Evening star., 1901-11-18
Government Bonds.
Their Consumption Increased by
Anglo-American Tobacco War.

Their Consumption Increased by
Anglo-American Tobacco War.
From the London Mall
The Anglo-American tobacco war has
produced some surprising revelations re-
garding the number Of cigarettes consumed
in this country, and has incidentally led to
inquiries as to how the enormous demand
is met by the manufacturers. The popular
cigarette Of today is made by machinery.
The contrivance favored by the firm which
has been acquired by Mr.. Duke is capable
Of turning out $50 cigarettes per minute.
while the machine used by Messrs. w. ID.
and III. o. Wills, limited-the leaders of the
resistance which Is being offered to the
American invasion-can comfortably pro-
duce 100000 cigarettes in working day of
ten hours.
Each Of these great factories has scores
OF its respective machines at work, and
either, 1t is believed, could, II necessary.
continuously make cigarettes from year
end to year-end at the rate of 12O 900 900
per week. Some idea of the stupendous
vogue which the cigarette has gained in
this country may be gathered from the
fact that quite recently one of the great
firms mentioned was working Its whole
plant night and day. Though the machines
used by leading firms differ considerably In
appearance, their working principle is prac-
tically the same. The tobacco Is put into a
kind of hopper and is forced into a tube
which runs the entire length Of the ma
chine. Meanwhile a spool of what looks
like thin white ribbon, but which is really
cigarette paper, has been rapidly unfolding
itself, and has met the long strip of COM
pressed tobacco. resembling now nothing
so much thick brown string.
Paper and tobacco travel along together
for a short distance until the edges of the
former are gradually bent round the strip
of weed so that they nearly meet. Then at
a a6 NJ a
paper just touches a little gummed wheel,
the other edge quickly adheres. and a knife
cuts the continuous eight-foot cigarette into
required lengths as II passes, and the fin
ished article is ready for the packing case.
The machine employed by Messrs. Wills
lis the only one In this country that
'crimps" instead of gums the cigarettes;
in other words. the edges are Joined by
pressing.
The cigarette habit is of comparatively
recent growth In Great Britain. When the
purposes to this country all the English
manufacturers refused to entertain Ii ex-
cept Messrs. Wills. The fact was, that so
limited was the use of the cigarette in Eng
land that by one days working the ma.
chine could have stocked any tobacco fao-
tory for a week Messrs Wills cigarette
trade was the only one large enough to find
regular work for the newcomer. The ma
chine hailed from the United States. where
even then something like 2,150 10000 ci-
garettes were made annually.
An authority estimates that quite 10 per
cent Of the population OF the united king
dom are cigarette smokers. and that they
consume on an average five a day all the
year round-say, about 7,000.000.0O0. That
represents $500 tons Of tobacco. which. IL
placed on railway trucks capable OF carry
ing two tons each. would form a train
about seventeen and one-half miles long.
The machines Of England turn out every
year S31 600 miles of cigarettes-enough to
go fourteen times round the globe.
And yet, despite this enormous smoking
OF the machine variety there
are more handmade cigarettes consumed
than ever. The connoisseur-the smoker
with the refined supersensitive palate-de-
clares that he can taste the metal of the
machine In the cheaper brandsI Hand
made cigarettes cost about half a crown q
thousand to make. Machines turn out the
same number for twopence-farthing.
THE cheaper cigarettes are made" said
an authority to the writer. the grester
will be the number Of smokers, but the
place OF the best handmade brands will
never be taken by the commoner varieties"