Full text: Cost of living in German towns

BRUNSWICK. 
131 
Weekly Wages. 
Baking :— 
First Bakers 
Second Bakers 
Third Bakers 
Municipal Employees :— 
Roadsweepers 
Carmen 
Paviors 
Paviors’ Labourers 
Road-menders 
Gas Stokers 
Gas Yard Labourers 
Labourers in Water Works 
Tramways : Electricity Works :— 
Drivers 
Conductors 
Inspectors ... 
Engine-men 
Stokers 
Installators 
Fitters 
Weekly Hours of 
Labour. 
24s. to 26s. 
20s „ 24s. 
19s. „ 20s. 
20s. 
22s. 9d. 
28s. 6d. 
17s. 
20s. 
29s. 
23s. 8d. 
23s. 
19s. to 22s. 
18s. 6d. 
25s. to 29s. 
23s. 5d. „ 27s. 4d. 
18s. to 20s. Id. 
21s. to 26s. 5d. 
24s. 7d. 
57 
66 
57 
57 
57 
72 
60 
60 
74 
74 
74 
60 
60 
60 
60 
Wages in the building, engineering, and printing trades are about Í 0 per 
cent, lower than in Berlin, the wages of skilled men in these trades being 89, 
91, and 92 per cent, respectively of the wages for corresponding trades in 
Berlin. The wages of labourers in both the building and engineering trades in 
Brunswick are 89 per cent, of those in Berlin. 
Housing and Rents. 
The majority of the working-class population of Brunswick live in 
dwellings consisting of two or three rooms and a kitchen, and in considering 
the character of these dwellings, reference may properly be made to Old 
Brunswick first, since a very large proportion of the working classes resides in 
this quarter of the town. Here whole streets of houses date back to the 
17th and even to the 16th centuries. These old streets are very picturesque, 
each storey overhanging the one below it, and the whole of the roofs being 
covered * with red tiles. The fronts of the houses are uniformly covered 
with plaster except in the case of the better class buildings, whose façades 
display old carved beams. The houses are built in rows, with no break as 
a rule from one end of the street to the other, and are mostly three storeys 
high. Entrance is gained in each case by a door opening directly into a lobby 
or corridor, varving from 3 to 6 feet in width, which runs right through the 
house to a courtyard at the back, do the right and left of this corridor are 
doors leading to the ground-floor tenements, one of which is frequently occupied 
by the owner of the house, who is in many cases a small tradesman. The 
corridor floor is invariably paved with brick, and from the centre or rear a 
narrow, steep staircase leads to the landing on the first floor. Opening the 
door at the end of the corridor, the visitor steps into the small courtyard, the 
dimensions of which vary from 10 feet square to 15 by 18 feet. Not 
unfrequently, even in Old Brunswick, gardens are situated at the back of 
working-class dwellings, although the tenants rarely have the use oí them. As 
back-houses are comparatively rare at Brunswick, the courtyard is not as a rule 
so gloomy and depressing as in many German towns. orkshops, stables and 
the like are often situated there, but as these buildings are not very high they 
do not obstruct light and ventilation to any great extent. Ihe watei tap or 
the pump which serves lor the use of all the tenements in the house, is found m 
the courtyard, as are also the closets. Lhe lattei «ne usually inadequate in 
number, one often serving for every three dwellings. It is estimated that 
20 per cent, of the houses in Brunswick still have the cesspool or the pail 
system, and naturally most of these houses are in working-class districts. 
In the old part of the town considerable variety obtains in the arrangement 
of the tenements in the upper storeys. Generally, however, at the head of the 
R 2 
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