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