The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-11-26
City Ever Been Recog-
nized as Headquarters
for Seductive Weed.
NEW HUTCHINSON
LEAF WAREHOUSE
Magnificent Concrete and Steel
Building for Sale and Storage
Of Leaf Tobacco-Most Up
to-Date House of It's Kind
in the South-The Stor-
age Business.
ny FRANK S. wooDsoN.

ny FRANK S. wooDSoN.
Ever since. Richmond has been n
town 1t has been a leaf tobacco mar
ket and a tobacco manufacturing
centre. and In all the years 1t has
known no backsct as such. Richmond
IL to-day handling more tobacco than
ever before In Its history. The man
nor of handling the business and the
methods Of the trade have undergone
changes with the changes of the times.
but this city has held its trade against
all competing town and city and coun-
try markets.
In the days gone by very nearly all
OF the leaf tobacco that was marketed
here came in ticrces and hogsheads
and was sold by sample. the Same
being drawn from the packages by Il
sworn officer known as the inspector.
The larger part OF the leaf sold on
this market is still disposed OF by
sample, but in recent years tho SELL
Ing Of loose leaf on the warehouse
floor just as It comes from the farm
crs wagons and from his boxes and
hogsheads shipped by rail has become
a feature OF the market, and this bust
ness has reached mammoth proper
tions.
Growing Demand for Sun-Cured,
These loose leaf sales arc becoming
larger and larger every year. and Will
continue to grow, for the sun-cured
tobacco made I'm the plug Is becoming
more and more popular with the to-
bacco chewers of the world every day.
This peculiar tobacco that has become
SO popular with the masticators OF
the weed the world over is grown in
"a restricted territory within ten or
dozen counties on the north side of
james River and In easy reach of
Richmond. The farmers in these coun-
ties who own the lands suitable for
tho growth OF this type of the weed
arc increasing from year 10 year their
acreage, SO az to meet the growing
demand for the aun-curcd goods. The
bulk of RIchmond's loose leaf sales is
OF the 3un-cured stock. the brights
from the Piedmont sections and the
dark and red shipping leaf from
Southsido Virginia being sold mostly
in packages and by inspected samples.
The hurley Trnde In itichmond.
However. within the last two orr
three years Virginia and West vir-
ginia grown Burley and considerable
quantities of the same type from Ten
ncssec and Ohio and some from the
Eastern section of Kentucky have been
coming to this market TO be sold In
the loose state on the warehouse hoor,
and this branch of the business IS
growing. as 1t should do. for the Rich.
mond factories and tho buying agents
! of factories in several other towns use
something over 100000 pounds of
Burley per year. or 'urse, they
would rather buy the stock on this
market. where they can SEQ It with
their own eyes than TO buy through
agents in the Kentucky and Ohio mar
kcts. as they have to do unless the
Burlcy comes to them. Last tobacco
year fully 100000 pounds OF the Bur-
ley was sold in the loose state on the
warehouse floors, and probably az
much more wa1 sold by sample by tho
commission men. and for the balance
of this type necessary to meet their
demands the manufacturers went to
the Western markets.
1t goes without saying that they
would pay more for this leaf at home
than II they have to go away to find
1t. Therefore the Burlcy business Is
bound to grow. and is growing. as fast
as the farmers of West Virginia. Ohio
md Kentucky learn Of the advant-
ages the Richmond market affords
them.
The loose leaf sales OF Virginia
grown tobaccos In Richmond last to-
bacco year amounted to about 15,-
100000 pounds. and the Burlty loose
gales carried the figures up TO 49,
100000 pounds of tobacco.
Greater Facilities Required.
1t must not be understood from this
statement that the Richmond factories
consume all of this raw material. The
big tobacco concerns of the country
that use the sun-cured and other types
of Virginia and North Carolina tobac-
cos have buyers on the market, and
much OF the leaf tobacco marketed
here is manufactured into the chewing
and smoking In other towns All or
the agencies for the purchase OF leaf
tobacco for foreign countries are To-
Gated here and the "Regie" buyers. MS
they are called. cut quite an import
ant figure In the market. Richmond's
leaf tobacco trade has been growing
to such an extent that n large Increase
in the facilities for handling, selling
and storing tho weed has become n
necessity and the work OF Increasing
these facilities has been going on at
O. rapid rate. The story has already
ben told In these columns Of various
new storage warehouses that have
been built on both sides of the river.
and of tho plans being made by large
manufacturers to provide more storage
room and larger factories. The de-
mand for increased ties for tho sale
Of the loose leaf Is also being met.
The iIutchcrson Warehouse.
For many years, in fact. pretty
much'all of his life, Captain. John A.
K Hutchinson has been in. the tobacco
business III this city, For Twenty-Five
years past he has been the proprietor
of the Davenport Warehouse. on Four
tesnth street. where he did large
Z storage and leaf sales business.
When the continued growth of his
business nocessitated larger and bet
. ter quarters Captain hutchinson look q
& ed for5an IDEAL le9 iocatiop, and found it.