Cigars 



191 



the troubles of that island have brought British cigars 

 well on to the market. British and foreign-made 

 cigars can be readily distinguished. The former are 

 more glossy, better made, and more uniform in 

 appearance. The prejudice against them is fast 

 dying out as British manufacturers learn the art of 

 blending leaf and the niceties of making. Seventy 

 years ago cigar-making was carried on regularly 

 nowhere in England. It was the custom for manu- 

 facturers to engage a cigar-maker for a few days' 

 work occasionally as the stock required. He was 

 usually a foreigner, and contracted for the manufac- 

 ture of so many cigars, and brought with him his 

 staff of makers, whom he took about from warehouse 

 to warehouse. Now every manufacturer has his own 

 staff of cigar-makers in constant employment. The 

 drawback to home-made cigars is that the frequent 

 dampings essential to the manufacture into cigars 

 of dried imported tobacco destroys the delicacy of 

 flavour. The best and all good Havanas, such as 

 Vegueras, are made of half-dry Vuelta Abajo tobacco, 

 and never damped. 



If a comparative is needed to express a wide area 

 of difference and range of extremes, nothing is more 

 varied than a cigar in both price and quality. A 

 Pickwick or cheroot for which 'Arry pays id. is as 

 much a cigar as that for which the millionaire lays 

 down a sovereign. 



The most expensive cigars are Flor de Cuba, 

 Intimidads, and La Corona, costing 12s. 6d. each, or 

 ;^5o a hundred. Big cigars, made of the finest 

 tobacco, 9 inches long and 4 inches round the waist, 



