OSCHERSLEBEN.
401
sold in miniature cheeses, weighing from 2 to 2| ounces each when quite fresh,
at the uniform price of 5 pfennige or a fraction over \d. The only other kind
sold is Limburg cheese at 6^d. per lb., but this is found in very few shops in
working-class streets. Fresh butter is sold at Is. 2\d. per lb., and a kind
imported from Friesland by one dealer, who has four branch shops, is sold at
Is. Ud. per lb. Margarine is very largely purchased, the prices for the three
qualities being 8|d., 7\d. and 6fd. per lb., of which the first is in greatest
demand.
Only two kinds of bread are baked, “ white,” consisting of wheat, and
“ grey ” which is made from finely-ground rye. The dark coloured and coarse
kind usually known as “ black bread ” is not sold here at all. Wheaten bread
is not made into loaves but into rolls which resemble a small bun in appearance.
These are taken only with coffee at the " first breakfast” before going to work.
Rye bread is sold in long fiat loaves rounded at the ends and top, and usually
weighing 7 to 7§ lbs. Bread is not sold by weight but per loaf or per roll, 4he
equivalent prices in October, 1905, being 9d. per 4 lbs. English for wheaten
bread, and 4Jd. to 5\d. per 4 lbs. English for rye bread. For his second
breakfast, taken from 8.30 to 9 o’clock, the workman eats slices of rye bread
covered with butter or margarine and slices of sausage, and drinks either beer or
“ Schnaps.” The sale of milk is practically in the hands of one of the sugar
manufacturing firms, which farms on a large scale, yet purchases also from
farmers and milk-dealers. The price of pure or “full” milk was in 1905
2d. per quart.
The coal used at Oschersleben is the kind known as lignite or “ brown
coal,” a coal much softer and possessing much less heating power than the
English pit coal. This is got from mines in the neighbourhood. Many of the
workmen fetch this coal from the mines, a distance of about three miles, in hand
wagons, as they are able to buy it there at the low price of 3 id. per cwt.
Briquettes are also used for heating purposes, though in small quantities, and
in October, 1905, these cost 9fd. per cwt. For cooking purposes coke obtained
from brown coal, after extracting paraffin, &c., is used in every working-class
household, as already explained. This was sold at Is. 1 \d. per cwt. Petroleum,
which is entirely American, costs 9£d. per gallon.
The following table summarises the predominant prices paid by the
working classes in October, 1905, and May, 1907. During this interval bacon
had somewhat fallen in price, while potatoes, flour, bread, milk, and coal had
all risen.
Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905,
and May, 1907.
Commodity.
Coffee ...
Sugar :—
Loaf ... ... •••
White Granulated ...
Bacon :—
at ... ... ...
Streaky
Eggs
Cheese :—
Country Cheese
Limburg
Butter ...
Margarine
Potatoes
Flour, Wheat
Bread, Rye (grey)
Milk
Lignite briquettes
Coke ... ..
Paraffin Oil, American
Predominant Price.
... per lb.
... „
... „
... per Is.
October, 1905.
11 d.
2#
d-t 2^d.
8fd. to lid.
8§d. „ lid.
13 to 16
May, 1907.
lid.
2#
2\d., 2\d.
8|d.
8|d. to 9fd.
13 to 16
per lb.
per 7 lbs.
per 4 lbs.
per qt.
per cwt.
per gallon
3|d. to 4|d.
6^d.
Is. 2fd.
8%d.
21d. to 3d.
ll\d.
4|d. to 5\d.
2d.
9#
Is. Hd.
9|d:
3fd. to 4fd.
6^d.
Is. 2\d.
8|d.
3d. to 3fd.
Is. 0\d.
5\d. to 6d.
2fd.
lf)id.
Is. 2|d.
9#
3 E
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