CIGARETTES
STATISTICS. KINDS AND WHERE MADE. IMPORTED CIGARETTES. DOMESTIC
CIGARETTES. CIGARETTE PAPERS.
CIGARETTES
A cigarette according to the meaning of the word is a small cigar. It
consists of a roll of loose tobacco wrapped in a case of either paper or
tobacco-leaf. In the latter case it is known as an all-tobacco cigarette.
Since the introduction of cigarette making machinery the output of
cigarettes in the United States has grown enormously. This will be seen
from the following figures which represent the output of cigarettes for
the past 25 years:
Number of cigarettes
Year manufactured in the
United States.
1890 2,000,000,000
1895 3,500,000,000
1900 4,000,000,000
1905 6,500,000,000
1910 7,000,000,000
These figures taken from Government Reports are given in round numbers.
They include "little cigars" which form about 15% of the totals. About
one-third is at present exported. In addition to the manufactured
cigarettes there is, of course, the large amount of cigarettes made
directly by the smoker himself.
There are only about 500 establishments in the whole U. S. engaged in
cigarette manufacture and about ten of these manufacture four times as
many as all the rest together. There would in fact be fewer factories
except for the popularity of certain brands of hand-made cigarettes. 95%
of the total output is made in 4 cities, i. e., New York, Durham, N. C.;
Richmond, Va.; and New Orleans. New York City alone manufactures about 60%
of the whole; Richmond about 16%; New Orleans about 10% and Durham the
balance.
Every country manufactures its own peculiar brand of cigarettes. The best
known and most popular kinds of cigarettes are those known as Virginian,
Turkish, Havana, Porto Rican, Mexican, Russian and Philippine.
The Havana, Porto Rican, Mexican and Philippine cigarettes are usually of
the all-tobacco kind--the others being paper wrapped. They are generally
made from the cuttings and smaller leaves of cigar leaf tobacco.
Turkish cigarettes are celebrated all the world over. The name is however
mostly a misnomer, for nearly all the so-called Turkish cigarettes proper
are made in Egypt, Greece, etc., and not in Turkey. In Egypt, however, the
best Turkish cigarettes are made from tobacco grown in Turkey (in Europe)
which is imported, as no tobacco is grown in Egypt. The peculiar flavor
of Egyptian Turkish cigarettes is due to special methods known only to the
makers there.
The crop of Turkish tobacco, particularly of the better kinds suitable for
cigarettes, is small and less than half of it is exported. The supply of
genuine Turkish cigarette tobacco is, therefore, strictly limited and does
not find its way into ordinary channels. Much of so-called "Turkish"
tobacco comes from China, and other parts of Asia. From Turkey, in Europe,
the United States annually imports at present about ten million lbs., the
actual government figures for 1913 being 10,816,048 lbs. valued at about
5-1/2 million dollars.
From Turkey in Asia the imports in 1912 were 11,233,546 lbs., and in 1913,
18,955,295, this latter being valued at nearly 5 million dollars. It does
not follow that all this latter is Turkish. It was probably in large part
collected from distant points and shipped from ports in Asia Minor. The
imports of Turkish tobacco during 1914 are considerably reduced on account
of the war.
One American company which does an immense business in the cigarette line
maintains at Cavallo a large establishment for the direct purchase and
treatment of its own Turkish leaf. This plant handles about 6 million
lbs. of leaf annually. The American smoker of home-made Turkish cigarettes
has the advantage of knowing that his leaf is genuine and bought
economically.
The most valued kind of Turkish tobacco is that grown in the Caza of
Yenidji on the Vardar River region in Roumelia.
The Latakia tobacco grown in the hilly part of Northern Syria is also
celebrated as a cigarette tobacco. This tobacco has a low nicotine
percentage (less than one per cent) and its peculiar aroma is due to its
exposure for nearly 6 months to the smoke of the tree known as Quercus
Ilex. Very choice parcels of these tobaccos fetch in the open market from
$3 to $5 per lb.; lower grades are bought from 25c per lb. and up.
The best known grades of cigarettes made from genuine Turkish leaf are the
_La Ferme_ of Leipzig and St. Petersburg; the _Nestor_ and _Melachrino_ of
Egypt; the _Monopol_ of New York; and the _Dubec_ of Richmond. In the
Turkish hand-made cigarette there is no flavoring of any kind. In Europe
the Turkish cigarettes are usually made by Greeks who are special adepts
at this work.
The paper wrappers are imported from France or Austria. The native
cigarette makers as a rule blend their own leaf and cut or shred it by
hand. An expert workman can make about 3,000 cigarettes per day.
In the United States, Turkish cigarettes are of two kinds, imported and
domestic. The imported include those purchased already made from Egypt,
England, France, etc. In 1913 the value of cigarettes purchased directly
by the U. S. from Egypt was about $25,000 and from England $22,000, other
countries less. In 1914 the total cost of imported cigarettes (not
including those from Philippine Islands) was $79,554. The value of such
trade is, therefore, not large. The Turkish cigarettes made in the States
are termed Domestic Turkish, and are usually hand-made, though not by any
means exclusively so. It appears to be nothing more than an idiosyncrasy
to consider that a hand-made cigarette is better than a machine-made one.
