Evening star., 1899-03-18
A Problem the Havana Cigar Manu-
facturers Are Considering.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VORKMEN
Estimate of Increase of the Crop of
the Island.
CONJECTURE OF THE FUTURE
Written for The Evening Star.

| Copyright, 1899. by Charles NJ Pepprr)
! Havana cigar manufacturers are turning
| over in their minds a problem greater than
| that of tobacco production. 1t is the prob
| lem of flexible fingers. They figure that
| next year the production will be much
| larger than this season, and that in two
| years it will be restored to the basis which
| prevailed before the war, when there was
| enough leaf tobacco for an annual output
| of 80 006,000 cigars. They even look for an
| increase in production Then the question
with them is of the labor supply to utilize
| 1t. The shortage in leaf Is a temporary
difficulty The lack of flexible fingers wor-
ries them lest it become a permanent draw
back.
Mr.. Gustavus Book, known the world
over as the leading authority on the pro-
duction and manufacture of tobacco in
Cuba, was recently discussing this subject
He was asked whether such thing as the
migration Of American cigarmakerS to
Cuba was probable. The Cubans who have
been in the United States will return" he
said. 1t is not probable that American
cigarmakers will ever come to the island
because their fingers are not flexible
enough for the work. There seems to be
something about the men born here which
gives them greater facility in handling the
native tobacco. The Asturians, who come
from the north of Spain, also have that
facility. The Cuban leaf, as you know is
OF very line texture and it requires either
Cu5an-born WOrkingmen or these Asturians
to work it UP properly. l do not know
that In nVe years from now we will have
cigarmakers enough to manufacture our
product. There is renewed demand for
Havanas all over the world. We cannot
meet it this year, because the production of
the leaf is not sufficient and some of the
havana factories will have to shut down in
June. Next year there will be larger
crop, and after that l think it will be a
question of men with flexible fingers rather
than of leaf
Cigar Workers Returning.
Many cigar workers returned from Kew
West and Tampa this winter and a few
returned from New York. The population
of Key West has been decreased twenty
five hundred by the Cuban emigration. and
Tampa has lost two-thirds of its Cuban
population. Those returning were mainly
cigar workers and their families There
mas been no shortage in the labor supply
Tor the Key West and Tampa factories
me various labor societies had an Under
Standlng that those for whom there was
work should remain in the United States
TINS season. The prediction is that by an
other season practically 10 Cuban work
lhsmen Will be employed in the Key West
ana Iampa factories. The Cuban loves the
island. He would rather live and work
there IMAM elsewhere. 1t may be fancy vet
some OF the cigar manufacturers insist that
the men who have been working in ,ha
Ciii'eu states LOT the last four or five years
are not as good as those who have re-
manned in the island They declare that
tnese men have lost some of the fexibility
OF hngers which is so essential in WORKING,
up me hner grades Of tobacco, and that a
season or two must elapse before they will
regain their former skill
some OF the factories, foreseeing the lack
% So Id ao9i IN ihe future, have tried to provide
lor II py taxing the sons of their working
men ana bringing them up to the trade
Il is form of apprenticeship with the ad-
vantage all on the side of the apprent
Accordlng to the statement OF the manu-
iac.ureIs tne experiment has not worked
very satisfactorily. Whenever a cigarmaker
mas boy whom he wants brought up to
the trade, the lad is given a chance Some
OF the factories take him. provide food
clotnlnS and lodging and also wages of ST.
month. They figure that the cost TO them
is between $50 and $50 a month and that
his first years labor is entirely valueless
After that his work begins to count hnt
the LAD Is at liberty to quit when he pleases
ana sometimes he quits after a years ex-
perence. Dormitories are provided for
these apprentices, and in a few of the
factories there are also dormatories for
the men. Most of these, however. live at
tfeir own homes.
Processes in the Factories
visit to one OF the Havana factories
is visit to all of them. The shops are COM
modious and well arranged. The men work
at the benches side by side without the sug-
sesuon OF a color line. In some of the fac
| tories one-third of the workers are colored
but the general proportion is about one
n1th There are also a few Chinese cigar
makers During the insurrection it was
dlrhcut to keep the peace between the
spanish or Asturian cigarmakers and the
Cubans. This difficulty gradually settled
itself by the grouping of the Asturians in
NJ t6a T1rINn
All the shops have their reader kind of
platform or pulpit is made for him, and he
occupies this perch reading in a high key
for hour or two hours at n time rrbe
reader Is a distinctive feature of all the
cuban cigar factories 1t is the general
testimony that much better work is done
during the reading hours than at other
times All the hands in the shop contribute
toward his pay and the factory itself fire.
quently adds contribution.
The women and girls who are emploved
IN stripping the leaf have a room by them
selves They are usually viyacious and
they gossip all they please. They have
never come in competition with the men
50 they have never become cigarma kers
No5"lthsianding the need of flexible fingers
and the fact that women are supposed to
possess a more delicate touch than men it
is claimed that they cannot become sue
eessful cisarmakers. They are paid 80
cents a day upward in Spanish gold vet
Few OF them average more than 10 or 50
cents. Their work seems to be much pleas
anter and their life happier than that Of the
New England factory girls.
WOrkmen and Their Unions,
The men make from 81 a day upward in
Spanish gold. They work by the piece. and
an average days labor varies from eight to
ten hours. A good workman rarely fails to
earn s. day, and the best ones can earn
s., though that is above the earning ca
pacfy Of the great majority The men are
allowed to smoke all the cigars they want.
They lose their own time in making them.
but the leaf Is furnished by the fac tory The
privilege is sometimes abused yet it is one
that has to be conceded. A shrewd foreman
often ffnds that a particular workman is
exceeding the average allowance which is
supposed 10 be six or seven cigars daily.
Sometimes 1T will also be noticed that one
man has great number of leaves of the
inner grade which are spoiled for manufac-
ture into irst-class cigars. Nothing is said
but at the first opportunity this class of
cigar makers is dropped. II the real reason
would be given there would be trouble and
possibly strike. The Cuban cigar makers
strike on slight provocation. AS rule
these strikes are not serious, and are easily
| arranged. There does not appear to be a
.