To&occo buyers signifying iheir bids fcy winks, signs or sounds. 



A modern cigarette maldng machine copob/e of makina J2 to ?5 hvndrpd cigarettes per minute. 



up on one side of the row of tobacco 

 directly across tlie row from the ware- 

 housemen, tlie auctioneer, and a ticket 

 niariter. The warehouseman starts the 

 auction with the first bid, based on his 

 judgment of tlie market price of each 

 lot according to quality. However, 

 like any article being sold at auction, 

 the buyers have different ideas of the 

 value. At this point the auctioneer 

 cries the warehouseman's bid and buy- 

 ers take over, signifying their bids in 

 various ways: by winks, signs or 

 sounds, until in the judgment of the 

 auctioneer, the lot of tobacco has 

 brought the top dollar. The auctioneer 

 then names the buyer and the price paid 

 for the lot sold. This procedure con- 



tinues at a rate of 300 to 400 piles per 

 hour until Uie warehouse has sold 

 its allotted number of piles for the 

 day. 



As the auction sale goes along, 

 directly behind the sale, comes the 

 book and clip men. These two are ra- 

 pid calculators, who figure the number 

 of pounds by the price paid by the buy- 

 er and have the complete transaction 

 figured for the buyer and seller within 

 a matter of seconds. 



Every buyer has a crew following 

 the sale to pick up his purchases and 

 place them together according to the 

 grade. Each grade of the buyer is 

 placed together for movement to a re- 

 drying plant. 



Redryed tobacco being packed in a 

 hogshead by hydraulic press. 



Redrying for Storage 



Al though tobacco has been cured 

 before it is sold, it still has to be re- 

 dried before it is stored for aging. As 

 tobacco is sold on the warehouse 

 floors it is in tlie "raw" stage, that is, 

 it contains too much moisture to pack 

 into "hogsheads" for the aging pro- 

 cess. This excess moisture must be 

 removed and a predetermined amount of 

 moisture left in to insure pioper aging 

 for the manufactured product. To re- 

 move the excess moisture the tobacco 

 is run through a redrying machine. 

 This machine is similar to a 1 arge oven 

 through which the tobacco passes, re- 

 moving all n-oisture. Then it passes 

 into a live steam chamber where the 

 exact amount of moisture is rqalaced. 

 The tobacco is then packed into 

 "hogsheads" or large casts, weiring 

 about 900 to 1,000 pounds, and pressed 

 ti^tly by hydraulic press. These 

 hogsheads are then ready for storage 

 and aging. Tobacco usually is left in 



