CIGAR. The manufacture of cigars is exceedingly simple. A boy, with a quantity of unstripped leaves before him, takes them one by one, strips them, and then passes them to the cigar-maker, who is seated in front of a low work-bench, which has raised ledges on every side excepting that nearest to him. He takes a leaf of tobacco, spreads it smoothly before him on the bench, and cuts it to a form resembling one of the gores or stripes of a balloon. He then lays a few frag • ments of tobacco leaf in its centre, and rolls the whole up into a form nearly resembling that of a cigar. The next operation is to place the partially-formed cigar in an iron guage, which cuts it to a given length. The maker then lays a narrow strip of leaf upon the bench, and rolls the cigar spirally in it. All this is done with great rapidity, a few seconds being sufficient for the production of a cigar. The cigars are finally dried for sale.
The following account of the cigar manu facture at Havannah appeared in some of the London journals in 1841:—The greatest manufacturers of Havannah cigars are Ca banas, Hernandez, Silva, and Rencareiul ; there are a hundred others of less note, who make from 10,000 to 100,000 a day. The cigar is composed of two distinct parts, the inside and the cover. For these, two different kinds of leaves are used ; of which that for the cover is generally finer in texture and more pliant. These leaves are damped the
night previous to their being made up ; when rolled, they are placed on a large table, where they are divided into the various qualities of first, second, third, &c., and priced accord ingly. Those which are most carefully rolled are called .Regalias, and are sold at 22 to 20 dollars per thousand; while the second best, which are of the very same tobacco, and made' by the same man, only with less care, are sold at 14 dollars ; and others are done so low as 0 dollars. D. Hernandez employs about fifty men in his manufactory. Of the best common cigars, a workman can make a thousand a clay ; of the Regalias six hundred. The daily issues from that immense fabrica are about 30,000 cigars ; which at 14 dollars per thou sand would give nearly 1001. per day. They pay an export duty of half a dollar per thou sand, and an import duty in England of nine shillings. The very best in quality do not find their way to Europe, because they are not fashionable here: they are generally dark coloured ; whereas a light coloured and smoothly rolled cigar is preferred to the strong and highly flavoured rough ones, which are the best.