The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-16
CIGARETTE GIRLS
 4 CHEERFUL SET They Are We'll Paid and Very
 SkiIfuII WORK WITH THEIR HANDS Make Turkish" Cigarettes in New York With Great Dexterlty and Wear Fine Clothes on Sat
 urday-Ths Factory.
WORK WITH THEIR HANDS

From the New York Herald.
 Over on the east side, among the flats and tenements, are several small facto- ries where a large portion of the Turk ish cigarettes consumed in and about the city are made. It is interesting to know that in this age of machine made goods there are left few of the indus tries that are still carried on by hand and around which hang some of the TO- nance of the Europe,.n countries, both in the types to be found among the la borers and in their dress.
 Each alien quarter in the great metrop- oils harbors some industry that is pe- culiarly it's own, and while the sale of this product is somewhat limited 1t Is sought after by those who colonize in these section. As the Italian quarter has its spaghetti makers, the Germans their eier nudeln shops, and the Syrians their pastry and candy producers, so the Yid- dish have the cigarette and artificial flow CT makers, who are adopts at their va rious calllngs. Often these girls earn higher wages than the American born workers. who are not so quick to learn the trades nor such rapid workers once they have been mastered.
 In the cigarette factories of the east side the greater part of the workers are Yiddsh and Russian Jews, who speak but little English, some of them none, but who are capable of earning twice the wages of a saleswoman in a department store and who are rapid and slkillful workers in the art of cigarette making. They toll from half past seven until twelve, and from half past twelve until half past five every day but Saturday and Sunday. The orthodox Jew will not work on the Sabbath-that Is, our Saturday, and as the shop is shut down no work Is done on Sunday, making but five working days each week.
 The greater portion of the cigarette makers in the city are girls and among them one will often see the beautiful face, the modelling of features and mild man ners that bespeak the girl of gentle birth, brought perhaps, to his means of livel- hood through orphanage or poverty.
 Some Unusual Types.
 The cigarette girl is incline dto be hap snatches of some quaint song in for eign tongue when passing through the rooms occupied by these girls busily at work filling the wrappers and fitting in the mouthpieces. Care seems to rest lightly on their shoulders, and when not singing they are chatting away about some late gossip or twitting some girl about her lover. As whole they are an | independent lot, members of one of the strongest unions in his country, and skilled so that no domestic labor can compete with them. The typical cigar etc maker Is foreign born and has learned the trade on the other side, where, under oppression, work was compulsory, work that was far more irksome and disagree able than in the clearer atmosphere and brighter surroundi@s of the New York | shops.
 The expert worker will earn from s9 to $l5 per week making the cigarettes, and as the work Is counted by the piece it rests with the operator what her wages shall be at the end of the week. Few of | them earn less than $9 and most of them make more than $12. And on this they fairly bloom on Saturdays and Sundays | their holidays from work, for the cigar cite maker is lover of fine plumage and a large part of her money goes for that. l The tobacco from which the cigarettes | are made is imported from Turkey in canvas wrappers or bales. These bales are tightly packed and drawn together | with strings They range from fifty to one hundred pounds each and the leaves are small of light yellowlsh brown color | The first operation Is the sorting and stripping of the leaves. The stems are removed and the thin leaf is thrown in a pile. From this. after curing and treat | ing, handfuls are taken and fed into the | shredder crosswise so that the long | strings of tobacco can be prepared for | the cigarette.
 | These leaves are very dry and would break in small fragments if passed | through the machine in this state, so | they are treated and moistened before | being cut. Each bale will produce a heaping basketful of cut tobacco. This is then covered with cloths until called upon by | the weigher.
 On the floor with the cigarette makers there is large metal lined bin, dustproof and away from the moving throng of workers, wherein several hundred pounds | of finely cut tobacco is kept. From this | bin the weigher deals out from three to | five pounds to each girl as she presents | her empty tin box and record ticket to be filled. About four pounds is the av- craze quantity dealt out at one time, and the boxes are filled twice day, one lot making an average of eight hundred to one thousand cigarettes.
 Work at Tables.
 | The girls work at tables divided of Into compartments and some of them are so dexterious that one can barely follow their movements with the eye. They do not make the wrappers; that Is a separ- | ate business by itself and the factory can buy the tissue slips or tubes cheaper than they can be made by hand
 Each make of cigarette has its own brand, which is printed on the tissue paper in gold or some unique color, and this stamp is carried through the wrap pings, the box cover, the large boxes and on all the labels and show cards.
 As each girl works away filling the wrappers collector is going the rounds picking up the cigarettes and giving each one credit for the number she has made. This is charged up against the weight of tobacco and number of wrappers she has had. and in this manner a check is put upon the goods, otherwise there would be shortages that could not be explained at least the girls would fail to explain and they and others would reap the ben | efits.
 | It keeps the weigher busy in a factory where hundred girls are at work, and 1 between weighing times vigilant eye is