Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-07-04
The Annual Tobacco Bill.
THE COST OF CIGARS, SMOKING
AND CHEWING TOBACCO
AND SNUFF.

When building worth 500, 900 is
burned it is a calamity, but when
$500, 100000 worth of tobacco goes
up annually in smoke in the United
States it is esteemed good thing,
and those who smoke it appear to
derive much solid comfort from the
operation.
The Buffalo Courier says: "The
hard times of 1891 made many a
man cut down his allowance for to-
bacco, for the internal revenue from
that source was S3,271,S13 ~ less
than for the year 1898. Yet, as
showing how prodigious the con-
sumption of tobacco is in the United
States, the entire revenue from it in
that poor year was S2S,617, 1903. 90.
This sum was paid by consumers i'm
addition to the actual cost of the ar
ticle itself, and the tax is only small
fraction of the nations annual to-
bacco bill. The amount of tobacco
consumed in this country during 1891
was about 344 ,000, 900 pounds. If all
the babies were brought up on cigar
cites and every woman dipped snuff
or smoked pipe, this would give
every soul in our population nearly
five pounds of tobacco year. 1t is
likely that a great many women are
snutf.dippers and pinchers, but they
could hardly use up the II ,627, ,O92
pounds Of snuff that was manufac-
tured last year in the United States.
Still, it does not appear that our eX-
ports of snuff were large. Perhaps
good many old men keep up this
curious habit of the old aristocracy.
The account of our consumption
of tobacco in other forms is prodig-
ious. Last year we burned up 4,O66,-
917, ,433 cigars and cheroots and
3,lS7, lO1 ,5S1 cigarettes-a total of
7,254, ,O19,Ol4. Our smoking popula-
tion-that is, the part of our male
population old enough to smoke
with impunity-is probably about
$4,000, 900, and the share of each
would be nearly 500 cigars and ciga-
rettes, to say nothing of the quantity
of pipe and chewing tobacco con-
sumed, which was even greater than
the amount manufactured into cigars
and cigarettes. 1t is we'll known
that few habitual smokers limit
themselves to 500 cigars year, or
to 800 pipes. A moderate habitual
smoker will consume 1000 cigars a
year, or 1000 cigarettes, while there
are hundreds Of smokers who con-
sumo dozen cigars a day, or from
$500 to 5000 year, while a victim
of the cigarette habit will smoke
10000 of the little rolls in the course
OF year. Nor is it a rare thing to
find man who smokes q dozen ci-
gars a day, besides half a dozeu
Pipesiuil Of tobacco after breakfast
and dinner. All this explains why,
when there are so many abstainers
and so many very temperate smok-
ers, the average remains as high as
800 smokes year for every smoker.
A further interesting fact is that our
importatiOns of cigars were 36, ,35S,-
69O, and our exports were only 2,247,-
O55, while we imported but 3,318, 45l
cigarettes and exported 401 sos, 800.
Only the inerest approximation can
be given of the entire tobacco bill.
That for cigars for 1894 must have
been more than $500, 100000 and
that for cigarettes about S2O,0O0,O 900.
Perhaps the smoking and chewing
tobacco and snuff would come to an
other $3.50, 900, 900. That would
make the entire bill about $3.50, ,OOO,-
000."