Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-03

tie largest made, however. The
largest is over foot long, and
must weigh twice as much as Nor
ans smoke. Very few OF these
giant cigars can be produced, be-
cause very few leaves grow large
enough to- make the wrappers for
them. The foreman Of the factory
watches every bale OF tobacco that
is opened for leaves to use in max
ing this kind of cigars. Nearly all
of the finished product is conslgn-
ed to a single dealer in Egypt.
Who smokes these enormous cigars,
and why, and whether he smokes
one at a sitting, or lights one on
and on for a week, are questions
which no one can answer. Inc
cigars go regularly to Egypt at a
thousand dollars a thousand, and
they must retail for at least five
dollars apiece, but that is all the
manufacturers know about them.
Supplying as it does the smokes
of many of the most important men
4, in the world, this factory has a
heavy responsibility. 1t was sharp
lily reminded of that fact a few
years ago.
In the making of some Of the
larger cigars, rubber band Is
used to hold the filler together be-
| for the wrapper is applied, the
band being deftly slipped off as the
filler goes on. AT least that is what
is supposed to happen. But in one
instance, the factory received a let
ter in very irate German, written by
high official of the Austrian gov
eminent. stating that he had been
smoking for many years a certain
/ brand of cigar put out by this fac
tory, and that recently he had been
irritated, Mortified and incidental,
nauseated, by getting a puff Of
smoke which plainly originated, not
in Vuelto Abajo tobacco, but in. rot,
ten rubber! The letter explained
that the high official had been pros,
| trated. his dinner dissipated, cab
Iinet meeting delayed, affairs OF state
boggled. What did it mean? Hc
demanded an explanation. The
factory sent him the explanation
together with an apology and
cigar to take the place of the one
which had contained the rubber
band
The constant rise in the price o
Havana cigars is due to the growing
cost of the leaf tobacco ana oil thu
labor which go into making them
The wages Of cigar makers hav'
risen about so per cent in the pas
two years, and the planters are get
ting from so to 160 per cent NOR
for their leaf than they did befor'
the war. The manufacturers CLAIM
that they are not making very larg'
profits and it seems to be true iha
compared to the sugar men the,
are not making much money. Tn
demands of labor tend to Absorb
the advances in the prices OF cigar
as fast as they are made. Their
I are constantly strikes, which in
terrupt the production of cigar
very seriously, for the cigar maze
is highly skilled worker ami can
not be replaced on short notic5
There are about twenty-five thou
sand of the cigar factory worker
in Havana, ana nearly all of Their
J are unionized. The very best G
the cigar rollers get about seve
| dollars a day, and few Of them &c
less than three dollars. Othe
workers who sort and strip the lea
get smaller wages. Even the man
ufacturers admit that the worker
are justified in being disseminated
for their wages have risen only 5
per cent while the cost Of Twin
has gone up nearly a hundred pc
cent in Havana. Yet every tim
that wages are raised, the cost c
rliving makes another jump. Thi
; bewildering process, from which tn
J whole world is suffering, is see
r very wildly in Cuba. because OF tn
: small size Of the place.
The Havana tobacco factories ar
, for the most part very hospitabl
> to visitors. Nearly everyone VIII
comes to Havana now goes throug
a factory. and sees every phase {
! the work, from the room where til
:; finished cigars are turned out. On
1 of the factories here even presente
a visiting newspaper man with
handful of cigars, which is a thin
S that cigar factories are famous fc
mot doing.