The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-03-07
TOBACCO.
A Few Facts Not Generally Known Abou
Trade in the Seductive Weed

Few Facts Not Generally Known Abou
Trade in the Seductive Weed.
1t may surprise many who enjoy the
fine flavor of the Egyptian cigarette to
know that tobacco raising has been
| prohibited by law in Egypt since 1890
This drastic measure was adopted. curl
| ously enough, to maintain the high
reputation of Egypt's cigarettes. 1t was
discovered about II years ago that
| many of the smaller cigarette makers
We're realizing large profits by mixing
| the inferior tobacco of the country with
turkish tobacco and selling cigarettes
made of this mixture at the usual high
price commanded by the Egyptian
| product. 1t had won a place among the
| luXurieS of the world, but it was in dam
| ger of losing its prominence through
| the deterioration of the product. At
| first the government sought to mitigate
| the evil by restricting the acreage de-
voted to tobacco raising, but it was
! finally decided to stop the cultivation of
the weed entirely. To-day not a pound
OF tobacco is raised on the 5,5OO,OO0 acres
of land in cultivation in Egypt. In fact,
there is nothing Egyptian about '!Egyp-
| tian cigarettes except that they are
made in Egypt. The tobacco comes
from Turkey, the paper from Austria,
Germany or Italy. and most of the la
Dor employed is Greek. except for the
common brands which are consumed in
Egypt and are made by the natives.
he greater part of the trade is CEN
| tered in Cairo, where at least 5000 per-
sons are dependent for their daily bread
upon this industry. OF course the gov
eminent derives considerable revenue
from the tax it imposes upon tobacco
imports.
All American travellers in North Eu-
rope know that they have to pay a good
round price for inferior tobacco prod
ucts The best use to make of EUROPEAN
grown tobacco is to keep it for the pipe,
but many dealers persist in turning it
into inferior grades Of cigars. The So
called Havana cigars mostly manu-
factured in Antwerp and sold widely
throughout Belgium. are chiefly made
of leaf grown in West Flanders and are
interior to most of our domestic cigars
sold at half the price. In Germany
there are many factories turning Ger
man grown tobacco into cigars cigar
cites. snuff and smoking and chewing
tobacco. Some Americans say it re-
qulreS special education to learn to
like German products
NO one has We. discovered what the
properties of climate or soil are that
give peculiar excellence to the tobacco
leaf grown in certain regions. Tobacco
grows well in all parts of Cuba and the
soil of the tobacco plantations is mostly
composed of calcaruus rocks, but why
is it that the leaf grown along the
southern slope of the COrdillera de las
Organos in Pinar del RIO at the west
end of the island is the finest in the
world. Nobody knows. but the fact is
that the best tobacco Of this famous
Vuelta Abajo is reserved for those who
n IN rI n s,f t.,lNc
dear-bousht luxury. Because of the
excellence of its leaf, Cuba is the most
famous tobacco growing region and
many imagine that it is the chief CEN
ter of tobacco production. The Cuban
product, however. in the best of times.
is very small in comparison with that
of several other countries. The United
States Is one of the greatest tobacco
growing countries in the world. Over
100000 tons of dried leaves are prepar-
ed every year in this country. 10000
tons in India, about 100 900 tons in Rus
STA and 10000 tons in Austria Hungary.
Mr.. Gollan, the British consul general
at Havana. says that the normal to-
bacco crop of Cuba averages only about
$1,000 tons a year. Even France, in
the valley of the Garonne and in the
Algeria, far surpasses Cuba in amount
of tobacco production and so do Su-
matra, the eastern archipelago and
the Philippines. In 1894. before the in
ternal troubles largely reduced the ex-
ports of the Philippines, these islands
sent abroad 1887 tons of tobacco and
1400S0,O cigars.
All countries make tobacco an i'm
portant source of revenue, and in some
lands, most conspicuously in France,
Italy Austria Hungary and Spain, the
tobacco trade is a government monopo-
ly and no one is permitted to engage
in it unless he pays well for the priv
ilege, In Spain. for instance one COM
pany pays to the government a very
large sum for the monopoly of manu-
featuring and selling tobacco in that
country. Every cigar store in the coun-
try is owned by this company. It has
II manufactures in different parts of
Spain, in which it employs nearly 80
900 girls. 1t maintains nearly $4,000 eli
gar stores. and it is estimated that So
900 families are supported by the money
disbursed on it's pay rolls. The sales
of the company amount to about $685.
900 year. Barcelona spends $3.000,-
900 a year for tobacco. and Madrid
comes next with about s., &c., 900 year
Though Cuba was a Spanish colony,
Havana cigars have always been as ex-
penSive in Spain a. in the United a'es
but all other kinds are somewhat
cheaper than in this country.-New
York Sun.