CIGARETTE INDUSTRY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3145, 27 November 1922, Page 7

CIGARETTE INDUSTRY.

The making of machinery for the manufacture of cigarettes, an industry which had its origin in America, has done much to popularise the habit of this form of smoking in England, states the Times' Trades 1 Supplement. Half a century ago the first cigar-ette-making machine' was placed on the market. It was a rather crude affair, turning out a cigarette almost square in shape, at a low rate of production. Since then the progress madle in evolving the finished cigarette has been very rapid. Improvements in the construction of machinery and methods have been introduced year after year. Since the early days of the self-fed machine, madle merely to turn out a rudelyfashioned cigarette, new details have been introduced, and now there is on the market a remarkable piece of mechanism. With the advancte 1 of cigar-ette-making machinery has grown the vogue of cigarette smoking amongst the nations of Western Europe. The period of greatest advance seems to have been since 1900. From that time onwards great strides have been made by the pioneer firms. A consi derab/ly higher speed of production ivas secured, and new parts were evolved to meet the changing demand >f the times for different shapes and sizes. Previously, the cigarette-mak-ing machine' produced' very much of a stereotyped size and shape. An increasingly fastidious public required more or less, "fancy shapes," in addition to the ordinary round, and it also desired that the cigarette should be of varying diameter and length. Tho machine of the present day makes, prints, and tips the required shape or size. A similarly easy adjustment will turn the machine to the manufacture of cigarettes made specially for sale to ladie».

The commoner form of cigarettes smoked' in this country are almost wholey made by machinerv. Without the aid of the latter it would have been impossible to meet the demand which, of late years, has been largelv stimulated by the growth of the "smoking; habit amongst ladies. This has been an especially marked feature of the trade in the United States. The cigarette-smoking public are apt to grumble to-day at what they contend is the inordinately high price of cigarettes, but, had it not been for the cigarette-making machine, the cost today would be beyond the pocket of the average artisan. The tobacco duty remains high, and it is due to the economies that it has been possible to effect through the use of machinery, which has greatly reduced the cost of labor, floor-space, and other overhead charges, that prices have been kept within reasonable limits. The factories of all the larger and more progressive cigarette makers in this country are now well equipped with latest models. The very high-grade cigarette like l>e Reszke, Abdulla, Muratti, and State Express continue, and doubtless will continue, to be made by hand. There are instances in England of what might be termed the best brands being made by machinery, but they are not many, and are, perhaps, not likely to be an increasing number. This is not so much because the hand-made cigarette has a better finish than the machinemade, but because it is made from very expensive tobacco, and is not turned out in comparatively great quantities. The claim that it is "hand made" helps to give an exclusive mark to a cigarette, and there will always be a market for this distinctive product. There will always bo a West End clientele prepared to pay a high price for a hand-mado cigarette, and hand-making will continue within certain well-defined and circumscribed limits. In the manufacture of the commoner form of cigarette, the machine, with the improvements constantly being effected, will play an increasingly important part. Manufacturers state that the cost of making cigarettes by machine id one-tenth that of hand-making, and, as greater proficiency is reached', tho consequent reduction in manufacturing costs should eventually permit of lower retail price. The latest models introduced into the English market this year seem to have been specially designed to regulate and are characterised by effective devices to save the machine from undue wear and tear.

Commensurate progress has been in the improvement of the packing machines. There are various types of machines to deal with every class of packing, and these machines automatically deliver the finished product. Here again, a. record has been established in the packing, bv one machine, of from 500,000 to 750,000 cigarettes per day.

The Austrian crown is excluded as a standard from nil sorts of business calculations. It has become customary for office clerks and similar employees to demand their monthly salary in loaves of bread. Two loaves of bread a day and a season ticket for street car ride 9 is considered a standard wage for a beginner. They do not actually receive loaves of bread, but the equivalent in crowns according to the existing price of bread, which has a habit of climbing every week. Wheat as a currency unit already is a regular feature in Hungary, where money also is in a sad state .although not nearly as bad as in Austria. The Government collects taxes from farmers in hundredweights of wheat, which is regarded as the equivalent of gold. Even boarding schools in rural towns have introduced the system of having fees payable in, wheat. In this case, however, actual payment of wheat is expected from the boys, who in most cases are the eona of farmers. A hundredweight of wheat entitles a boy to one year's tuiton with special arrangements for board and lodging.