THE BRITISH CIGAR.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 378, 29 July 1884, Page 5

THE BRITISH CIGAR.

I HOW IT IS MANUFACTURED. Pew if any of our readers are aware how an English cigar is manufactured, it may, therefore, be interesting to peruse the following graphic account of the proeesl given by one of the staff of the ** Pals Mall Gaz -tte ' who happened to call lipon the manager of a great firm of tobacconists the other day, arid who offered o show him how a'■ real Britisher" was made: — " Now. here's the real article," he said, giving him a lovely Cabana, beautiful in shape, in color, and with an aroma — but words cahnot describe it. Discoursing of cigars he Baid : — " Fashion has great influence. Some men would rather smoke a bad Cabana which they thought was made from the pure Havannah _eaf than a much better article without a name, People buy frdm the brand. If it is well known— s Cabana, Villary Villar, Henry Clay, Laranaga, and so on — it is well, Now, the despised Mexican cigar is little known at present, but it is making its way , for the tobacco is good and pure •r- a little coarse, perhaps, the flavor less delicate, but still sound tobacco. There is a future, before it, I feel assured, and the Mexican slopes will grow anything. Tou buy from brands, and what is the consequence ? Havannah could not produce one-tenth of the , cigars which bear its name — not onetenth, I assure you. Why, they import Mexican tobacco, then manufacture it, and export the produce as ' real Havannahs.' " By tbis it must not be understood that the best-known brands, such as have been mentioned, are 'frauds.' Experts would soon discover such a proceeding. They are genuine, but costly. A single real Cabana may be bought in a shop for 9djor ls, according to the position of the shop and the name. In the Strand one might pay 9d, in Bond Street ls. '■Now here is our cigar factory, where we employ about a hundred and twenty girls, who turn out the Britisher, from the Havannah, made from a really good leaf, to the penny Pickwick, made from genuine tobacco, but of an inferior quality." Columbia Market, that huge monument to misdirected philanthropy, is now devoted to two industries. One portion is a potato market, the other a cigar factory. Ycu knock at the door. A bolt is presently withdrawn ; you pass in, and finding yourself in church, take off your h&t. It is a church without a pulpit. The floor is occupied from end to end by benches — the pews — at which sit the congregation — the cigar girls. The superintendent walks about from one to the other, down one row, up another. He is the pewopener, janitor, beadle, clerk in one. His badge of authority is a whistle, which silences the chatter when it attains the uproarious. The sun is streaming in from the great window, lighting up every corner of the hall, the lofty proportions of which form a striking contrast to the gloomy, narrow, garret-like work-rooms in which most , London factory girls spend their lives. They appreciate the light, the loftiness, the plentiful supply of air. They chatter as they work. Often the chattering ceases and one sings an air, which is caught up by her neighbors until the hall is full of melody. For some of them have sweet voices, and the effect is touching. It may be a verse from a music-hall ditty, a ringing chorus of the Salvation Army, or an old ballad — the chUrch-like effect is the same. " Who are they, whence do they come, and where do they go 1" vWe don't inquire. They look happy and cheerful. They have constant employment, which enables them to earn from ten to twenty-five shillings a week. They come at ten and go at six. Some are married, some are single ; some should, be married, the rest wish to be. But we don't inquire," Cigar-making needs a lengthy apprenticeship to acquire skill and rapidity. Children are taken as ap* prentices, and to ensure their remaining are bound by indentures for a term of years. They learn tlieir trade, and, so soon as they are approved, are paid at the same rate as their elders — that is, by results, at so much per hundred cigars. As a ballet master chooses his coryphees for their shapely limbs, so the superintendent of a cigar factory tieleets his workers for their*, shapely hands. •' Let me see your fingers, v he says to an applioant for work. If they are long and supple he approves and employs. If the fingers are stumpy and coarse he shakes his head and declines. The fingers mnst be lissom. The process of cigar-making is not very difficult to follow. The tobacco leaves are sorted out into bundles of a hundred. The sorter first takes out the stem from the leaf, and divides the sheep, from the goats, the dark leaves from the light ones. The stems and stalks ap put away, and used afterwards for making into snuff. Of course, a regard for economy is rigiitjly enjoined upon the workers, and a premium paid to encourage, it. Each i bundle is tied up, weighed, and given to the cigar-maker, who is required to i produco so many cigars from the raw ■ material. A cigar consists of three , partST— the wrapper the bunch,, and

the filler. Different classes of leaves go to make up a certain class of cigar — say, for instance, Sumatra, Manila, and Havannah. This assortment is necessary to give flavor and to allow the cigar to burn evenly. " Let me tell you," said my guide, "that the brown paper and cabbage-leaf theory is exploded. It would not pay us to use them. Yes, even the ' penny smoke ' is made of genuine tobacco." Each worker sits at her bench with her materials before her. On her right is the " filler " — that is, the interior or flesh of the cigar. Deft fingers seize the right quantity and roll the short leaves together on a board, wrapping round it a rough, ragged covering. This is done very rapidly. By her side are the two portions o. a wooden mould, cut into twenty- i cigar shaped divisions. Into cai.li cf these divisions the cigar | in, the rough is placed. One half the mould closes upon the other, like the lower jaw on the upper. When four mould** have been thus filled, they are taken to a press, an iron rod is passed through each end and the whole is secured by wedges. Thus compressed they stand for a day or so. The wedges are taken out, and there is the cigar in embryo, waiting for the outer covering and the final touches. Very carefully the wrapper is wound round the body, being kept together by j an application of gelatine. The edges | aro then trimmed by a machine. Theae only remain the drying process, which tnkes place in a chamber heated to a temperature of 96 degs. Fahr,, the sorting, the tying into bundles, and the packing into boxes. That is the whole life of a British cigar. As is the quality, so is the price. For some, the best leaves are used ; for others, the Japan leaf — the cheapest of tobaccos.