Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-10-24
THE LAND OF CIGARS.
NEARLY EVERYBODY IN CUBA MAkEs
OR SMOKES THEM.
Interesting Facts About the Big fac'ori''
In Havans-The Real Thing AZ
Apiece and Others at S:--Cigaret'Hs Ar'
Also yery Popular.

ing in church. IL aooue ~ ::
where he does not smoke. He siiioAo
the street cars, he smokes at tne pun ni
dining table, he smokes everywhere' Il,
presence of women is not cohsiueieI !"
all When coffee is brought on the .apie
the Spauiard or Cuban lights his cigar u
cigarette and begins TO SEND up ciouus y
smoke. He never even thinks OF saying u
the ladies, by your leave, 1or the Gus
tom of the country is to smoke every
where On the railway trains there IS nc
smoking compartment, for a man Is priVi
lesed. and, in fact, expected 10 s1hok'
everywhere. If he is not smoking, M
neiphbor will offer him cigarette. Inc
driver of your coach will smoke ana yer!
likely offer you cheroot
Az the opera the men will walk anc
smoke between the acts in the spaces be
hind the boxes and balconies. You viii
seq finely dressed, seemingly well bred
men. with ladies in full evening toilet
entering the theater and smoking as they
90. You never see pipe in Cuba. 1t Is
the country of the cigar and the cigarette
One of the odd sights to stranger Is thai
afforded by the negro women, who smoke
hip. long and black cigars in the street.
IT, was here that the smoking habit, which
has spread around the world, had its start,
and the Cubans are still more devoted to
their cigars than any other people. The
cigar industry and the tobacco trade give
employment to large portion OF the pop
ulation of Havana. In every quarter one
will run across small establishments where
from two to ten men are employed max
ing cigars and some children and women
engaged in stripping tobacco.
There are many large factories, employ
ing, some of them, several hundred men
and women Some of these factories make
cigarettes as we'll as cigars. The cigarettes
are made out of strong Cuban tobacco, but
have the negative virtue of being pure,
untinctured tobacco. In every house or
office building the porter, who sits in the
entresol, is engaged all day long i'll rolling
cigarettes. He has little table in front
of him, where the tobacco and paper are
spread out, and he is constantly at work
In this way the porter adds to his income
A vast quantity of cigarettes are smoked
here as well as cigars. When the Cuban
is not smoking cigars, he is smoking Gig
arettes.
1t is not to be supposed that all the
cigars made or smoked in Havana are fine
cigars The best tobacco comes from one
district near Havana known as Vuelto
Abaio and the quality of that often varies
on different plantations and in different
seasons. Much tobacco is raised in other
districts which is not of a superior kind
and has not the rich flavor that makes fine
Havana cigars sought after in all parts OF
the world. a good deal, probably most OF
the very highest grade tobacco, is secured
for the makers of famous brands of cigars
in Havana.
Some of the owners of big cigar facto
ries have plantations of their own and op
tons on the product of other plantations
famed for the quality of their leaf, bui
many of the cigars sold here at a low price
arc just as rank as any ever produced il
the United States, and worse, because they
are stronger. One cannot get very pleas
ant impression from visit to q cigar fac
tory. In the large factories the plumbing
and sanitary arrangements arc unusually
bad, and the buildings are filed with bad
odors which, mingling with that of Tic
tobacco, have anything but pleasing ef,
feet. Two or three hundred men will be
at work in u poorly ventilated room that
does not afford proper breathing space 70!
more than hundred. Neatness and clean
illness arc not conspicuous characteristics
either of the men at work rolling cigars CT
OF the hundreds of girls and children eli.
gagged in stripping tobacco. If one wantG
to thoroughly enjoy "a fine Havana cigar
If he has ever visited ono of tho factoriCa
he will have to obliterate the memory Of
the visit from his mind.
The fine grades of cigars sell at retail in
Havana for less than half the price one
would have to pay in the United States
that is, one will buy for 10 cents cigar
that would cost him in Washington 30 o.
25 cents, and for j cents a cigar he would
pay 10 or 5 cents for at home. Then therl
are cigars or cheroots sold for or 2 cents.
The ordinary retail price for a package OF
cigarettes is cents, The cigars affected
here are of the largest Sizes 6 or inches
in length, and some of them an inch in
diameter.
The very finest cigars made here go to
England. Some of them cost 81 each here
at wholesale. The men who make these
cigars are paid 30 cents each for the max.
ing of them. They are made with tho
greatest care. every bit Of leaf in them be.
ing selected and especially treated and tho.
rolling and wrapping being done by tho
AhO1e ShIIilui VI cigar uaherS. ODG OF
these mon engaged in making these 81
cigars Will not make more than 20 or 80
in day. He is supplied with a certain
amount Of tobacco when he begins work
in the morning, and when he turns in tho
product of his days labor at night must
account for all the tobacco. The cigars
are carefully inspected, and IL any defect,
the slightest crack or a variation in color,
is discovered in cigar it is rejected. The
cigar maker is paid only for the perfect
cigars. In the best factories the rejected
cigars are smoked up by the employees
In some factories where cigars not Of
the very finest quality arc made the reject
ed cigars arc boxed and sold as seconds. "
In all the factories the cigar makers arc
privileged to smoke all they want of their
own product and to take a pocketful of
cigars with them when they 90 out at
night. OF course this is in part at their own
expense, for they are paid for the cigars
they turn In. One will sec cigars for sale
at the stands here for as much as so cents
or ~. Some of them are packed separately
In glass tubes, so as to preserve their
elusive Cuban flavor A cigar costing 81
here would cost 81 in the United States.
and man who smoked half a dozen Of
them day ought to pay pretty good in
come tax.-Hayana Cor Washington Star.
Il Pious Request.