New-York tribune., 1906-10-27
CIGAR SUBTERFUGES.
psbsm Crop Shortage Puts Mana
fcctwers IN q Bad Wau.

<,~rs yesterday. shat the Cuban insurrection hs.
ssps f.r enough to bring down upon the heads Of
=. at.snders ira curses OF nearly every American
-aser who appreciates the real thing IN cigars
,-ss tslstns with e wholesaler the other day who
:. 4, close touch with the situation on the island
Va has Just returned from trip OF six weeks
s,-,t The rebelous little republic and is ANYTHING
hut optimistic as 10 the outlook for American
,,s.-s He said there was no possible vav in
rblcn the next years crop OF Cuban tobacco could
- made sny more than half normal and the
rhsnces were that Il would not be so large as
that
.-sepd On the street and hears remarks about
,,-r.t rore and horsehair and realizes that they
Gre directed a. his ali Havana perfecto-so-caIed-
he viii realize that scrne one is buncoing him. and
that Il Uncle Sam has net by that time put future
,,srrrections out OF the bounds OF possibility
o.he- Cuban syrnpsthizer viii be lost
The American investor has much at stake on
The island. ard most OF this IS IN tobacco lands and
tsc,ories. More than SS0,90,O0o is thus tied up.
Nany OF the largest tobacco estates are owned or
controlled 5y Americans. Noteworthy among these
s one embracing 225,0O in the famous Vuelto
sbajo district OF Pinar del Rio, the western
ns OF the island. The fact tnat these investments
are directly attributable 20 one OF the hrst measures
N reform introduced by the United States-the i'm
IIoasced By me trust Company Of America-InaSes
ihe American interests on the island look to me
safety. And il is about this same line OF argu-
- Is being buncoed Acting as fiscal agent OF the
tTnted States, the Trust Company of America made
he isisnd This investment in many cases took
form q IMPROVING the conditions OF tobacco
the Havana cigar within the reach OF the average
smoker is an average man. ne is not going TO have
lis privileges and pleasures marred, II he can help
VI Whatever that night in Cuba was FOR.
The Cuban tobacco output has considerably more
thar doubled the last eight years continued the
seai measure 10 the peace which has smiled the
Island. lSS.- when CuE& was SuIlerinS from the
with Spain. the TOBACCO crop fell IN value to
An average Cuban tobacco crop is about $4,000
tsles, Of an average weight Of no pounds. About
half q this comes 10 the United States al about 10
cesfa Of The crop. produced almost entirely in the
extreme western provinces OF Plnar del no ana a
-o@ - oT5 @ roIIces TITerous eforts have been
have failed. You can't transplant Pinar del Rio
tobacco such short distance away the middle
Of tie island without seeing a very appreciable de-
tsr0ration in quality.
In the event Of q shortage we get a consid-
srabe proportion Of lever grades rom 0iaeT % P0T
noLs o IT 5s-aLlc lopAScoS Si "I-lS 7tas| h,It
az Of which reach the consumer IN the guise
upon domestic grades, and source Of supply which
fls me with loathng TO OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Amer
so- 5ii+icsI carraie1 II is even worse than the
toorest cf our domestic grades The Cubans should
now have their next crop all set out 1t should
beginning Of February. Those blanked insurrectos
cant get back into their fields quick enough TO
suit II is now too late for full crop, and
ever time think Of testing those South American
i1g mar raiseTab BE Little sqIabbing island
Here the tobacco man removed from his mouth
s,-,a+o1 t-S o,1eTir1, fo~ some time provided
he IS willing 10 make trifing sacrifice II the way
Here are two cigars This one"-referring 10 a
beautifully shaped perfecto OF g rich light brown
is clear Havana Of the quality usually sold for
tao for quarter AL Of the tobacco N II Is the
real Cuban product. The workmanship alone costs
eooll - Lhoas2lo le . o'1e9 1S / z CgaI II Ss @
Havana filler and Connecticut broad leaf wrapper
You. viii notice that it is of darker color and
has neither the perfect shape nor the smooth ex-
tkjifII Wo-Ena9sib and bs-tv to the tobscco used
The Havana leaf The cigar usually sells for 10
Ike this IS what The wise man viii smoke in the
quality OF the all-Havana cigar In al respects II
y as good cigar as the aL-Havana except in
There may come e crisis. however IN which
even this resort VIII not avail TO save the american
q General Weger in Cuba, Just prior 70 the Span
berE fr ne - az 49, 1 iifi5 % n % sarq al q carts
pound When the invasion came We got 10 cents a
pound That lot Of tobacco changed hands five or
SIX times before il again reached a manufacturer.
When we last heard OF II il changed hands at s.
GEMS E pound and We would have been glad TO
buy & i back ! at 90 but we could not -,-..
Is the Ell-EIavana- Next IN quality IS the Havana
Aled. with Connecticut binder and wrapper. Third
o. Connecticut binder and Sumatra wrapper.
because Of the texture OF the leaf but the Con-
h@ee5.cut @ wrapper makes a higher grade cigar.
OF domestic tobacco Connecticut produces the
mex, with binder tobacco, while Pennsylvania and
Ohio come next with filler Virginia leaf is never
Used for cigars-o-ly for cigarettes and pipe and
Chewing tobacco. I IS not trade secret that
much Of the so-caIled Turkish tobacco IS grown IN
Virginia.
Florida Is coming to be quite cigar leaf grow
ing state Georgia and Texas, too. producing
some Of this quality. An effort IS being made in
tasse two states 10 grow something which Will take
i4s place OF the SuTnatTa wrapper Florida
Es1 net with considerable success in growing to-
oecco Under shade. Last years crop Of Florida
Bridegroom tobacco snapped Up at prices
ranging from 50 cents to & = pound Connecticut
has failed completely with this variety of growing.
The shaCe-groWn tobacco is used q wrapper
sometmes Z substitute for Surnatra. sometimes
for Havana
All these qualities run through infinite grada-
uons. Of course. which produced by the
known workings Of nature in the soil ternpera-
tsfe or percentage Of humidity during the time Of
growing or process Of harvesting and curing. The
test Connecticut broad leaf is raised IN q small
tecUon Cf country around South Windsor Old to-
Dscco lands grow finer tobacco than ones.
his gear tAe entire crop OF NeT England IS
Almost hawless. There have been ideal conditions
ol sun and rain freedom from storms and insect
l-sls and the CROP IS regarded as the best since
-et- Ine quality Is extra fine. and the farmers
are taking Of holding for 30 cents a pound,
o5oan an toba2co is already scarce and top notch