Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-09-23
CIGARETTE PAPER.
How the Industry Has Grown in Past
Few Years.

social changes of the last few years
than the extent to which the cigarette
has increased in popular use. The mod
ern cigarette seems. to have ori@inat ted
in Spain, where, maize or other suitable
vegetable envelopes fer the tobacco be
ing urohtainable. q thin sheet of paper
cigarette assumed distinct forms A
Spanish provcrb declares that "a pape-
litos Ga paper cigar, a glass of clear
water and a kiss from pretty girl will
sustain Il man for a whole day" says
The London Tribune.
The dainty, unsabstantial, airy cigar
cite is the natural smoke of the Latin
peoples. It's use in this country dates
a. writer noted that the cigarette was
smoked by foreign visitors only. The
Crimean war of 1916 led many mill
tary and naval officers to ADOPT this
mode of smoking, then common III NAL
ia, the Levant, Turkey and Russia. Eng
fish officers. unable TO procure cigars,
Crimean campaign to the alienation of
tobacco. took to the cigarette, smoked by
their French and Turkish allies. Re-
turning. they brought the mode to Eng
land and the cigarette became fashion
able among clubmen and in the higher
circles. The first well-known person WHO
smoked cigarettes publicly in London
was Laurence Oiphant, who had ac
CURED the practice during his many
years residence in Russia, Turkey and
Austria.
Al tnat TIME smokers MADE Iltlf OWN
cigarettes as they needed them. About
| 1865 1896 the use of cigarettes had
SO spread that manufacturers began to
cater for cigarette smokers. Even then
manufacturers employed only single
man. usually a Pole or Russian, to make
up cigarettes occasionally. The firm that
now turns out the most cigarettes iii Eng
land at that time made only a few hun
| dred pounds of tobacco Il year into the
| dainty. papor-enveloped rolls. The Ge-
mand for cigarettes increased, and they
are now turned out by machines which
| are marvels of ingenuity, at the rate of
Rice Paper. with which cigarettes are
made, has nothing to do With rice, but
is made from the membranes of the
breadfruit tree. or more commonly of
fine new trimmings of flax and hemp.
France makes cigarette papers for the
whole world. the output of Austria and
| Italy being insignificant.
Cigarette paper should be of the very
hest and purest quality obtanahle. and
every effort is made by ma manufa E.; +, ms
and e n@etF ' ye"r Or wo aeo
foolisi, canard went the round of the
press that French cigarette papers were
| made from the lint and old dressings of
the Paris hospitals. Horrid indeed was
the story, and it was as untrue IS it was
horrid All the alleged harm of cigar
cites is due to bad paper. the deadli'st
ufacturers have recognized and the
| cigarette-parer Is now pure and per-
feet as possible. So light is 1t that 500
OF the tiny sheets go to the ounce They
the minimum of smoke. Before. being
rolled with tobacco they are free from all
| deleterious ingredients, and that they
contain nothing but the purest paper
| fibre.
Cn'y new material-f'ax and hemp
| trimmings-is used and these are thor
oughly purified. Chopped by machinery
into minute particles. they are we'll mixed
| a nd reduced
almost to dust. This is placed in a
ISOLATION of lime and soda. In order
that every foreign substance may be
eliminated, it unaergoes a thorough
| washing process, the water being OBJ
tanned from artesian wells sunk for the
purpose. The pulp IS again crushed and
ish tnge, and the pure white of the fin
ished leaf is obtained by an electric pro-
cess, which also clcanses 1t of all possible
impurities.
The cigarette-makins machines are
among the most wonderful products of
| human ingenuity and medical skill.
With single exception they are of
American invention. The machines work
on two principles. In those of one class
an endless roll of tobacco is enveloped by
an endless ribbon of paper. and chopped
UP into cigarettes Of the required length.
| Other machines roll the tobacco separate
". and press it into its paper case. The
| former are the faster makers, but they
| turn out larger proportion of faulty
| cigarettes.
At ore end of the machine girl sprink-
| les the fine cut tobacco on an endless
| cloth. which carries the tobacco under
| rollers to be cor1bed and scurried OF every
knot and lump. Gliding along II groove
through U-shaped wheels. the tobacco be-
comes continuous roll or rod. which is
| carried forward to the PAPER. This is
tobacco moving past a brush which inn
parts a tiny streak of starch paste. the
edges are pressed down. and the contn-
nous paper-cnshrined roll OF tobacco
moves forward beneath a knife which,
descending at intervals. cuts it eff into
| cigarette lengths. These fall into re-
ceptable. and in many cases are couf.tcd
by machines also.
The machines turn out from 200 to
| SOs cigarettes inmate. The Baron
machine crimps instead of gums the
paper, and thus removes one objection to
| cigarette smoking. This machine makes
any shape or size of cigarette round on
oval at the rate of 24O to 400 per min
| ute. The Introduction of these machines
oecessitated by the increasing demand
| for cigarettes, has greatly decreased the
cost. Made by hand the cigarettes, cost
Is Cd per 1900, while the. same number
Is mechanically made for 2Hd. Ply hand
from 1900 to $500 cigarettes can he made
per day. the output varying according q
the method ado pted.a In the same time
machine will turn out $4,000 cigarettes
Some ciearette-makers, roll the tob@cce