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.