444
STAS SPURT,
height of which varies from 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 10 inches, and the breadth
from 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches. In the newer houses this is a more spacious
room, the length being from 12 to 13 feet, the breadth from 9 feet 9 inches
toll feet 4 inches, and the height about 9 feet. This is the only room with
any appearance of comfort. The bedroom presents, even in dwellings of a
better class, a most cheerless appearance. The walls are uniformly bare and
mostly coloured instead of papered. One rarely sees any furniture in this room
beyond the little narrow wooden bedsteads lining the walls, and it is not
unusual in the poorer dwellings for three and even four beds to be placed in
one room. The dimensions of the bedroom in the older houses are usually
11¿ feet by 6J feet, and in the newer ones 9 feet 9 inches by 13 feet.
The more modern houses, built within the last 20 years, have a plain brick
front, and many of them are four storeys in height. The bricks are glazed in
buildings of the better class. Internally these newer houses present the same
simple arrangement of rooms as the older ones. The rooms, however, are more
spacious, the windows larger, and the kitchen is really a room which can be
used as a living room. It may be noted here that by the present building
regulations the height of a building may not exceed one and a quarter times the
width of the street, and in no case can it exceed 65 feet. The builder is
only permitted to cover three-quarters of the building plot, the remaining
quarter being left free for the courtyard. When, however, a house has more
than two upper storeys, the court must have a minimum measurement of 36 by
36 feet.
Lodgers are not numerous at Stassfurt. As it is a declining town young
men are not attracted in large numbers. The price usually paid amongst the
working class for board and lodging is 11s. per week, which sum is also accepted
by bakers living with their employers as the value of their food and lodging.
Rent is paid quarterly and a quarter’s notice must be given on either side.
The predominant weekly rents paid by the working classes are as follows
Predominant Bents of Working-class Dwellings.
Number of Rooms per Tenement.
Two rooms
Three rooms ...
Four rooms
It is seen that rents are very low at Stassfurt, as would be expected,
having regard to the size and situation of the town. Rent at Berlin being
represented by 100, the corresponding figure for Stassfurt is 33, Oschersleben
alone, of the towns investigated, having a lower index-number.
There are several colonies of workmen’s dwellings at Stassfurt which have
been erected by employers. The most noteworthy are those attached to the
salt mines belonging to the State. These dwellings can also be purchased by
instalments, and many are already in the possession of the workmen occupying
them, or of their children. The newer part of the colony presents a striking
appearance. On both sides of the street leading to the entrance to the works
the dwellings are arranged in small blocks, with spaces between. Each block
contains four dwellings—two in front and two behind and each dwelling has
a long garden extending to the street, planted with fruit trees supplied by the
mining authorities. Adjacent to each dwelling is a yard measuring 15 by 24 feet,
and containing a storehouse for wood and coal and a pig stye with a small loft
above. The internal arrangements of the dwellings are no less convenient.
The rooms equal in size those of the more modern type in Stassfurt. On the
ground floor are a living room, a large kitchen, and a pantry, the last rarely met
with in working-class homes in Stassfurt, while upstairs are two bedrooms and a
Predominant Weekly Rent.
Is. 9rf. to 2s. 3d.
2s. 4d. „ 2s. 6d.
2s. KM „ 3s. 6d.
