Catoctin clarion., 1918-10-24
TOBACCO IS NOW
WAR MUNITION
All Nations See Benefit in Keep
ing Fighters Supplied.
CONSUME HUNDREDS OF TONS
This War Is First Great Conflict In
History Which Has Been Fought on
Tobacco-Publie and Private Agen-
cies Have Responded Generously to
caIl-New Departure In Providing
"luxuries."

cies Have Responded Generously to
call-New Departure In Providing
"luxuries."
of war. In the Iron Dukes time any
soldier found drinking was liable to
the severest punishment, and up to the
time of the Crimean war tobacco was
totally prohibited in any army. To-day
uncountable millions of cigarettes and
hundreds of tons Of tobacco have been
sent out to the armies fighting on the
western front, SalOnici, Italy and
Mesopotamia. In the crash Of larger
issues the fact seems to have escaped
the notice 1t deserves-this war Is the
first great conflict in history which has
been fought on tobacco.
In all previous wars the nations en-
gagged have concerned themselves in Il
more or less generous spirit with food,
equipment and material, but rarely to
any appreciable extent with the "lux-
uries" of the fighters. In the present
war public and private agencies have
been ut work since the outset in all
the belligerent countries to provide the
men with little extras, and the chief of
these has been tobacco.
In Britain the provision made in this
respect by the army authorities was
promptly supplemented by the public
working through special funds or
through newspaper organizations,
which made it their business to see
that the men who were fighting were
duly supplied with adequate allow.
ances of tobacco In all forms,
Public Responds Generously.
The combined results Of efforts in
which the general public has taken the
keenest and most generous interest has
been the dispatch to the various fronts
Of an incessant supply Of Smokes" of
all descriptions.
SO far us the British army is con.
cerned, all this tobacco or practically
all Of It, goes out to four or five mil.
lions of men duty free, but it Is a sig.
nificant circumstance that despite this
fact and also despite the fact that
successive increases during the wal
have brought this duty from, roughly,
81 to $3.50 pound, the consumption
Of duty-paid tobacco still has gone on
increasing.
Apart from these enhancements OF
the duty, the cost of production also
has risen steadily. Low grade, dark
American tobacco has gone up from l.
cents to AZ cents a pound and has in
addition to bear enormously increased
freight charges. A light China tObac.
co, In great request for blending with
better grade leaf, was purchased be
fore the war for II cents II pound. II
is now a dollar pound and Is still In
demand even at that price and 50 Oh
top of it for duty.
The anXieties and nervous strain In.
separable from II great war are un
doubtedly responsible for this in.
creased consumption at home. The
testimony from the front Is universal
that were it not for generous supplies
of tobacco in all forms it would be i'm
possible for the men to stand the straip
Of continuous conflict.
The same argument may not unrea.
sonably apply, though in lesser de-
gree, to those at home who By per
sistent and unwearying effort are keep.
ing the fighting men supplied with all
their requirements in the way of guns,
shells, clothing and all the other colOs.
sal needs of the greatest war in his
tory.
Substitutes In Germany.
France and Italy, with less extensive
sources of supply. have been no less
enthusiastic in their efforts to meet the
tobacco needs of their soldiers, while
until the raw material gave out 1t was
part of the duty of every individual
cigar maker in Germany to manufac.
ture, free of cost so far as wages were
concerned, 400 cigars within certain
stipulated period for the use of the
kaiser's troops. AS we have seen re-
Gently, Germany has SO little tobacco
left that beech leaves and other SUBJ
stitutes have had to be used to supply
ths demand, the result being dlsas-
trous consequences in the health Of the
men.
England's chief source of supply has,
Of course, been the United States,
though a certain amount of leaf has
also come from India, Borneo, Java
and elsewhere. With the enormous
number of men called for the American
army, however, the adequate working
Of the great tobacco plantations In the
States may soon become an extremely
difficult problem. Even as it is, imports
have been decreasing in so marked
degree that the bonded stocks of to-
bacco in Britain have become danger
Ously depleted.