The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-31
THE
THE SMOKE OF KINGS
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

HAVANA, Cuba, March 31,-Real Ha-
vana cigars made in Havana of the
famous Vuelto Abajo tobacco promise to
become more and more luxury which
only the very wealthy can enjoy. The
demand for them is always increasing,
and the price is always rising, but the
supply can not increase much, for there
| is only one place in the world where
| the tobacco used in these cigars can
he grown. That is the aforesaid Vuelto
, Abajo district, which is just small
! spot on the island of Cuba. There are
other tobacco growing districts on the
island, but they can no more produce
| real Havana tobacco than can the
| Connecticut valley. Most of these in
| ferior Cuban tobacco lands are now be-
ing devoted TO sugar, because sugar is
bringing such high prices and is so
| much less trouble to raise than tobacco.
Only the Nuelto Abajo lands go on pro-
ducing tobacco. and they VIII doubt
less continue to do so as long as the
sons of men continue to crave that
strangely soothing and yet stimulating
caress which resides in the smoke of
the best cigars
There probably is not and never has
| been any product of one place so widely
distributed as is the tobacco grown in
the Vuelto Abajo district of Cuba, The
I
bit Of soil are literally scattered to the
ends Of the earth, 1t is an impressive
| thing 70 roam through the shipping
| room of one OF the great cigar factories
here, and see the packing cases con-
| signed to every place in the world
where there are civilized men and
| money. Paris and London, Cairo and
| Algiers, Melbourne and Buenos Aires
all draw their share of the sweet Ha-
vana leaf direct from the island The
cigars go out packed In great wooden
cases which are most ingeAously sealed
with steel wires. For shipping Havana
cigars is just like shipping money. They
are as good as currency anywhere in the
world, and kept under proper conditions
| they are as enduring, for stocks of Ha-
Vana cigars are often mentioned in wills
and sometimes pass through the hands
OF several generations Hence thieves
are always after them, and some cigars
are always stolen in transit, usually by
removing one plank from packing
case, extracting a few hundred cigars,
| worth perhaps almost as many dollars,
and then replacing the plank
In this same factory you can see the
smokes of the mighty of all the
world in process of being made. Here
in one factory are rolled the kind of
cigars over which Kaiser Wilhelm
planned his great coup in Belgium, and
the ones which soothe the royal nerves
OF the prince of Wales Both OF these
are cigars of modest size and price.
compared to the one which was smoked
by j. +. Morgan, the elder. IT Is
about 10 inches long comes one in a
box, sells for a dollar apiece here in
Havana, and for about 81 in New York
The Cuban cigarmaker who rolls these
cigars makes about 81 day. and he
can be seen rolling them any time lie
is one of the very few men who can
afford to smoke this, perhaps the best
cigar in ere world Another man Who
smokes them pretty regularly Is this
cigarmaker's favorite doctor. Cuban
cigarmaker eau not be prevented IRON
presenting his doctor with samples OF
his skill. No doubt the post OF ply
stefan to this particular artist IS very
highly priced,
They say that J. p, MorgaN came
down here once and watched this man
rolling cigars. He stood for several
minutes observing the process win
interest, and then walked away without
having said anything. and what was
more disappointing, without having put
a hand into his pocket. This gave the
ri geruaa keF a vNSy D0Oc DSSlntOSa ~
Anglican nSillionaires ~ geNeraI ans Sst
/ p. Morgan in particular For several
DAYS. they say, he went about NUT
terine.
"Think of 1t, He has millions and he
did not give me cent!
| The Morgan cigar Is by no means the
largest made. however. The largest is
over "A foot long, and must weigh nearly
twice as much as Morgan's smoke very
few of these giant cigars can be pro
duced. because very few leaves grow
large enough to make the wrappers Tor
| them. The foreman Of the factory
watches every bale of tobacco that -
opened for leaves to use in making TINS
kind Of cigars. Nearly all of the nnlshed
product is consigned to single dealer
in Egypt. who smokes these enormous
cigars, and why, and whether ne
| smokes one at u sitting, or lights one
Off and on for a week, are quesllohs
which no one can answer. The cigars
go regularly to Egypt at $1,000 thou
sand, and they must retail for at least
al apiece, but that Is all the mshuiac-
turags know about them.
Supplying as 1t does the smokes 1 tn
many Of the most important men III
The world this factory has a heaVy re,
sponsihllty~ II was sharply remlhueu
OF that fact few years ago,
| In the making of some OF the larger
cigars. a rubber band is used to hoid
the fiber together before the, wrapper
| Ia applied, the band being deftly shppea
or as the filler goes on Az least that
Is what is supposed to happen. But IN
one instance the factory received let