The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-03-28
FACTS ABOUT CIGARS.
Meaning of the Various Marks Seen
on the Boxes.
(New YORK Press. J

CNew York Press.)
The average man, when you give him
a cigar, will look at it in knowing
way, roll it lovingly between his in
gers and sniff at it before placing it in
his mouth. After putting on it a min
ute or two if you ask him. his opinion
he will tell you all about the cigar, its
make, grade and price, and inform
you in a confidential way that he
knows all about tobacco, in cigars in
particular. In ninety-nine cases out of
one hundred his information will be
wrong, as only the tobacco expert can
quickly judge of the intrinsic merits of
a cigar, and frequently he will be at
fault.
For commercial purposes, all cigars
are divided into three grades of to-
bacco, known as dark, medium and
light, but there are forty or fifty diff
the five subheadings of 'Maduro,"
which is the heaviest grade; Colorado
Maduro," the next highest grade; Col
RADIO Claro, the next, and 'Claro," the
lightest grade of all.
The grade of tobacco used in cigar
has nothing whatsoever to do with it's
size, and there is practically no limit
to the number of sizes. Any cigar man
ufacturer may bring out cigar of spe-
cial size and give it whatever name he
pleases. The best known and most fire.
quently used sizes, however, in the CT
gar trade are the "Conchas." which are
divided into Bouquet and "Espec-
ial;" "Regalia Bouquet" and "Puri-
tanos," 'Graciosa'' and "Puritanos,
the "Breva" and .Panatella" having
distinct shape of their own. The
"Panatella" is a long, thin cigar, with
tapering ends, whereas the 'Breva' is
finished off short at both ends and has
an even thickness throughout, except
slight narrowness at the end which is
held in the mouth.
If you will examine a cigar box you
will find stamped on the front of the
box the size of the cigar and at one end
the color. On the bottom of the box, at
the side, you will find some fancy name,
such as Flor de Habanar or Flor
Finos." These are only stock words
and mean nothing further than that
the tobacco is good Havana tobacco, al
though the cigar may have been made
in Connecticut.
On the under side of the box you will
ind only the factory stamp and label
announcing that the maker of the cigar
has filled all the requirements of the
law, if it be domestic cigar, while
the top is devoted to the name of the
particular brand of cigar, with the
name and address of the manu-
facturer. The inside cover is apt to be
embellished, particularly in the cheap
er grade of cigars, with some gaudy
picture, usually that of a scantily-clad
female.
Undoubtedly the best tobacco smoked
IN cigars in this country is the native
grown Cuban tobacco, and the cigar is
further improved if it is made in Cuba.
particularly in the province of Havana.
For this reason many so-called Ha-
vana cigars are in reality cigars made
IN this country and shipped to Cuba.
whence they are reshipped to the.
United States. and the revenue stamn
is duly pasted on the boxes to deceive
the uninitiated.
Many smokers who prefer a light
Wrapper enjoy the favor of the ManiIa
wrapper with the Havana filler. To
satisfy this taste the Havana tobacco
frequently is wrapped in a Connecticut
wrapper, which is colored to 1ooI, li1-e
Manila, wrapper.
INFERIOR grades of cigars fren1,ent1v
are made of doctored tobacco acid he
ing used to stain the wrappers 2 IiSb+
straw color in spots. The best leaf of
the TOBACCO plant is that which orrov,s
nearest TO the ground, and when the
ram ram splashes mud on the leaf these
nttle straW-colored spots appear when
the tobacco is cured When thasa
Spots are genuine the wrapper will he
good tobacco of it's grade, but wheth-
er II Is acld stain or not only the ex-
pert VIII De able to determine.