The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-02
CIGARETTES By THE MILLION.
Tobacoonists Not Worrying over Leg
srIaNiCn-

Tobacoonists Not Worrying over Leg
islation.
! Savannah tObaccon1sts are not worry
/ ing very much about the law to prohibit
! the sale Of cigarettes, which has already
passed the House They do not think il
has any chance of becoming a law, and II
It should they say it would not injure
I them much.
We would sell more cigars. and it
would really be money in our pockets, p
they say.
They regard the bill as very foolish,
| however, and say that the law would be
entirely ineffective The loophole of
'medicated" cigarettes,sthey say, would
let in more than the market could use.
Every manufacturer would put out a
brand of "medicatedn cigarettes espec-
tally for the Georgia market, and the
worst feature would be that all the viii
famous, low grade cigarettes now man
ufactured would be unloaded on the
Georgia market as indicated. The re-
suit would not be at all what the legis-
lature aimed at.
Suppose the legislature were to pass a
law entirely prohibiting the sale of ci-
garettes, said well-kn0Wn tobacconist,
would it be effective? Not a bit of it.
The cigarette smokers would find it the
easiest thing in the world to send to
Charleston or to the northern markets
for their supplies. A half dozen smokers
could club together and order in large
lots The law would not prevent the
importation of cigarettes nor
could it prevent them from being smoked
after they were received. The experienced
cigarette smokers could do better than to
buy their cigarettes from abroad. 1t
would be cheaper to order a supply of
cigarette paper. Then they could buy
their tobacco here and make their own
cigarettes. The bill prohibits the sale of
cigarette tobacco. This makes it ridicu-
lous as there is no brand sold especially
for this purpose. Nearly all the smoking
tobaccos sold, except the plug cut, can be
rolled into cigarettes How would
the tobacconist know what the
purchaser intended doing with the
tobacco. 1t would be none of his bust
ness to ask if it was intended for ciga-
rettes.
The law" he added ''would be a dead
letter in few months, Just as the law
against selling cigarettes to minors is
now. If cigarette smoking is injurious,
the legislature had better pass a law
against it and punish the smoker, if it
has the power to do so. 1t is the only
way to put stop to the smoking of ciga-
rettesn
savannah probably consumes as many
cigarettes as any place of its size in the
country, bat very little is heard of their
injurious effect upon either old or young
The fascinating little rolls appear to
be as popular with mature men as with
the half grown boys, and there are many
men well along in life who are addicted
to the cigarette habit. If a law to pro
hibit the sale of cigarettes were enforced,
it would make it very difficult for the
small boys to indulge in their favorite
vice, and this is probably the object OF the
bill. The boys would not be able to send
to outside cities and purchase the cigar
cites in quantities as their elders would
There would doubtless be plenty of con-
traband cigarettes, however, and many
negroes would make a business of supply
ing boys with cigarettes.
There are several hundred places in
Savannah where cigarettes are sold
They can be had at nearly every tobacco
store, saloon, drug store, grocery and fruit
stand in the city. Probably 10000, 600
cigarettes go up in smoke in Savannah
every year.
Estimating that there are 1O, 600 persons
in the city who indulge and that they av-
erage five cigarettes each a day, this
makes $4,000 cigarettes day, 100000 a
month, and 100000 year. The con-
frmed smokers consume from ten to TWEEN
ty day, however, and the total consump-
tionwiu probably reach 100000 year.