Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-13

L 'NNHF aNhN " oAhNhN Win nv
IEx3EHI this morning while we look into
$3.50 one OF the biggest industries OF
the Philippine islands. We shall suppose
ourselves in Manila. and we need not be
afraid Of leading others astray by using
the weed. This Ia no Sunday school coun-
try. Here the men smoke like chimneys
and the women go about with cigarettes in
their mouths. The boys begin to pun mic
otine before they can talk, and girls Of
eight, ten and twelve pout for their daily
allowance OF black cigarettes.
Look out there on the street! See the
girls riding by in that cart. They are
smoking cigars! Those boys on their way
to school are putting away and there on
the opposite side Of the street is a child
playing marbles, with a cigarette bal
ancCd over each ear.
These Ftlipinos smoke everywhere. and
no enc thinks Of asking permission. They
pun between their courses at meals. Your
hostess offers you a smoke as soon as you
enter the house and II you invite her she
will probably Join you, The priests smoke
on the streets, the ladies smoke In their
p%arlors, and there is not a government
office in which the clerks. both native and
Americans. do not smoke while at work.
1t is the same in the banks. In the stores.
and, In fact, everywhere.
Cheapest Cigars of the world.
What kind of a cigar will you take2 Here
is one wrapped in tin foil. That cigar in
the United States would sell for % cents.
II is the most expensive thing OF the kind
in the islands. and It costs 81 per hundred,
Or just 4 cents apiece, Think OF getting a
quarter cigar for less than a nickell That
is the price at which they sell here. and
venture you can buy a good smoke In Ma
Mia for less money than anywhere else
In the world. Cigars equal to our nickel
cigars are sold for 1 cent in silver or half
a cent gold. Our "ten c~enters" would
bring less than 2 cents in Manila. and a
fair cigar can be had for a cent. Our SOL
d,ers usually buy their cigars by the thou
sand, and but few OF them. includ ng the
officers, pay more than l cent a smoke.
Cigarettes are fully as cheap. They are
put up in packages of thirty and the low
Cst-priced package sells for a cent. The
very best is worth 4 cents American, so
that seven OF the best coffin pegs cost
you only 1 cent.
The Filipino cigarettes are manufactured
almost exclusively for the native trade,
Many are hand made, one factory turning
out $4,000, 900 cigarettes every week. or SC
many that within a month Il could give q
smoke to every man, woman and child In
our country and have 20, 900. 600 to spare.
The Filipino tobacco is darker than ours
and the cigarette tobacco is almost black
II is a pure tobacco and not doctored with
sweets and h~avcring extracts. so that 1t Il
said II can be smoked with less injury L
the nerves. The cigarettes OF both coun'
tries are Of the same size and shape, saw
that only one end OF the Filipino cigarette
is open, the white paper at the other en'
being turned in. You always light tn
closed end.
Among Cigar Girls of Manila.
Manila exports about 200, 900. 600 cigar
every year. 1t has enormous factories
employing thousands Of hands, and II l
said to have the most expert cigar maker
Of the void. The best OF these are girls
Our Filipino cousins have long, slende
fingers. which they use with a swiftnes
and skill which our best cigar rollers haV
not. They roll all cigars by hand and tn
greatest care is taken in making and class
flying the finer grades.
Let us visit one Of the large cigar taC
tories. We find them all over Manlli
They are situated even in the heart OF u
city and one OF the biggest IL just mel