ELBERFELD.
221
track of the suspended railway connecting Vohwinkel with Barmen, with
Elberfeld between. Elberfeld cannot. be called an attractive town ; it is
entirely industrial, and its street-names alone give an accurate clue to its
multifarious activities, past and present, with their references to ribbons,
embroideries, and belts, to weaving and knitting, to dyeing, bleaching, and
tanning, to smiths, millers, carpenters, shoemakers, and the like. Nowadays
Elberfeld’s staple industries are the textiles, yet hand weaving and other house
industries are still extensively followed, and give employment to a considerable
number of people.
Elberfeld had in 1905 the relatively low death rate of 15’8 per 1,000
inhabitants, comparing with 16'5 per 1,000 in 1904 and 17*1 per 1,000
for the period 1901-5. The birth rate in 1905 was 30 5 per 1,000 against 31*6
in 1904 ; there has been a gradual decline since 1895, when the rate was 35.
Never between 1810 and 1901 was the rate lower than 34 per 1,000. The rate
of infant mortality in 1905 was 161 per 1,000 births against 158 in 1904,
169 in 1903, 170 in 1902, and 164 in 1901. The proportion of illegitimate births
to all births (non-residents excluded) was 0T per cent, in 1905 against 6 per
cent, in 1904, 5*8 per cent, in 1903, and 5 per cent, in 1902. The deaths
from pulmonary consumption in 1905 amounted to 1*7 per 1,000 of the
population ; and the deaths from consumption of every kind gave a rate of
2 per 1,000 of the population.
The following Table gives the birtl¿ and death rates and the infantile
mortality rate for the period 1901-5 :—
Year.
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
Birth-rate per
1,000 of Population.
344
314
32 0
316
305
Death-rate per
1,000 of Population.
17 2
18-2
181
16-5
15-8
Infantile Mortality
per 1,000 Births.
164
170
169
158
161
Among the undertakings under public management are the tramways,
electrical power and light works, gas works, water works, cattle market and
abattoir, a series of baths, a public hall and concert rooms, a museum and art
gallery, a public library, technical schools of various kinds, a labour registry,
a house agency office, a savings bank, a pawnshop, a children’s home and
a creche, besides various poor law institutions. The town has also its official
newspaper.
Elberfeld originated a reformed system of poor-law administration which
has been widely imitated in Germany and has attracted much attention
in other countries. The basis of this system is out-door relief checked by
efficient methods of visitation and scrutiny. The town is divided into districts
of convenient size, to which are allotted almoners to the aggregate number of
about 600. Each almoner is responsible for the periodical visitation of the
homes of the people in his district, and with their conditions he is expected to
be familiar. During the financial year 1904-5 7'4 per 1,000 of the population
received out-door relief against 7*2 per 1,000 in 1903-4.
Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour.
Elberfeld is one of the principal centres of the textile trades in the
Rhineland. It is largely engaged in the manufacture of cotton and woollen
stuffs, as well as silk and velvet goods. Plushes, upholstery, and general
haberdashery goods are its special trade, and in the production of these a few
large and many small factories are engaged. Its cotton printing, dyeing and
finishing works are important, and here, too, the trade is distributed amongst a
large number of small concerns. The chemical and colour industry also
