"And I in Berlin, with my books, Will lead a scholar's life-- In toil, and war, and foreign land, We thus begin the strife."
Three glasses then with Rhineland wine Unto the brim were filled, And to the sacred parting pledge Each heart responsive thrilled.
Three years went by, and so the friends Unto their faith were true, And spent the night in merry song And lived the past year through.
When came the fourth reunion night Without the March wind blew, Within were wine, and warmth, and light, And one heart brave and true.
For Emil died for Fatherland, And Franz went down at sea-- In war and storm, in life and death, They said they'd faithful be:
And so Wilhem three glasses filled. Of one he kissed the edge; Two shadow hands the others raised-- The friends had kept their pledge!
Ten or fifteen years ago we rarely saw cigarettes in this country, their use being confined to the few natives who had acquired the habit during a residence abroad, and to foreigners, French, Italian, and Cuban settlers, who followed the practices of their youth. So slight was the general demand that, excepting in the large cities, cigarettes were rarely found for sale. To-day there are probably few small towns in the thickly settled portions of the country where cigarettes are not readily obtained; while in the large cities the stores vie with each other in giving us varied assortments of leading brands. Indeed, recent statistics state that nearly thirty per cent. of the entire smoking tobacco consumed in the United States is in this form. Cigarettes are now imported from all portions of Europe, but principally from France. Several factories have of late years been started in our own country, but the cigarette _par excellence_ is made in Havana. Nowhere else do we find capital so largely invested, labor so diversified, or such attention to details. There certainly you can take your choice--Honoradez, Havana, Astrea, Cherito, Henriquez, and dozens of others of lesser note.
The tobacco used in the making of the Havana cigarettes is bought from the cigar factors, but only from those who have the most assured reputation. It consists of the leaves left from the making of cigars. The necessity of securing the best grades of tobacco cannot be overestimated. The judgment of the cigarette smoker is formed solely from the sense of taste. He is totally unaffected by sight, which in the cigar enables a clever workman to so roll bad tobacco that we are predisposed in favor of an inferior article. While absolute inferiority is intolerable in either, mediocrity, in Cuba at all events, is much more readily tolerated in the cigar than in the cigarette.