﻿Tobacco 
  Interests 
  of 
  North 
  Carolina. 
  207 
  

  

  during 
  warm, 
  moist 
  winters. 
  This 
  mold 
  affected 
  a 
  large 
  por- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  1880 
  in 
  the 
  Ohio 
  River 
  valley, 
  especially 
  

   in 
  southern 
  Illinois, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  Ohio 
  River 
  districts 
  of 
  

   Kentucky'. 
  This 
  fungous 
  plant 
  increases 
  with 
  amazing 
  

   rapidity 
  wherever 
  the 
  spores 
  find 
  congenial 
  lodgment, 
  and 
  

   even 
  sound, 
  dry 
  tobacco 
  is 
  sometimes 
  infected 
  and 
  seriously 
  

   damaged. 
  This 
  disease, 
  although 
  not 
  a 
  new 
  one, 
  is 
  imper- 
  

   fectly 
  understood. 
  Appearing 
  to 
  a 
  serious 
  extent 
  onh' 
  in 
  

   weather 
  congenial 
  to 
  its 
  development, 
  and 
  propagated 
  from 
  

   spores 
  which 
  have 
  escaped 
  detection 
  in 
  badly 
  kept 
  barns 
  or 
  

   tobacco-sheds, 
  too 
  many 
  planters 
  look 
  upon 
  it 
  as 
  of 
  obscure 
  

   or 
  doubtful 
  origin, 
  or 
  as 
  an 
  inevitable 
  concomitant 
  of 
  un- 
  

   favorable 
  atmospheric 
  conditions. 
  The 
  remedy 
  is 
  j)reven- 
  

   tion. 
  Thorough 
  cleansing 
  of 
  the 
  tobacco 
  barns, 
  stripping, 
  

   assorting 
  and 
  packing 
  rooms, 
  and 
  the 
  careful 
  destruction, 
  

   by 
  burning, 
  of 
  all 
  trash 
  and 
  dirt 
  which 
  accumulate 
  about 
  

   the 
  premises, 
  will 
  secure 
  well 
  handled 
  tobacco 
  against 
  

   "leprosy," 
  and 
  perhaps 
  other 
  diseases 
  of 
  fungous 
  origin. 
  

  

  THE 
  BONSACK 
  CIGARETTE 
  MACHINE. 
  

  

  As 
  this 
  remarkably 
  ingenious 
  invention 
  marks 
  a 
  new 
  era 
  

   in 
  this 
  branch 
  of 
  tobacco 
  manufacture, 
  its 
  introduction 
  in 
  

   our 
  midst 
  is 
  worthy 
  of 
  notice 
  here, 
  as 
  an 
  important 
  item 
  in 
  

   the 
  manufacturing 
  industries 
  of 
  Durham. 
  That 
  it 
  will 
  

   prove 
  of 
  vast 
  benefit 
  to 
  the 
  manufacturer 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  

   demonstrated 
  beyond 
  peradventure. 
  But 
  its 
  effect 
  upon 
  

   another 
  class 
  of 
  our 
  fellow-citizens 
  will 
  be 
  anything 
  but 
  

   gratifying 
  to 
  the 
  true 
  philanthropist. 
  Thousands 
  of 
  girls, 
  

   boys, 
  men 
  and 
  women, 
  and 
  among 
  them 
  worthy 
  orphans, 
  

   widows, 
  and 
  decrepit 
  old 
  age, 
  will 
  be 
  thrown 
  out 
  of 
  employ- 
  

   ment, 
  many 
  of 
  whom 
  are, 
  to 
  a 
  large 
  extent, 
  disqualified 
  for 
  

   the 
  prosecution 
  of 
  other 
  industrial 
  pursuits. 
  There 
  are 
  

   scores 
  of 
  widows 
  \yholly 
  dependent 
  upon 
  the 
  pittance 
  earned 
  

   by 
  their 
  children 
  in 
  the 
  cigarette 
  factories. 
  The 
  shock 
  may 
  

   be 
  temporary, 
  but 
  it 
  will 
  nevertheless 
  be 
  a 
  severe 
  one. 
  

  

  This 
  machine 
  was 
  set 
  at 
  work 
  in 
  Durham, 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  

   time, 
  April 
  30, 
  1884. 
  It 
  is 
  unquestionabl}' 
  the 
  most 
  mar- 
  

   velous 
  piece 
  of 
  machinery 
  in 
  North 
  Carolina, 
  and 
  one 
  of 
  

   ihe 
  most 
  remarkable 
  in 
  the 
  whole 
  world. 
  A 
  description 
  is 
  

   impossible 
  without 
  a 
  diagram, 
  but 
  the 
  story 
  of 
  its 
  inven- 
  

   tion 
  is 
  interesting. 
  The 
  inventor 
  is 
  now 
  only 
  22 
  years 
  of 
  age, 
  

   and 
  is 
  a 
  son 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Bonsack, 
  of 
  Bonsack 
  Station, 
  in 
  Vir- 
  

   ginia. 
  Six 
  or 
  seven 
  years 
  ago 
  some 
  one 
  remarked 
  in 
  his 
  

  

  