Tobacco In England

JSlo workmgman, saiu an tnglish manufacturer to a London journalist, wil' Bmoke cigarettes, and he has a contempí for the lighter, milder, ''boys' tobáceo,' is he tenns the qualities which are raosi ia deruand by the middle classes. Their ñames are legión, often i'anciful. and the get r.p of the paekages in lead foil and gold printed wrappings varíes with every .passing whim. The tendency is to smoke the lighter kinds, and the run is upon navy cut, which virtually is tho samo as flake tobacco, which preceded it in popular flavor. Navy cut tobáceo is simply tobáceo which is partially mannfactnred, but the consumer persuades hiniself that a tobáceo cannot be genuine unless he breaks it open hiniself by rubbing it in bis hands. For flake and navy cut bacco tlio leaf is pressed, and it is tlien passed nnder tlio knife and cut a little coarser than the ordinary sorts. A'finely cut tobáceo, of the milder kind, is botter to the tongue than the stronger descriptions. It burns quicker, but the tobáceo which is softer and slower in smoking is more potent. None is so powerful as cut cavendish, which is first made into a thlck coil or cable, then pressed and afterward cut. Descending into the cellars the visitor saw a number of presses, some of which containcd in trays tobáceo for flake or navy ent; others held blocks of cavendish and many more were filled with hanks of "nogro hèad" in rows, square "nail rods" or rolls botmd around with cloth and cord to snstain the pressure. ■ Much of these tobáceos is consuined not in the pipe, but as a substitute for smoking wlien that luxury might be a dangerous one, as in mines, or not permitted by the regnlations, as, for example, on board ship or in barracks at forbidden hours. It is not a pleasant thought, but the habit of chewing tobáceo is increasing, and the trade lias to meet the demand. A first acquaintance with the balls of tobáceo was made in the spinning room, where in the course of a year thousands of miles of leaf are sptm into stout twine and are then wound into balls, if intended for Irish roll, Limerick roll, pigtail roll or bogy roll, or if it is to be manufactured into negro head it is twisted into hanks, which when pressed are in a convenient f orm for biting a bit off the end. Tobacco of a darker description lef t in the press for some time becomes fectly black -ith its cwn moisture. The reason f or tliis change lies in the fact that the "blood vessels" of the leaf, which'contain the nicotine, are crashec and the oil is absorbed into the whole leaf, the surplus exuding from the press as tliick and blacker than treacle. A hurried inspection only can be giren to the cigars. The best of course are imported from Havana, whose inanufac turers take care to retain the piek of the Cuban tobáceo at home. But our im ports of foreign cigars of all kinds do not represent more than L500,000 o: dtity, payable at the rate of us. 2d. per pound. "We do not receive, it is said more than 4,000 cases of cigars from abroad. Each case contains 100 boxes or 10,000 cigars. Compared to the enormous nvnnber of British cigars manufactured these imports are infinitesimal. Without entering into the details of the "Work it is sufficient to say that a man can niake, by the exercise of skill alone, with the sirnplest tools, 240 cigars in one day, while a girl can turn out of the cheaper kind from 200 to 300, but the latter require to be pressed in wooden molds to aequire the form which the skill of the inan's hand alone supplies. "A British cigar," the attentive memte declares, "should not be sold for more than threepence. We band the best only, for banding is equivalent to a loss of profit of 5 per cent. Some tobacconists have not a foreign cigar in stock to sell." It was the inspection of a snuff mili; closely resembling a mortar making machine, which suggested the remark: "Every snuff taker who dies lessens the consuniption. We use the mili for grinding om refuse and sweepings into snuff, but not for sale. No. We return it to the customs to get a drawback or return óf duty. The government authorities once exported this snuff to Jersey, but it came back. Then they tried to burn it, but it would not burn. They must get rid of it, and they want to make sure that it will not return to their hands again. "What, then, does the custom house do with all the snuff, amounting to inore than L150,000 per annnm in value?" "They must first analyze it, then ship it and take it down to the Nore, where they pitch it overboard loose, for if they threw the bags into the water, too, somebody would fish them up again. The bags they burn in the government kün lest some one should buy thera and shake the snuif off."