Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1884 — How Cigar Boxes Are Made. [ARTICLE]

How Cigar Boxes Are Made.

Three different kinds of lumber are used in the manufacture of the boxes. Common boxes are made from basswood, brought in heavy boards from the northern part of the State. It is then recut, planed, grained and stained, in order to give it a cedar-like appearance. The best wood is red cedar, which is grown on the snnnv southern slopes of Mexico, Cuba and Central America, where the vertical rays of the sun may penetrate its fiber and the heavy forests shelter it from the northern and western winds. This wood possesses the sharp, pungent odor which renders it particularly valuable for the packing of fine cigars. The wood is purchased either from first hands in the South or from New York dealers. It is jut in the requisite thicknesses, one-sis h of a car load always being of the necessary thicknesses for ends. The strips of wood are run through a rip-saw and sawed in long strips, and cut into the required lengths on a second maohine. The ends are then planed as smooth as the sides, and they are ready to he made into boxes. The lids and slides are then put into printing presses such as ordinary printers use, only much heavier, and the brand, trademark, etc., are indelibly impressed on them. They next pass into the hands of the nailers. They are not nailed together by hand, but by machines which look like typewriting machines. The nails are fed into a hopper on the top, and are led through small brass pipes into little tubes at a proper distance apart. By the pressure of his foot the nails are forced by the operator out of these tubes into the wood as accurately and six times as rapidly as the most expert mechanic could do by hand with a hammer. First an end and head piece are nailed together and placed in large piles, and then two of these nailed together, forming the sides. They are passed to hoys at the right, who rapidly nail the bottoms on by hand. The halfcompleted boxes are then taken by girls, who tack on the covers by hand, fastening them in place temporarily , with partly driven nails. They pass along to girls who dexterously paste cloth hinges upon them. The boxes are then piled up to dry. The next operation consists in trimming off all overhanging wood, which is done on a rapidly revolving planer. They are then placed against whirling sand-wheels and nicely smoothed. The boxes are now ready for the large force of girls upon the upper floor, who proceed to place the finishing touches upon them. First the edgings are pasted on, then the inside labels, linings, and flaps. The girls are paid at the rate of 80 cents a hundred, and earn from $4 to $8 a week. The labels are made byhouses in Chicago and New York.. Some labels are very artistic. The designs are the work of distinguished artists, and the coloring is rich and varied, ranging in price from 2 to 10 cents each. It has been noticed that the quality of the cigar can be told by the style bf the Those labels resembling a cartoon in a comic paper are usually intended for cheap cigars. Those which describe ladies in very decollete toilets caressing impossible birds of unheard of colors by fountains of emerald water, seldom accompany a good cigar. The best Havana cigars usually have motto labels, bearing some Spanish name, or containing scenes in Cuban or Spanish outdoor life. The more gorgeous the label, usually, the poorer the cigar. The same rule holds good with the b >x itelf. Those which have brass hinges aud a small catch in front, and fairly glisten with a varnish polish, generally hold cheap cigars. The printing department of a large factory is as nearly complete as a job printing office can be. The names of the brand ordered by manufacturers are printed upon thie labels at the factory. The boxes are now ready for delivery. The silk ribbons used for fastenings form quite an item, the factory visited by the reporter using over SIOO worth a month. A car load of cedar is used every five or six weeks, and costs S4O per 1,000 feet.— Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin.