Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-11

on the box Is intended to serve as a guarantee
TO the consumer Of the number OF cigars he il
getting for his monev. II he paid s10 for .
box Of cigars which the stamp said contained
100. though 1t only held "a, he would have cause
to complain. How many persons are there who
count the cigars in box after they have bought
il?
TIE SANE RULES APPLY TO TOBACCO IN OTHER
SHAPES.
Smoking tobacco can only be put up In pack
ages OF two, three, four, eight and sixteen
ounces II man should put up smoking
tobacco in two-pound parcels his goods would
De liable to seizure. Manufacturers some times
put up overweight packages. One of them, for
example. sells fve-ouncs bundles of smoking
tobacco labelled four ounces for the sake OF
catching custom. Thisis illegal. Cigarettes must
be in packets OF ten. twenty, ATTY and 100.
1t would be against the law to put q 20-cent
stamp on pack OF fifteen cigarettes Similar
regulations apply to plug. fine GU. and snuff
tobacco. Another object which they have 10 TO
produce uniformity in the trade. Cigars used
to be taxed according to their value. but this
method gave rise to many frauds and required
ali cigars are taxed s. per 1000. Pittsburg
stoSes. which are worth only &c per 900, paw ~
much as do cigars which fetch $3.50 per 1000.
THE KEES-EYED REVENUE AGENTS
are everywhere. They not only inspect the to-
bacco products at the factories, but the shops
OF retail tobacconists are under surveillance BY
Thorn. 1t is almost impossible for . maker or
seller OF such wares to infringe or evsde the
law, because his competitors watching him.
Ii he attempts any trick they report hum to tho
authorities. Sixty per cent OF tho information
obtained respecting such deliuaueucies comes
from people in the trade. Some OF it reaches
the treasury anonymously, but communications
OF that sort rarely receive attention. 1t goes
without saying that the selling Of an over
weight package OF tobacco by one manufac-
turer or dealer for example. would be damage
to others by drawing away their trade. One
abuse to which the internal revenue bureau has
recently put a stop was the giving away Of
prizes in parcels Of tobacco. This began in
comp arativelv harmless way with small articles
such as sleeve buttons, but it steadily grew un-
til, to quote the language Of one OF the agents,
a package OF tobacco dry goods store or o
jewelry shop. The regulation demands that
the package shall contain tobacco and nothing
else, save perhaps an advertisement.
SCRAPS AND WASTE.
There are thirty-four manufacturers In New
York who deal only with the refuse scraps and
waste of cgsrrlakers This produc. they sort,
slit and pack, exporting most of it to foreign
countries. The balance they sell in bulk to
other manufacturers, who manipulate Ii and
put 1t up rs smoking tobacco. During the last
year 1881 900 pounds OF such tobacco waste
were handled in the metropolis. The general
demand for hght-colored cigars has made the
coloring of wrappers by article an important
industry.
COLOR AND SHAPE.
A popular deiusion exists to the effect that
cigar with light wrapper is necessarily mild,
though the binder and filler just as apt as
not to be strong. Mistaken notions respecting
tobacco products are widespread and persistent.
For example, most people suppose that a
"ierfecto' is something very fine As a matter
OF fact the ''Perfecto' is merely a shape. ANY
manufacturer can make "Pcrfecto," which is
a ,argc bulky cigar, on; of the poorest tobacco.
The "invincible. Yum YUM" 'Chiquita,"
Vanderbilt" Bouquet and "Rothschi,d"
are all shapes. ''Henry CLAY" is R proprietary
name trademark and tho cigars of that
brand are made in twenty-five different shapes.
TESTING SUGAR.
The expected adjustment of the bounty on
sugar BY the next Congress will relieve tho in
ternal revenue laboratory of considerable part
of its work. The bounty is 2 cents pound for
sugar that ''pOlarzes' a. 80 or over. The DO
arlscope tests the atrength of sugar. e., the
percentage OF sucrose or pure sugar which it
contains-o1 a scale of 100 Formerly the gov
crnment determined the quality of sugars by
their color. This method gave rise to frauds !
refined white sugar being colored aud imported |
IN the g,Iise of brown sugar. to be subsequently
bieached. To determine bounties the entire |
product Of each sugar grover Is weighed by an |
official weisher, sample being taken for polar
izing |
MAPLE sCGAR.
Just now the sugar bounty division of the
treasury is getting ready for the maple sugar
season. This is troublesome part of the BUSH
ness. because maple sugar is obtained By each
producer in comparatively small quantities,
thus multiplying II, labor OF weighing. polar
and Il srp+r
maple sugar BY the time it reaches market is
adulterarei. but any manufacturer who il
caught adm Grating The maple sugar on which
he asks for bounty il liable to fine of 5000
or five years Imprisonment or both. Neither
the rolariscope nor any known chemical test
viii distngui~ h authorization in maple sugar;
so evidence on the point would have to be got
III other ways. The flavor of maple and other
sugars is due to the presence of certain COM
pound e hers. Raw bee. sugar has a horrible
smell. and no one would think OF tasting il. 1t
hrppens that the hers in maple sugar have an
agreeable favor and hence its value During
the last year u 1912, 00J was paid out in sugar
bountIes.
PRODUCTIONS AND CONSUMPTION CT SUGAR.
This country consumed 1857 600 90 pounds of
cane sugar last wear, well as 40 0)0 900 pounds
of maple sugar and $4,000, 900 pounds of beet
sugar. The last is raised wholly in Cali
foynia, Nebraska and Utah. Al hough these
figures seem gigantic not moro than one
tenth OF the sugar eaten in the United
States is grown here. The other nlne-
ten hs come mainly from Cuba. Germany
and The Sandwich Islands. When the price Of
cane sugar in Cuba gets too high the importers
fetch beet sugar from Germany, which is the
greatest sugar producing country in the world.
The consumption OF sugar b. the people of
North America is sixty-nine pounds per capita
annually. The most remarkable fact in this
COnuec ton l. that since 1850 the m iii
has increased on this continent from forty
three pounds to six y-nIne pounds per capita.
1t is said that the amount of sugar con-
sumed by people ID in direct ratio with
their civilization In view Of this theory it ID
interesting TO observe that Italy, Turkey and
Norway use eight pound. per capita yearly; Rus
sla. Greece and Spain use ten pounds: Austria
uses fifteen pounds; German, and Sweden.
twentythree pounds: Holland, twenty-seven
pounds; France, twentv-rino pounds; Switzer-
land. thirty-,hree pounds, and England. seventy
nine pounds. RENE BAcHK.