The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-19
THE TOBACCO war.
Fierce Competition Between Ameri-
can and British Trusts


PHILADELPHIA. oct la-Thc London
! correspondent OF tho Record sends The
/ following.
| supremacy I'm the British tobacco trade
/ is being fiercely fought for by English and
! American combines This is the result o.,
| the invasion Of this field by the American
Tobacco Company. which has secured
control OF a number OF British factories
] besides bringing large amounts Of Ameri-
can manufactured tobacco 10 this coun-
try
To combat the American Trust half a
dozen Of the leading English tobacco fac
tories have combined under the name OF
the Imperial Tobacco Company. It will
endeavOr to drive out the Americans
As another means Of defence a number
Of British manufacturers held a meeting
yesterday. at which il was agreed TO re-
duce prices considerably below those quot
"a by the Americans. IL is hoped by this
means TO induce retail dealers in this
country TO sell only the English goods.
On the other hand. the American in
FaGCTs are doing all in their power TO out
wit and uTd@rSelI the home mauufactur-
efs- ! was Informed today that the Amer
lcdLS are negotiating for the purchase of
some Of the largest tobacco farms in Vfr-
glnla- This Is said 90 De the chief card
q the American company. and Is also the
play most feared by the British manu-
J. W Bewlay. one Of the most repu-
table tobacco merchants in England said
TO NE today The English companies are
one and all doing their utmost to repeI
the American invasion. but 4 fear that we
cannot 30 much good In this line If our
rivals arr able 10 obtain monopoly Of
the growing fields. and thus control the
output Of the raw material
There is "A good deal OF aduIterati0n
being done on Doth sides Of the Atlantic,
though, OF course. Z cannot call names
The battle is one ia which sheer merit Is
bound 60 win in the end.
English patriotism will certainly 20 a
long way toward helping the home in
dustry. but We are well aware that II the
British tobacco users find that the Amer
lean tobacco IS a better and cheaper
article they will buy IT. Il IS however
my opinion that the British will be the
winners in this case"
Among some Of the leading retailers
great confidence IS expressed that the
British VIII win An officer OF the firm
% Samuel & Gluckstein, who have 100
stores throughout London. said % me to-
day We are not going 10 sell Amert-
can tobacco and cigarettes at any figure
and We do not expect 70 lose much by It.
The recent months have added 10 the
price Of the American pocket tobacco be
cause OF a tremendous decrease in sales
Even the cheap American cigarettes
which were 50 popular are not sold here
so much as they were month or 50
ago"
An officer Of the American Trust said
70 me today In the future We shall sell
tobacco in this country al the same price
as In America. which is Oue-Jhiri less
than formerly. and we viii Ter aS good
terms TO the retailers as do the English
companies in addition to this we will
shortly open stores throughout London
and the suburbs. 7 might say that where
the English Trust has ore store we viii
have two We VIII see If America haV-
ing once set foot in this country, IS 20 be
easily driven out.