The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1902-10-17

BIZ otASIS ~ ohC
Users Know Them Apart, and They
Are Much Misused.
Whenever the average untutored TO-
baccO lover wishes to Indicate to his
envious friends that he Is in possession
Of a cigar Of the first quality, he usual
ly says that he has a perfecto. BY
perfecto he means the best cigar OBJ
%tainable. and as a rule he applies the
name to all products Of the Havana
factories. But in truth, declares an
intelligent writer In the Kansas City
Journal, q good many cigars that
never saw Havana are genuine per-
fectos, and a good many made In the
capital are not. The word, as q mat
ter Of fact, does not refer to the quality
of a cigar at all. 1t is simply a term
used to describe the shape. 4 perfecto
may cost 81. and it may cost 2k cents.
There are half q dozen cigar terms
thus misused by the average smoker,
and there are several times as many
words Of the same sort whose mean
ing he Is utterly unable to fathom
What native, corn fed smoker, for in
stance, knows the difference between
a paneteia and a Reina Victoria? And
how many know whether there Is a
real difference between q maduro and
an oscuro? Yet all of these terms are
the common property Of cigar makers
all over the world. Like many cigar
brand names, they are Of Spanish orr
gin, but the wanderings of Havana
tobacco, and Cuban cigars have taken
them into all countries and all Ian
guages.
The great majority of cigars are put
up fifty In q box, with thirteen on the
top row, twelve on the row next to the
top, thirteen on the next and twelve
on the bottom row. When a londres
cigar Is packed 100 In q box in two
bundles tied with a ribbon, 1t becomes
a Reina Victoria, which Is Spanish for
Queen Victoria. Early in the late
queens reign a Cuban manufacturer
invented this method Of packing and
called the resultant bundle after Great
Britain's sovereign. The name has re-
manned ever since.
The word perfecto Is q term indicat-
ing a certain shape in cigars. A per
fecto Is a smoke having what Is gen.
orally called the Cigar shape'-that
is to say, 1t is swelled heal the end
which Is lighted and tapers gradually
down :" the point. or head. The end
Of a cigar which a smoker puts in his
mouth Is known among cigar makers
as the head. The other end, that
which Is lighted, is called the tuck. |
When. as often happens in a perfecto,
the tuck Is very small, 1t is called a
needle tuck or feather tuck. All others
follow these lines more or less closely.
A thin, straight cigar, with little
more thickness in the middle than at
the tuck, is called a panetela. The
average panetela is slightly longer
than a perfecto, though the matter of
size has nothing to do with the shape.
Panetelas are esteemed because they
burn more regularly and are usually
better because more easily made. The
virtue Of the perfecto Is that its small
er tuck lights more readily, and its
more artistic curves give it greater
beauty.
A londres is a sort Of cross between
the perfecto and the panetela. 1t Is
a perfecto from the head to the thick
est part, and from there ON to the tuck
1t is betwixt and between. Usually
the slope from the thickest part to the
tuck has a gradual curve. The tuck
as a rule is as large as that Of a pane
tela.
A partegas is a cigar shaped much
like a londres. except that the slope
from the thickest part to the head Is
usually not so rounded. 1t Is q shape
not now as fashionable as it used to
be, and even when cigars are genuine
partegas the box is seldom stamped
with the name.
A conchas Is q small blunt cigar. As
a rule 1t is a very satisfactory smoke,
and usually it lasts as long as a per.
fecto. This is because that thin tuck
Of the latter burns down rapidly. The
opera is a very small cigar Of any
standard shape. 1t derives its name
from the fact that it is designed fol-
q short smoke between the acts. and
very often 1t Is called on entr-acte. Thu
brevas is q large, clumsy cigar. good
for an hours putting. The largest size
Of all is the Napoleon. Sometimes Ha
yana Napoleons are six or seven inche.
in length. The blacker ones are posi-
lively terrifying.
The better grades of cigars are usu
ally made in several shapes and sizes
There may be. for instance, the L.
! Flor de Habana perfectos, the La Flo
de Habana panetelas, the La Flor d.
!: Habana operas, the La Flor de Ha
bana partegas and the La Flor de Ha
! bana conchas. The label is the SAM
I on all Of the sizes and shapes, but OF
\ the front of the box the came Of tn
y shape is stamped.
\ On one end Of each box of cigars will
\ be noted another word. Sometimes
: Is colorado. sometimes it is claro an
\ at other times it is maduro. This ind
\ oo$oc <hA oclO. ~ Tho o{Doro xry{th{r ~