas- ing, and the trade has to meet the de- mand. A first acquaintance with the balls of tobacco was made in the spinning room, where in the course of year thousands of miles of leaf are spun into stout twine and are then wound into balls, if intended for Irish roll, Limerick roll, pigtail roll or bogy roll, or if it is to be manufac- tured into negro head 1t is twisted into hanks, which when pressed are in con- venient form for biting bit off the end.
 Tobacco of darker description left in the press for some time becomes per fectly black with its own moisture. The reason for this change lies in the fact that the ''blood vessels" of the leaf, which contain the nicotine, are crushed and the oil is absorbed into the whole leaf, the surplus exuding from the press as thick and blacker than treacle. A hurried inspection only Can be given to the cigars. The best of course are imported from Havana, whose manufac- turers take care to retain the pick of the Cuban tobacco at home. But our i'm ports of foreign cigars of all kinds do not represent more than e500, ,000 of duty, payable at the rate of 5s. 2d. per pound. We do not receive, it is said, more than 4,00O cases of cigars from abroad. Each case contains 100 boxes, or 10000 cigars. Compared to the enor- nous number of British cigars manufac- tured these imports are infnitesimal. Without entering into the details of the work it is sufficient to say that man can make, by the exercise of skill alone, with the simplest tools, 24O cigars in one day, while girl can turn out of the cheaper kind from 200 to 300, but the latter require to be pressed in wooden molds to acquire the form which the skill of the mans hand alone supplies.
 "A British cigar" the attentive mem Der declares, should not be sold for more than threepence. We band the best only, for banding is equivalent to loss of profit of per cent, Some tobacco nists have not foreign cigar in stock to sell"
 It was the inspection of snuff mill, closely resembling 8 mortar making ma chine, which suggested the remark: "Ev- cry snuff taker who dies lessens the con- sumption. We use the mill for grinding our refuse and sweeplngs into snuff, but not for sale. No. We return it to the customs to get a drawback or return of duty. The government authorities once exported this snuff to Jersey, but it came back. Then they tried to burn it, but it would not burn. They must get rid of it, and they want to make sure that ii will not return to their hands again.
 "What, then, does the custom house do with all the snuff, amounting to more than e150, 900 per annum in value?"
 "They must first analyze it, then ship it and take it down to the More, where they pitch it overheard loose, for if they threw the bags into the water, too, some. body would fish them up again. The bags they burn in the government kiln lest some one should buy them and shake the snuff off,"