Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-03-25
THE LAND OF CIGARS.
NEARLY EVERYBODY IN CUBA MAKES
OR SMOKES THEM.

Apiece and Others ut 81 Cigarettes Are
Also Very Popular.
have never seen q Havana man smok-
Ing In church. It's about tho only place
where no does not smoke. Ho smokes I'm
tho street cars, ho smokes at the public
dining table, ho smokes everywhere. Tho
presence OF women IL not considered at
all. When coffee Is brought on tho tn bio,
tho Spaniard or Cuban lights his cigar or
cigarette and begins to send up clouds OF
smoke. Ho never even thinks of saying to
the ladies, "By your leave" for tho GUS
tom of tho country IL to smoke every
where. On the railway trains thero Is no
smoking compartment, for man Is privi-
legged, and, In fact, expected To smoke
everywhere IL no IL not smoking, hg
neighbor will offer him cigarette. The
driver OF your coach will smoke and very
likely offer you choroot.
At tho opera tho men will walk and
smoke between tho acts In tho spaces be-
hind tho boxes and balconies. You will
sec finely dressed, seemingly woll bred
men, with ladies In full evening toilet,
entering tho theatcr and smoking AS they
CO. You never SEQ pipe In Cuba. 1t Is
tho country of the cigar and the cigarette.
One Of the odd sights to "A stranger Is that
afforded by the negro women, who smoke
big, long and black cigars In the street.
1t was here that tho smoking habit, which
has spread around the world, had it's start,
and tho Cubans arc still more devoted to
their cigars than any other people. The
cigar industry and tho tobacco trado give
employment TO largo portion Of the pop
ulation OF Havana. In every quarter ono
will run across small establishments where
from two to ten mon are employed max
ing cigars and some children and women
engaged In stripping tobacco.
There arc many large factories, employ
ing, some OF them, several hundred men
and women. Some of these factories mako
cigarettes as well as cigars. The cigarettes
are made out OF strong Cuban tobacco, but
have tho negative virtue OF being pure,
untincturcd tobacco. In every house or
office building the porter, who sits In the
entresol, is engaged all day long in rolling
cigarettes. Ho has "a little t.Dle in front
of him, where tho tobacco and paper arc
spread out, and nc Is constantly at work.
In this way tho porter adds to his income.
A vast quantity Of cigarettes are smoked
here as well as cigars When tho Cuban
Is not smoking cigars, he Is smoking Gig
orettes.
1t Is not to be supposed that all the
cigars made or smoked in Havana are flno
cigars. Tho best tobacco comes from one
district near Havana known as Vuelto
Abajo, 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 n superior kind
and has not tho 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-
tions on the product Of other plantations
famed for tho quality OF their leaf, but
many of tho cigars sold here at low price
are just as rank as any ever produced in
the United States, and worse, because they
arc stronger One cannot get a very pleas
ant impression from u visit to cigar fac
tory. In the large factories the plumbing
and sanitary arrangements arc unusually
bad, and the buildings are filled with bad
odors which, mingling with that OF the
tobacco, have anything but pleasing eff
feet. Two or three hundred men will be
at work In poorly ventilated room that
does not afford proper breathing space for
more than q hundred. Neatness and clean
illness are not conspicuous characteristics
either Of the mon ut work rolling cigars or
Of tho hundreds of girls and children en-
gagged in stripping tobacco. If one wants
to thoroughly enjoy fine Havana cigar
If he has ever visited one of the factories
he will have to obliterate the memory of
the visit from his mind.
The fno 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 n cigar
that would cost him in Washington 90 or
20 cents, and for 8 cents cigar he would
pay 10 or / 3 cents for at homo. Then there
are cigars or oheroots sold for or 2 cents
The ordinary retail price for package of
cigarettes Is cents The cigars affected
here are of the largest sizes, 8 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 80 cents each for tho max
ing OF them. They are made with the
greatest care. every bit of leaf In them be-
ing selected and especially treated and the
rolling and wrapping being done by the
most skillful Of cigar makers. Ono of
these men engaged In making these 81
cigars will not make more than 30 or 80
in a day. He is supplied with certain
amount Of tobacco when he begins work
in the morning, and when no turns In the
product OF his days labor at night must
account for all the tobacco. Tho cigars
are carefully inspected, and II any defect,
the slightest crack or II variation In color,
is discovered I'm a cigar It is rejected. Tho
cigar maker is paid only for the perfect
cigars. In tho best factories tho rejected
cigars arc smoked up by tho employees
In some factories whore cigars not OF
tho very finest quality arc made the reject.
cd cigars are boxed and sold as seconds. "
In all the factories tho cigar makers aro
privileged to smoke all they want of their
own product and to take u pooketful Of
cigars with them when they go out mt
night. OF course this Is In part at their own
expense, for they arc paid for tho cigars
hou I'm In flp,, ,,tn al, o..