312
LEIPZIG.
sales of the same two societies, from which it appears that of a total of
375,000 lbs. of sugar sold in 1904-05, 288,000 lbs. were of that kind.
As regards bacon, the observations made in other reports—e.g., Düsseldorf,
Königsberg, Chemnitz—apply equally to Leipzig.
Margarine is not eaten as a substitute for butter, but like fat bacon is used
for cooking. The sales of one co-operative society show a total of 85,000 lbs.
of margarine against 170,000 lbs. of butter in 1904-05.
The domestic consumption of rye hour is very small. In the returns of
one co-operative society this article does not appear at all ; in those of another
it figures in the sales to the quantity of 2,030 lbs. against 189,500 lbs. of
wheaten flour.
The bread most generally consumed by all classes of the population is
made entirely from rye and usually sold in large loaves of the nominal
weight of either 4 or 8 German lbs. No statutory weight is prescribed,
however, so that the loaf varies with the price of flour. The price shown in
the Table for September, 1906, is calculated from the actual weight of loaves
on sale at a number of establishments visited on certain days in that month,
while the price for October, 1905, can only be regarded as approximate, since it
was impossible to ascertain the actual weight of loaves sold at that time.
Coal is very sparingly used by the working classes in Leipzig. Fires, once
lighted, are kept burning with briquettes, or else with coke dust (Grute),
either of which can be had at 4d. or 5d. the hundredweight, that is to say, at
one-third the price of coal. Fires " banked ” with coke dust in the evening are
found to be still alight next morning.
Meat.
Besides Hamburg, Leipzig is the only large industrial city in Germany
where the private butcher has to compete with the co-operative society for the
custom of the working classes. The largest of the three co-operative societies
referred to elsewhere has nine shops for the sale of fresh meat, its sales of that
article in 1905-6 amounting to £62,000, besides some £10,000 worth of
sausages disposed of at its various grocery stores. Both the co-operative
society and the private butchers complain of increasing dearness and decreasing
consumption of fresh meat, which consists exclusively of German produce.
That the complaints of increasing dearness are not groundless may be seen
from the following figures showing the wholesale prices of various qualities of
beef and pork in Leipzig in each year from 1898 to 1906. The prices for each
year represent the arithmetic mean of the 12 monthly market quotations for
that year, and are stated in marks (= shillings) per 220 lbs. of dead meat :—
Price in Shillings per 220 lbs. Dead Weight.
1898.
1899.
1900.
1901.
1902.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906.
Oxen :—
1st Quality
2nd „
3rd „
4th „
Butts.'—
1st Quality
2nd „
3rd „
Cows and Heifers :
1st Quality
2nd „
3rd „
4th „
5th „
Pigs :—
1st Quality
2nd „
138-8
128-5
119-3
110-7
119-6
112-3
105-2
1303
124-6
114-8
105-8
954
1226
1151
139-1
130- 1
121-4
113-8
124-0
116-9
109-9
131- 8
1263
116-9
107-4
96-9
106-6
980
140-1
Í30-9
121-4
111-9
1248
118-0
110-9.
1329
127-8
117-8
107-6
96-1
106-9
99-8
140-1
130-0
118-5
106-7
1235
115- 0
1058
132-1
126-7
113-8
101-8
89-4
123-5
116- 6
141-8
132-5
1222
111-1
1263
119-2
111-6
135-0
129- 0
118-5
107-8
95-6
130- 3
123-7
147-1
139- 6
130-8
120-3
133-8
128-2
120-7
140- 4
1341
1256
114-2
100-5
111-2
104-4
149-3
141- 8
131-5
120-0
137-4
129-8
118-9
142- 4
1353
125-1
111-7
97-0
107-3
100-2
159-2
158-7
138-3
121-9
143-1
134-2
1219
151-2
145-0
1329
116-8
98-9
136-7
130-0
167-5
158-1
143-7
127- 1
149- 4
140-6
128- 4
1580
150- 7
138-2
124-2
106-4
143-4
138-6
