KLBËKFELD.

231

Meat.
The  great  bulk  of  the  meat  retailed  in  Elberfeld  is  of  native  origin,  and
this  applies  as  much  to  the  shops  patronised  by  the  working  classes  as  to  those
which  for  the  most  part  depend  on  the  middle  classes.  Frozen  and  chilled
meat  is  virtually  unknown.  Such  meat  as  comes  from  abroad  is  either  Dutch
or  Danish,  but  the  imports  have  almost  ceased  since  the  introduction  of  the
revised  tariff.  The  Elberfeld  butchers  draw  their  supplies  of  beef  principally
from  Mecklenburg,  Brunswick,  Silesia,  and  East  and  West  Prussia,  the  beef
from  the  last-named  provinces  of  Prussia  coming  through  the  Berlin  market.
The  mutton  is  mostly  of  local  origin,  coming  from  Münsterland  and  Westphalia
generally,  but  also  in  part  from  Mecklenburg  and  Brunswick.  The  veal  comes
largely  from  Westphalia  and  Oldenburg,  and  the  pork  from  Westphalia,
Schleswig-Holstein,  and  Mecklenburg.  A  stringent  system  of  inspection  is
observed  by  the  veterinary  police,  and  the  police  regulations  applicable  to  the
sale  of  meat  in  shops  are  very  carefully  enforced.  It  is  not  permissible  for
buyers  to  touch  meat  with  the  naked  hand,  and  dogs  may  on  no  account  be
taken  into  a  shop  ;  not  only  so,  but  only  clean,  unused  paper  may  be  used  for
packing  purposes.  Beef  and  pork  are  the  kinds  of  meat  mostly  bought  by
working  people  ;  less  mutton  is  eaten,  and  veal  hardly  at  all  on  account  of  the
high  price.  In  general  the  lower  qualities  oí  meat  are  bought  except  by  the  better
paid  artisan  classes.  The  ruling  prices  for  beef  (except  for  steak,  which  is  little
bought  by  working  people)  were  in  October,  1905,  from  Id.  to  9jc/.  per  lb.,  for
mutton  from  7|d.  to  9|¡<¿.,  and  for  pork  9fa.  It  is  to  be  noted  also  that  there  is  a
very  large  sale  of  sausage  of  various  kinds,  one  merit  oí  which  is  that  it  is  ready  for
eating  and  as  a  rule  keeps  fresh  much  longer  than  butcher’s  meat.  The  following
may  be  regarded  as  representative  prices  per  lb.  :—Pure  pork  sausage,  10^d.  ;
blood  sausage,  \\d.  to  10Jt/.  ;  liver,  Id.  to  10^d.  ;  blood  and  tongue  sausage,  11  ^d.  ;
pork  and  beef,  10^d.  ;  while  the  best  “  Block  ”  sausage  of  prime  beef  and  pork,
which  keeps  for  a  long  time,  is  sold  at  1  s.  6d.  Of  these  kinds  of  sausage  the
cheaper  only  are  sold  to  the  working  classes.
A  working  man’s  wife  as  a  rule  buys  meat  in  very  small  quantities.  A
quarter  or  half  a  pound  is  a  common  daily  supply,  and  sausage  is  retailed  in
pennyworths  ;  only  on  Saturday  are  larger  meat  purchases  made,  though  even
then  a  pound  and  a  half  represents  an  exceptional  transaction.
It  is  impossible  to  give  the  annual  consumption  of  meat  per  head  of  the
entire  population.  Returns  obtained  for  this  report  from  83  working-class
households  containing  446  persons  showed  an  average  weekly  consumption  per
head  of  21J  ounces,  or  about  70  lb.  a  year.  Of  this  approximately  27  per  cent,
was  beef,  26  per  cent,  pork  and  bacon,  and  19  per  cent,  sausage.  No  less  than
17  per  cent.,  or  nearly  three  times  as  much  as  in  other  towns  investigated,  was
"  other  meat,”  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  this  was  largely  horse  flesh.
At  Elberfeld,  as  elsewhere,  there  are  the  usual  horse  butchers’  shops,
though  their  trade  has  diminished  owing  to  the  higher  price  of  carcases.  The
horses  killed  for  food  come  for  the  most  part  from  the  rural  districts.  It  no
longer  pays  to  import  them  from  abroad  since  the  duty  has  been  increased.
From  £8  to  £15  may  be  taken  as  the  range  of  cost  by  the  time  the  horse  is  in
saleable  condition.  The  usual  retail  prices  at  Elberfeld  are  from  5c/.  to  6W.
for  the  prime  cuts  known  as  “  filet  ”  and  “  roast  beef,”  and  4\d.  for  the  commoner ­
  cuts  and  for  chopped  meat.  Where  a  restaurant  is  carried  on  as  an
adjunct  to  a  horse  butcher’s  shop  a  liberal  meal  of  this  flesh,  with  potatoes
added,  can  be  obtained  for  3d.  or  3\d.  The  liver,  kidneys,  lung,  and  heart  are
sold  for  dogs’  meat.  Horse  sausages  are  also  in  regular  demand,  and  a  tariff  of
charges  exists  as  complete  in  its  way  as  that  for  the  reputable  beef  and  pork
sausages  :  thus  horse  flesh  with  pork  admixture,  Q^d.  to  7\d.  per  lb.,  liver
sausage  (also  mixed),  3\d.,  cervelat  sausage,  8  j¿d.,  all-horse  sausage  for  eating
hot,  3\d.  Cured  horse  flesh  is  also  sold  rolled  at  7^d.  a  pound,  fat  at  4jd.,
and  soup  bones  at  1  \d.  a  pound.
Meat  prices  in  May,  1906,  at  the  date  of  the  present  Enquiry,  show  no
sensible  change  as  compared  with  prices  in  October,  1905,  as  appears  in  the
following  Table  :—