As in the case of cigars, other things being equal it would appear that on
many considerations, hygienic as well as mechanical, the balance is in
favor of the machine. However, many still think there is some peculiar
talismanic virtue in a hand-made cigarette and are willing to pay a higher
price. There is, of course, a pleasure in making one's own cigarettes, but
when they are bought made the advantage of hand-making is not very
apparent.
There are many variants of the Turkish cigarette. Besides the common paper
wrapped variety some have fillers of Turkish tobacco with Havana or
Virginia leaf wrapper; others have mixed fillers of Turkish, Virginia,
Havana or Perique, two or more or all kinds being mixed. Each type of
cigarette has its own special votaries. Cigarettes of this variety are
not, however, so popular in the United States as in other countries where
the cigarette is the most pronounced type smoked.
The American cigarette is generally made of Yellow Virginian tobacco and
is popular all the world over. The secret of success in good cigarette
making lies in the selection and blending of the leaf so that the proper
strength and characteristics may be secured. As a general rule no
adulterants of any kind are added to the tobacco except in some of the
very cheap kinds in which the leaf is sometimes treated with a glycerine
solution in order to give it a sweetish taste. The solution is quite
harmless.
The machinery for the manufacture of cigarettes has been brought to such
perfection that it is quite automatic. The only hand work required is the
feeding of the tobacco into the hoppers. The cutting, rolling, wrapping,
tipping and packing are all done quite mechanically, the cigarettes being
turned out all ready for the smoker. In the large factories the processes
are under strict hygienic conditions, which is not usually the case in the
small workshops where the hand-made goods are prepared. The various
machines used in the manufacturing processes are highly complicated and a
detailed description of them would be too technical for these pages.
The paper used for wrapping cigarettes has frequently been the subject of
most unwarranted attacks and the most absurd statements have been made
regarding it. Investigation and analysis of the paper used in the very
cheapest grades of cigarettes by competent authorities have failed to find
anything deleterious to health. The paper used for this purpose is made
principally in France. It is of the kind known as rice paper although it
has no connection whatever with rice. It is a vegetable substance being
made usually from the membranes of the bread fruit tree or else from fine
trimmings of flax and hemp. The materials are thoroughly washed and
treated with lime and soda before and after pulping. Careful analysis are
made to see that nothing is left that might be harmful and the
manufacturers use the greatest care and judgment to see that their product
is as pure and perfect as possible as it is their interest that it should
be so. The paper is extremely thin and light, very combustible, and gives
off very little smoke. These are the only qualities necessary and there is
not the least reason to use any harmful ingredients, as the required
qualities can be obtained by the ordinary manufacturing processes.
Moreover, the best paper can be manufactured and supplied at a very low
cost. From France the United States annually imports about $500,000 worth
of cigarette paper and from Austria about $120,000 worth.
Most manufactured cigarettes have a protective tip at the mouth end. This
not only keeps the cigarette intact but prevents the tobacco from being
wetted by the saliva. As already stated, nicotine is soluble in water, and
its entrance to the mouth in this form is thus obviated. The tips are made
of various substances, cork, straw, goldleaf, cherry wood, etc., in fact
any water-proof substance that is harmless, nonadherent and smooth can be
used.
Cigarettes must according to the law of the U. S. be put up in packages of
5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 50 or 100, and the packages must not contain any lottery
or chance ticket nor any indecent picture.
Much criticism, that is to a large extent groundless, has been directed
against the habit of cigarette smoking. It has been shown by many
investigators that when not carried to excess the cigarette is the safest
method of using tobacco. The reader is referred to the remarks regarding
cigarettes in the chapter respecting the effect of tobacco on the human
system; but it may be as well here to quote a recent editorial from one of
the leading representative medical journals of the United States, the
opinion stated in which should go far towards removing the absurd
prejudice against the cigarette.
From the _New York Medical Journal_ of July 25, 1914 (Editorial):
"Particularly do the uninformed enjoy an attack on the cigarette; it is
cheap; it is small; and its patrons, numerous as they are, yet form an
insignificant minority in our immense population. Therefore, the cigarette
and its users are fair game for cheap and silly sneers; sneers which are
capable, however, of cowing an entire legislature, as in Georgia at this
moment. Yet, beyond cavil, it has been proved scientifically that of all
methods of using tobacco, cigarette smoking is the least harmful. Some
months ago the _Laucet_ undertook a careful laboratory study of the
various ways of consuming tobacco, with the result that it was found that
the cigarettes, Egyptian, Turkish and American, yielded the least amount
of nicotine to the smoke formed; the cigar came next in point of
harmlessness, while the pipe overshadowed the cigar to the extent that
from 70 to 90% of nicotine was said to exist in its smoke.
"As to the paper of cigarettes the attacks are simply preposterous.
* * * * *
"Men are well within their rights in forbidding cigarette smoking and
other pleasures and distractions to their employes; it is another matter
when they seize an opportunity to compound with vices they have a mind to,
by damning one they're not inclined to, especially when the latter affords
solace and recreation to millions perfectly capable of judging what is and
what is not good for them. In Europe where a good deal of logical thinking
still prevails, there is probably not one smoker of distinction in any
walk of life who does not include the cigarette in his nicotian
armamentarium."
(_See references end of Chapter XV_)