Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-28
A Bit of Tobacco History.

| Ihey nave always got the most OF thel
tobacco from u.s. The weed was first i'm
ported by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1856, and
later on it became one of the chief articles
| of trade between the colonies and Great
| Britain. Some tobacco was planted in Eng
| land during the time of James /. Tobacco
| smoking lad become general among the up
| per classes. and both ladies and gentlemen
| smoked. King James denounced the Gus
| tom. He prohibited its cultivation in Eng
| land. Cromwell did the same and ordered
| his soldiers to tramp down the tobacco
crops wherever they found them.
Charles II tried to restrict our tobacco
trade to England. He forbade the colonies
I to ship the product elsewhere, and the re-
| suit was the ruination of the Virginia to.
bacco industry and the rebellion of the Vir-
| GINA planters in 1916, which was in reality
| the commencement of the struggle which
eliminated in the American revolution and
our independence In those days the Eng
lish had the monopoly and the profits. Now
the Americans are coming to the front, and
the probability is that our trust will even
up the eXactions Of the past.
1 don't know the amount of capital pos
sessed by the Imperial Tobacco Company
but it runs high into the tens of millions
The American Tobacco Company. incor-
porated in 1890. had capital of SO, 900. 600
and in 1901 1t had added to its holdings
that its outstanding securities aggregated
SO 100000. The Continental Tobacco Com
pany, organized in 1898. has a capital stock
and securities of about 800. 100000, and
there are other companies which represent
millions more. 1t is safe to say that the
tobacco companies of America altogether
have capital of at least s150, 600. 900. and
that most of them are more or less inter-
ested in this fight.
American Tracks on Old Landmarks.
Everywhere 1 go in London 1 see the
footsteps Of the ubiquitous Yankee. He is
either on the streets with his carpetbag and
tta OBJ I, III
American tools. or in the book stores sup
plying England with his share of it's litera-
ture. Mark Twain. Joel Chandler Harris,
Mary Johnston and other well-known
home and their books are sold by the thou
sands.
/ find the American invasion not only in
the books, but in the materials of which
they are made. I dropped into one of the
places immortalized by Dickens the other
day to buy a lead pencil and note book. 1t
was in fact, the old Curiosity Shop about
which the great novelist wove the story of
Little Nell" The sign over the door is
that of stationer named Poole. l asked
him for his best lead pencils, and he
showed me two. which were apparently just
alike, but one of which cost twice as much
as the other. The expensive lead pencil wa
made in Austria. costing 10 cents, and the
other was almost fac-simile for 8 cents.
but on the back of the second I noticed a
stamp showing that it was made by the
Eagle Pencil Company of New York. The
stationer told me that much of his paper
came from America This is especially so
of the cheap kinds, the most of the news
papers being printed on paper made of
American wood pulp.
Yankees in Westminster Abbey.
Speaking Of printing, Benjamin Franklin
did some Of his first printing in London.
1 came upon his old home in one of the
houses of Craven street this morning. II
is within stones throw of Charing Cross