298 KÖNIGSHÜTTE.
On the other hand cattle are admitted from Austria while pigs are excluded.
Before March 1st, 1906, when the new customs tariff came into operation, twothirds
of the beef supply of Königshütte came from Austria ; since then the
proportion of Austrian beef has dropped to one-tenth of the whole, the
remaining nine-tenths being German. No detailed statistics are forthcoming as
to the quantities of the various kinds of meat consumed in the town, but
according to the statement of the Director of the public slaughterhouse of
Königshütte, the per capita consumption of pork and beef amounts together to
123 lbs. per annum, viz., 82 lbs. of pork and 41 lbs. of beef. (These figures,
it should be observed, take no account of imports of dead meat.) As regards
other kinds of meat, it appears that some 3,300 calves, some 300 sheep, and
about the same number of horses are slaughtered annually for consumption in
the town. Dogs may not be killed at the public slaughterhouse, but, according
to the authority already mentioned, they are more frequently eaten in Upper
Silesia than in any other part of Germany.
The retail prices of meat, as ascertained from various butchers established
in different parts of the town, are shown below for October, 1905 and August,
1906. It will be understood that these prices relate to meat of the quality
usually bought by the working classes.
Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and
August, 19Ò6.
Description of Cut.
Beef :—
Ribs ... ...
Silverside
Shin, with bone
Steak
Flank
Mutton :—
Leg ... ...
Shoulder
Breast
Neck
Chops, (trimmed)
Veal :—
Hindquarter
Í with bone
Shoulder .
Shin
Loin
Pork :—
Leg
Foreloin ...
Belly
Spare rib f
1 without bone
Chops
Predominant Price per lb.
October, 1905.
7#
7#
6\d. to 71d.
7$d. „ 8¿d.
6id.
8\d. to 9%a.
7#
7#
7#
8|d. to 9|d.
8fd.
71d. to 8fd.
lid.
7|d.
81d. to 8fd.
7# » *|d.
81d.
Id.
S$d. to 8|d.
August, 1906.
7#
7#
6^d- to 7fd.
7#
8|d.
6&d.
8|d. to 9fd.
7|d.
7%d.
7#
8fd. to 9|d.
8|d.
7|d. to 8fd.
lid.
73d.
8fd. to 8|d.
7 |d. „ 8fd.
8jd.
Id.
8Id. to 8|d.
The Table shows that the prices of meat as bought by the working classes
were exactly the same in August, 1906 as in October, 1905.
The lowness of these prices compared with those paid in the other industrial
towns for which corresponding data have been obtained in the course of the
present inquiry is noteworthy, having regard to the relaxation, in favour of
Königshütte and the other Upper Silesian towns, of the law prohibiting imports
of foreign live stock, nor is it possible to suggest any other explanation of the
fact that among working-class families, far more meat is consumed in
Königshütte than in any of the 32 other German cities investigated. Returns
furnished by 55 typical working-class households consisting of 270 persons and
representing different ranges of yearly income showed an average weekly
consumption of only a little less than 3 lbs., or at the rate of 154 lbs. a year.
Of this, 54 per cent, was pork and bacon, 25 per cent, beef, and 15 per cent,
sausage.
