=Classes of Luxuries.= Luxuries can be roughly divided into two classes, those that are harmless and those that are hurtful. The extra dress, the piece of cake, the sugar in our coffee, the coffee itself, and in fact a great many of the things we wear, eat, and drink are luxuries. The line between these things and necessities is such a thin one that it is hard to know just when a thing ceases to be a necessity and becomes a luxury. Most things are harmless in and of themselves, and it must be acknowledged, luxuries have the effect of increasing the value and meaning of life. There are, however, luxuries such as beer, wine, whisky, brandy, and other alcoholic stimulants used as beverages, also tobacco used as snuff, for chewing or for smoking, which add nothing to life; but on the contrary must be classed with the habit-forming drugs so injurious to the race. In this chapter we are considering luxuries from the standpoint of production, and not the moral value involved in their use. Therefore, we must think of the workers in the brewery, the cigar and cigaret makers, the makers of artificial flowers and willow plumes as all belonging to the same class. They are the ones who are making the things that are not absolutely necessary for our existence. Were the production of bread to stop we could not live. Iron, steel, coal, and transportation are all part and parcel of our very existence, but we could get along very well if not another artificial flower, cigar, or fancy dress were made. =The Cigarmakers.= The cigarmakers living in Tampa and Key West form the most complete compact group of workers to be found anywhere in the United States who are interested solely in producing luxuries. Tampa is known as “The city that furnishes the world’s smoke.” Last year this city shipped (in round numbers) 300,000,000 cigars! Havana and Key West have always been considered the principal cigar cities, but the production in these latter places has been declining for a number of years, while it has been increasing in Tampa. It was a clash between the Cuban and Spanish workers at Key West which led the first manufacturer to move from that city and build his factory at Tampa. To-day there are 15,000 Cuban and Spanish workers employed in Tampa in making cigars. A person could live in the city, and by restricting his business to certain districts, from one year’s beginning to the end would never hear a word spoken in any language except Spanish. The city is a foreign city, and a city of workers producing a luxury that all the world demands. Since the time that Columbus sent his men to explore the island of Cuba in November, 1492, and found the natives “carrying and smoking firebrands” made from loosely rolled leaves of a weed which grew extensively on the island, until the present time men everywhere have found enjoyment and pleasure in the narcotic value of tobacco.