222 
ELBERFELD. 
employs large numbers of workers ; there are several machine works of 
some size ; the largest brewery of the Rhineland is here, and among other 
manufactures those of paper of various kinds and leather belting are deserving 
of note. 
The classification of the “ industrial workpeople ” of the town, employed in 
factories and workshops under inspection, is shown in the following table :— 
Group of Trades. 
Building 
Metalworking 
Machine, implement and apparatus 
making. 
Textiles 
Clothing and cleaning 
Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c 
Paper ... ... ... ... ». 
Woodworking and carving 
Chemicals ... 
Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c 
Stone and earth 
Food, drink and tobacco ... 
Leather ... ... ... ... 
Total ... 
N umber 
of 
Establishments. 
36 
105 
51 
239 
136 
41 
21 
84 
13 
5 
24 
284 
15 
1,054 
Number of Workpeople. 
Male. 
855 
2,055 
688 
4,214 
344 
730 
636 
955 
1,919 
170 
421 
897 
146 
14,030 
Female. 
238 
8 
3,684 
1,726 
269 
513 
146 
54 
9 
64 
20 
6,731 
Total. 
855 
2,293 
696 
7,898 
2,070 
999 
1,149 
1,101 
1,973 
179 
421 
961 
166 
20,761 
Of the workpeople here enumerated 7,898 or 38 per cent, belong to the 
textile industry, and of these 46 6 per cent, are females, though the proportion 
of female workers in general is only 32'4 per cent. 
Returns have been obtained concerning the wages paid in over twenty 
representative factories and other works. These returns are of the earnings of a 
full normal week, exclusive of overtime, since in the industries affected the piece 
wage system is most general. In the textile trades male weavers in general 
earn from 18s. to 19s. 3d. per week, but plush and ribbon weavers, 25s. to 30s. ; 
25s. may be regarded as an all round average for weaving. Dyers earn 25s. and 
26s. if independent men, except silk and plush dyers, wdio earn up to 32s., 
though the majority, who are unskilled, earn only 21s. and 22s. ; finishers 
earn from 22s. to 23s. 2c/., and cotton printers, 35s. In the engineering 
trades, skilled men earn from 27s. to 35s. 5c/., and labourers from 22s. 6c/. 
to 24s. 6c/. 
The rates of wages in some of the building and allied trades are fixed by 
agreement, the hourly rate for masons and bricklayers being 6c/., for carpenters, 
6ic/., for painters, 5and for stucco workers, 8JcZ. 
A ten hours day is almost universal. Work begins as a rule at 6 or 7 a.m. 
and continues, with intervals of two hours in the aggregate, until the same 
hours in the evening, save on Saturday, when it ceases half-an-hour or an hour 
earlier. In the textile trade a fortnight’s notice as between employer and 
workman is customary, but in most industries no notice whatever is given on 
either side. Wages are for the most part paid weekly, except in the textile 
factories. There are no local holidays, but the statutory ones amount to eight 
days in the year, viz., New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day, 
Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Penance Day, and Christmas and Boxing Day.