KÖNIGSHÜTTE-. 
2X9 
the inhabitants numbered 19,536. Since that year the population has increased 
more than timefold, as shown by the following Table.— 
Year. 
Population. 
1871 
1875 
1880 
1885 
1890 
1895 
1900 
1905 
19,536 
26,032 
27,522 
32,019 
36,501 
44,715 
57,919 
66,012 
Increase. 
6.496 
1,490 
4.497 
4,482 
8,214 
13,204 
8,123 
Increase per cent. 
332 
5-7 
16 3 
140 
22 5 
295 
14-0 
The nature of its industries and the rapid growth of a population, almost 
entirely working-class, which has accompanied the expansion of these industries 
since 1871, have produced conditions which have made it impossible for 
Königshütte to develop into an attractive town. The scarcity of tree-planted 
promenades and the general griminess of the brick-faced house fronts are in 
keeping with the smoke-charged atmosphere. The fact that this present town 
was formed by federating a group of industrial colonies separated from each 
other by areas of which a great part had been undermined and so rendered 
useless for building purposes, has caused Königshütte to assume a straggling 
form, except in the main thoroughfares (the Kaiserstrasse and Bergfreiheit 
running south-west, the Beuthenerstrasse running north and the Kronprinzen- 
strasse running west) ; the town looks deserted during the day-time, and even at 
night, when the streets look their best in the light of the electric lamps, they 
seem but little more frequented except by the comparatively small part of the 
population who are not manual workers. Many of the streets have an 
unfinished appearance, owing to the roadways being still unpaved. From the 
number of vacant shops which are to be seen in those streets it would 
seem as if the builders had over-estimated the probable demand for business 
premises, for many of these shops are now in process of conversion into ground- 
floor tenements. Facilities for outdoor recreation are not wanting even in 
the smoky atmosphere of Königshütte. There is a well-kept public park in 
the eastern suburb of Redensberg, while the principal iron and steel-making 
concern in the town has converted a portion of the land adjoining its works, 
near the centre of the town, into a garden primarily intended for the use of 
its own employees but to which the public have access ; here concerts are 
given by an orchestra supported by the same firm. Those among the people 
of Königshütte, however, who prefer to spend their Sundays and holidays in 
surroundings free from smoke, take the electric tramway to Kattowitz, where 
there are extensive parks and woods and few large collieries or iron works. It 
does not appear, however, that any large proportion of the working-classes of 
Königshütte are in the habit of going so far afield for their recreation, especially 
as the cost of the return journey on the tramway is about ninepen ;e. 
Among the public services sometimes undertaken by municipalities—other 
than the construction and cleansing of the roads—the waterworks is the only 
branch of municipal enterprise in Königshütte. Electrical power for the 
tramways (which are privately owned) and for the lighting of the entire Upper 
Silesian industrial district is furnished by a company from stations situated at 
Zaborze and Chorzow. 
Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. 
At the end of 1905 there were in Königshütte some 9,000 workpeople 
employed in industrial establishments subject to inspection and distributed as 
shown below among the various groups oi trades distinguished in the German 
official statistics :— 
2 o 
99088