Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 79, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 June 1901 — ABOUT CIGAR BOXES. [ARTICLE]

ABOUT CIGAR BOXES.

Spanish Cedar is the Best Wood, hot Comes from Cuba. “There are something like 14,000,000 cigar boxes used in the United State* - annually, and about nine-tenths of that number are made in this city, where the trade rivals the clothing industry in point of capital invested, and the number of people employed,” said a leading cigar-box manufacturer in New York to the writer. “The material out of which the best boxes are made comes principally from Cuba, and Is known as Spanish cedar. The recent war with Spain shortened the supply and Increased the price of the article to such an extent that many box makers have been compelled to use a cheaper and less desirable grade of wood for the purpose. “One New York firm has been experimenting with timber from the unexplored Paraguayan forests, which are said to contain the finest cedar wood in the world. They have, however, experienced considerable difficulty in selling their boxes, as cigar manufacturers and connoisseurs insist that it spoils a fine cigar to put it in any box not made of genuine Spanish cedar. The latter wood always retains the flavor of a good cigar. Indeed, some people claim that it Improves the flavor. Tbe reason given Is that it grows In the same lx>calities as the best Havana tobacco. “Attempts made to use cedar grown in the United States for cigar boxes have not been very successful. The Florida and South American cedar contains a peculiar gum that melts when the wood Is exposed to the heat of a store or house, and thus the labels and sometimes the cigars in a box are spoilt. Of course, the smokers of cheaper brands of cigars are less particular about the quality of tbe wood used for their boxes, and a veneered cedar, made from a peculiar sort of cedar that grows in Mexico, is often substituted for the Spanish article. But it cannot be done without the cigair dealers finding it out, and the consequence is that even a good cigar when packed in such a box sells at a disadvantage.—Washington Star.