The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-29

From the New York sun.
We are a nation of smokers. In proof
Of this is the record of nearly 5.oo00O.-
eo cigars made annually In this country
for home consumption only. I'm addition
TO those made for export. This record
is so great that II is no uncommon thing
for authorities regarding the tobacco
trade to receive letters from England and
other European countries. asking IL these
figures are actually correct The island
Of Cuba makes only about 10000 900 at the
most
The English and most Europeans like
their cigars moderately dry. and al one
time they dried them in kilns to get rid %
the fungus which was generated in them
by the close. unventiated hold Of the
ship during the six Of eight weeks voy-
age, before the age Of steamships. Amerl-
cans like cigars fresh and moist. Just as
they come from the table of the work
man; and in this they are like the inhabi-
tants OF Cuba, the greatest judges Of ci-
gars In the world. In our variable climate
this condition is difficult to attain with
out ARTIFICIAL means, such az water placed
IN the receptaclcs where the cigars are
Kept, which Is apt to produce mold and a
deterioration of flavor when not done by
expert hands. So the brains Of cigar man
ufacturers have been put TO work to
overcome the difficulty and place their
goods In the best possible condition Il O.
fore the public. one device hit upon is
the bottled cigar, which is now seen in
the stores. The cigar is made and Is
then placed in glass tube, which fits Ii
like glove. This tube is sealed with a
cork, then dipped i'm melted parafine ana
covered with cap, so that the cigar prac-
tically reaches the consumer In the same
condition as II leaves the factory, and
VIII keep so for any length of time. This
is an Improvement on the idea Of Cuban
manufacturers of more than twenty years
ago, who used to send special cigars to
this country inclosed in what were rather
more like glass bottles. Each contained
three cigars. The end OF the bottle was
held over flame until the glass softenel
and II was then bent over with a wooden
cup until the orihce was Theoretically seal
ed This device did not prove popular
neither did more recent adaptation Of
the idea by another Cuban manufacturer
Another curious invention il displayed
by one Of the largest firms in Broadway. II
Is metal box with polished brass fittings
about fourteen inches long by six wide and
ten high. From the front there coils
AtAiSAA u iAbbtl plpt 10 the HtdftSl gas
fixture, and at the side is a small lever
on the fiat top of the box is a V-shaped
gutter like the hopper of a thrashing ma
chine. This is for the customer to place q
cigar in. He then pulls the lever down and
this has the effect Of opening the and let
ting the cigar drop to a platform beneath.
There a sharp knife comes down and cuts
on the tip Of the cigar which is then slid
back to meet tiny jet of gas at the one
end, while a strong suction pump works
al the other end, and so lights the cigar
Then another eccentric tits the platform
over and the cigar. with the tip cut off and
lighted rolls down a fiume into a little
brass basket 10 the customers hand. The
entire process does not take ten seconds
The cost Of this machine IL said to be only
$40, and IT was invented and made Ivy
poor man. who calculated that II cost him
over $500 to make the first model. Some
years ago a man In Center street made
figure of man. life size which when the
smoker stepped on platform In front of
II, opened its mouth bit of the tip of a cigar
placed between its lips and then auto
matically raised it's hand, which held a
torch wet with alcohol, and. sweeping II
past a tiny flame presented a light for the
smoker to ignite the cigar. The reason this
machine never came into any great promi-
nence was its great cost, 800, and because
the mechanism was so finely adjusted that
the least rough or careless treatment
threw II out of working order.
A new idea I'm lighters for cigars is found
I'm walking-stick, which carries a lighter
In the handle. II comes I'm three styles, one
OF them is a cane with the old-fashioned
crutch handle fitted with a metal flap,
which is raised by a spring This at the
same time works a ratchet arrangement of
ignition spots on a card, which Is drawn
past scratcher, and the flame thus pro-
Il. Tt.
five minutes. The smell of the oil is the
only drawback to this idea. Another Light
err Is a cane in which electricity is used
A reporter was informed that the first
cane of this kind was made for John Jacob
Aston under his personal superintendent
The stick has a metal cap and on this be-
ing opened by pressing on the spring at
the side the head OF the cane Will slide
down about an inch completing the cleo
trio circuit and causing a coil OF platinum
wire arranged on a fiat surface of asbe-
tos, to glow until the circuit Is broken or
the tiny battery exhausted The cigar Is !
lit by pressing 1t against the coil The |
third cane is simply an Improvement on a
device which was introduced in London i'm |
the early part Of the present century, and |
which was the idea Of German who adap- |
ted the principle used by the Land Dyaks |
Of Borneo. In the head of the cane there /
is a cylinder of stout tin, in which a pis- |
ton Of glass fits so tightly that It can Just
slide W and down and no more. At the |
bottom Of this cylinder there Is placed a |
quantity Of burned rags or prepared tin
der When the glass rod is driven down
sharply the compressed air ignites the tin
der and also tiny wick, which shoulders
until il reaches a dab of ignition paste
when it bursts into a fame at which to
light the cigar The Dyaks did this with
a piece of bamboo and 1t was their only
method Of creating a fire. One of their
bamboo lighters is in the museum Of nat
lral history.
Another interesting display is a series Of
orier pipes carved In the exact features of
prominent men OF all nations. The great
hing about them Is that if dozen pipes
If one pattern are examined they will be
found not to vary the sixteenth part Of
IN inch in the detail of each line forming
he features. That is because they were
,arved by machinery. The first machine