﻿208 
  History 
  of 
  Durham. 
  

  

  hearing 
  that 
  all 
  cigarettes 
  were 
  made 
  b}^ 
  hand, 
  and 
  that 
  

   the 
  inventor 
  of 
  a 
  successful 
  machine 
  would 
  make 
  a 
  fortune. 
  

   He 
  went 
  to 
  work, 
  and 
  after 
  man\' 
  experiments 
  and 
  im- 
  

   provements 
  he 
  completed 
  the 
  comj)licated 
  machine 
  about 
  

   a 
  year 
  ago. 
  One 
  was 
  put 
  to 
  work 
  in 
  Allen 
  & 
  Ginter's 
  

   factory 
  at 
  Richmond. 
  It 
  worked 
  successfully, 
  and 
  Mr. 
  

   Bonsack 
  had 
  others 
  built. 
  He 
  has 
  had 
  the 
  latest 
  and 
  best 
  

   ones 
  made 
  in 
  Paris. 
  The 
  machines 
  at 
  work 
  here 
  were 
  man- 
  

   ufactured 
  in 
  Paris. 
  

  

  The 
  tobacco 
  is 
  fed 
  in 
  on 
  a 
  slowly-moving 
  belt, 
  which 
  

   draws 
  it 
  between 
  rollers. 
  A 
  system 
  of 
  rollers 
  and 
  belts 
  pre- 
  

   pares 
  it 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  hopper, 
  which 
  becomes 
  nearly 
  as 
  narrow 
  

   at 
  the 
  bottom 
  as 
  a 
  cigarette 
  is 
  thick. 
  From 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  

   this 
  hopper 
  or 
  funnel 
  steel 
  belts 
  take 
  the 
  tobacco 
  and 
  carry 
  

   it 
  along. 
  At 
  a 
  proper 
  place 
  the 
  paper, 
  an 
  endless 
  line 
  of 
  

   it, 
  comes 
  up 
  under 
  the 
  tobacco 
  and 
  goes 
  through 
  a 
  tube 
  

   which 
  shapes 
  it 
  round. 
  JusL 
  before 
  ii 
  enters 
  the 
  tube 
  the 
  

   edge 
  runs 
  by 
  a 
  paste-applying 
  instrument. 
  Then 
  the 
  tube 
  

   forces 
  it 
  into 
  a 
  perfect 
  roll, 
  and 
  the 
  paste 
  secures 
  it. 
  It 
  goes 
  

   on 
  then 
  to 
  a 
  circular 
  knife, 
  which 
  clips 
  the 
  endless 
  cigar- 
  

   ette 
  into 
  pieces 
  just 
  the 
  proper 
  length, 
  and 
  the 
  pieces 
  fall 
  

   out 
  down 
  a 
  tube 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  from 
  200 
  to 
  212 
  per 
  minute. 
  

   The 
  paper 
  unrolls 
  from 
  an 
  endless 
  coil 
  under 
  the 
  machine. 
  

   Before 
  it 
  reaches 
  the 
  tobacco 
  a 
  name 
  or 
  brand 
  can 
  be 
  printed 
  

   along 
  the 
  slip 
  at 
  the 
  proper 
  intervals 
  to 
  mark 
  every 
  ci- 
  

   garette. 
  

  

  Messrs. 
  W. 
  Diike 
  Sons 
  & 
  Co. 
  vvere 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  put 
  the 
  ma- 
  

   chine 
  in 
  operation 
  in 
  this 
  State, 
  and 
  the 
  Blackwell 
  Tobacco 
  

   Co. 
  were 
  the 
  next. 
  Mr. 
  Bonsack 
  does 
  not 
  sell 
  the 
  machines, 
  

   but 
  puts 
  them 
  up, 
  has 
  hii 
  own 
  men 
  to 
  run 
  them, 
  and 
  

   charges 
  about 
  two-thirds 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  making 
  by 
  hand 
  for 
  

   ihe 
  work 
  they 
  do. 
  At 
  this 
  rate 
  of 
  charges, 
  the 
  profit, 
  it 
  is 
  

   said, 
  on 
  every 
  day 
  it 
  runs, 
  is 
  about 
  $36. 
  

  

  A 
  rapid 
  cigarette-maker, 
  by 
  hand, 
  can 
  make 
  2,500 
  a 
  day. 
  

   One 
  of 
  these 
  machines 
  makes 
  (running 
  only 
  ten 
  hours) 
  

   120,000 
  a 
  da}', 
  or 
  as 
  man\" 
  as 
  forty-eight 
  hands. 
  

  

  At 
  last, 
  therefore, 
  a 
  mechanical 
  problem 
  of 
  long 
  stand- 
  

   ing 
  has 
  been 
  solved 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  will 
  cause 
  a 
  revolution 
  in 
  cigar- 
  

   ette 
  manufacture. 
  Mr. 
  Bonsack 
  has 
  fourteen 
  machines 
  

   now 
  — 
  seven 
  in 
  America 
  and 
  seven 
  in 
  Europe. 
  The 
  in- 
  

   ventor 
  is 
  an 
  interesting 
  and 
  unassuming 
  young 
  man, 
  yet 
  

   without 
  a 
  beard. 
  He 
  looks 
  even 
  younger 
  than 
  twenty-two, 
  

  

  