ESSEN. 
245 
To this table the Municipal Statistical Office appends the following note:— 
“ These figures relate only to fresh meat. Of bacon, ham, sausage and similar 
meats, the imports by railway into the town exceeded the exports by 13,800 
tons. It is, however, very difficult to estimate the amount consumed in the 
town, since there are in Essen important dealers whose branches are in the 
surrounding district. But if we assume that one-half goes out of the town, 
that leaves 70"4 lb. per head of the population to be added, but the amount is 
probably greater.” Taking into account this excess of imported meat, the 
consumption for the years 1903-1905 would be increased to 200*7, 205 J 8, and 
197*4 lb. respectively. 
The slaughterhouse figures given above are not easy to interpret, and the 
figures for consumption per head are possibly subject to some error owing to 
the uncertainty of the population served by the slaughterhouses. Assuming 
their correctness, however, industrial progress in Essen appears to have brought 
with it a rise in the food standard, as measured by the consumption of fresh 
meat per head, in spite of the rise in prices. The following table gives the 
figures for the last 12 years :— 
Year. 
1894 .. 
1895 .. 
1896 .. 
1897 .. 
1898 .. 
1899 .. 
Amount per 
head in lb. 
92-7 
98-4 
104-9 
101-3 
96-4 
100-7 
Year. 
Amount per 
head in lb. 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
1230 
116-5 
115-7 
130-3 
135-4 
127-0 
The average for the period since (and including) 1900—a year of hitherto 
unexampled prosperity—has thus been much higher than for the preceding six 
years. The drop in 1905, however, certainly continued in 1906, owing to the 
continued rise of prices. To the same fact must be ascribed also the increased 
consumption of horseflesh, which is not, however, the highest on record, for in 
1901, when the population was considerably smaller, 1,204 horses were 
slaughtered as against 1,125 in 1905. In 1900 the number slaughtered was 
only 855, and the abrupt increase in 1901 may have been due to a sharp rise 
(from 7\d. to §\cl. per lb. in the Krupp stores) in the price of pork, combined 
with a drop in wages (at Krupp from 4s. 9\d. to 4s. 7\d. a day). One other 
feature of the return is the very small consumption ol mutton, which, as sold 
in the town, is of inferior quality and unpopular ; it is noteworthy that the 
municipal slaughterhouse returns class sheep and goats together. 
The meat consumption in working-class families is no doubt far below the 
average consumption of the population generally. Returns of weekly expendi 
ture on meat obtained from 191 such families, representing 920 persons, show 
an average weekly consumption of 28^ oz., or at the rate of about 93^ lb. per 
annum. Of this 39 per cent, was pork and bacon, 27 per cent, was beef, and 27 
per cent, also was sausage. 
The sale of meat at Essen has the peculiarity (encountered in other 
German towns also) that in most working-class shops and in the markets only 
one or two prices are quoted for each kind of meat. Thus in the butchers’ 
shops one sees boards on which the day’s prices are inscribed, but these give 
prices only for perhaps two qualities of beef, veal and mutton (where it is sold), 
and often only one price for pork. 
In general the range of prices for all kinds of meat is narrow, if special 
cuts, like beefsteak, mutton and pork chops, and loin in veal, be excluded. 
The following detailed return of predominant prices at October, 1905, is based 
on quotations obtained from the Krupp stores as well as retail shops in all parts 
of the town frequented by the working classes :—