Cost of living in German towns

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 866449027

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-93831

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Cost of living in German towns

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1908

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (LXI, 548 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

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146 CHEMNITZ. Verein Altchemnitz) having some 1,300 members and four branch stores, in which goods to the value of £17,000 were sold in the year ended August 31st, 1906. Groceries and other Commodities. Appended is a summary table showing the predominant retail prices of pro visions, other than butcher’s meat, as well as of coal and paraffin oil, in Chemnitz at October, 1905. The consumption of tea among the working classes is practically nil. The coffee most generally bought is of South American origin (Santos) and costs 11 d. per pound ; but the compound from which the family coffee is brewed costs considerably less, as it contains a large admixture of some such substitute as roasted barley or chicory at less than half the price. The sugar most generally consumed is the white granulated variety known as Melis, at %\d. per pound. Lump sugar at 2fd. is frequently used to sweeten coffee. Of bacon, as we know it in England, very little is eaten. Smoked bacon fat (Speck), entirely devoid of lean, costs exactly as much as streaky bacon, though it is used for frying or giving body and flavour to other foods, and not as an article of diet in itself. The eggs bought by working-class families are most frequently imported from Austria and were sold at a price corresponding to 17 for a shilling. Margarine is seldom used as a substitute for butter, although the quality of the latter most in demand cost Is. 2fd. the pound, as against 7f d. for margarine. Apart from the breakfast roll, no wheaten bread is eaten. There are three varieties of rye bread of varying shades of grey, and sold at prices the range of which was equivalent to one of 4¡¡d. to 5Jd. for four pounds. The loaves are baked in a great variety of shapes and sizes, and vary in weight with the price of rye. Besides the pure or " full ” milk, as it is called, at a price of 2£d. per quart, a good deal of skimmed milk at Id. per quart is used by working-class families. Coal is sold by the hectolitre, a measure of capacity the contents of which vary in weight according to the quality of the coal. From enquiries made among dealers and others, it appears that the hectolitre is taken to represent about 1^ centners, or 165 lbs. Reckoned on this basis, a hundredweight of coal such as the working classes consume cost from Is. 3£d. to Is. 5£d. at October, 1905. Considering that most of the coal is mined no further off than at Ölsnitz and Lugau in the neighbouring Erzgebirge, the price is somewhat high. Prices in September, 1906, when the town was visited for the purposes of this Enquiry, were the same as in October, 1905, with the exception of the price of coal, which was slightly lower than at the earlier date. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Predominant Price. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Swiss Limburg Butter Margarine Potatoes ... Flour :— Wheat Ry e ... ... Bread, Rye (Grey) Milk Coal ... ... Paraffin oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs per quart per cwt. per gallon October, 1905. lid. 2# %\d. 11 d. 11 d. 17 Is. Id. 6&d. Is. 2|d. 7|d. 2^d. to 3d. Is. Old. lOfd. to Is. Old. 4^d. to 51d. 2|d. Is. 3\d. to Is. 5 Id. lOd. September, 1906. lid. 2# 2W. lid. lid. 17 Is. Id. §\d. Is. 2fd. 7# 21d. to 3d. Is. Old. 10fd. to Is. Old. 4 Id. to 51d. Is. 2Id. to Is. 4|d. lOd.

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