higher grades command from 15 to 20 crowns ($3.05 to $4.06) per ton, according to quality, and the lower grades and sizes from 12 to 14 crowns ($2.44 to $2.84). The black coal is used by the wealthier class for domestic purposes, as the brown coal gives off very dense and unpleasant smoke and soot. For manufacturing purposes both are used, sometimes mixed, but the brown coal, of course, to the largest extent; both are exported, principally to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The wages paid in the coal districts of Bohemia, per nine-hour shift, are as follows: The pick men are paid by the job; all others are paid by the day. The labor day of all miners is nine hours, including the going in and out. The men at the pit's mouth work twelve hours, with two hours' rest at midday. PRAGUE, AUSTRIA, July 22, 1903. ETHELBERT WATTS, Consul. GERMAN TOY INDUSTRY. The toy industry of the Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains, which has been developing for centuries, has been slowly drifting into economic difficulties. With the application of steam power and modern machinery to the production of toys the house industry has been gradually forced to the wall. With an increase in the price of wood and a decrease in the price of the finished product, these people of the mountains have been put into a position where it is necessary to toil night and day for a meager existence, which is apparently becoming more and more severe. For some years the labor press of this part of the country has busied itself with a portrayal of the wretched conditions existing among the peasants of the mountains, with the result that an investigation was recently made by the industrial commission of Freiburg, which largely substantiates even the strong representations of the labor organs. The main points of the report of this commission may be summarized as follows: The number of large establishments engaged in the manufacture of toys is increasing. This might be considered prima facie as a welcome sign were it not for the fact that the toys are not manufactured upon the regular factory plan with hired hands, but are made by men who have rented space and machines quite independently of one another, and who form a sort of voluntary association banded together only for the sake of economy in roof and equip ment, but carrying on their own separate businesses. A disinclination is said to prevail among the young men to enter a factory on the basis of wage-earners and be subjected to the immediate control, supervision, and direction of an employer. Rather than earn the higher income afforded by the factory wage the young men in the hills prefer a much more meager existence in the independence and freedom of their own homes. Because of the fact that the inhabitants of the mountains make but few and simple demands upon life, the real wretchedness of their situation is said to be but rarely fully appreciated. The wage conditions existing in the toy industry can be readily observed from the following figures prepared by the commission referred to. The most remunerative branch of the trade affords a gross income of from 24 to 40 marks ($5.71 to $9.52) per week, one-half of which may be considered as profit. In other branches the net income is as low as 6 to 9 marks ($1.42 to $2.14) per week. It must be remembered that these incomes are not the earnings of a single person, but represent the labor of entire families. How inconceivably small the price paid for certain kinds of toys. is can be seen in the case of pencil boxes of the cheapest quality, for which the maker gets from 48 to 58 cents per gross, or about 1/3 cents a piece. The daily meals of these people are reported by the commission. to be confined largely to potatoes, linseed oil, bread, and coffee, and, at times, meat on Sundays. With the price of wood rising, toy factories increasing in numbers in other parts of the country, and the price of toys falling, it seems that the people of the Erzgebirge must, in their increasing wretchedness, find some other means of sustenance. Exporters of toys who operate large factories in this neighborhood report good business and are of the opinion that the house industry of the Erzgebirge is doomed, and that the peasants will be forced to give up their independent production and enter factories. CHEMNITZ, GERMANY, August 5, 1903. J. F. MONAGHAN, Consul. MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN IN GERMANY. The manufacture of porcelain has taken deep root in different parts of Germany. This is especially the case in the Kingdom of Saxony, wherein the cities of Meissen and Dresden produce porcelain that is exported to almost every country in the world. Porcelain industries on a smaller scale are also to be found in Chemnitz, Plauen, and Aue. The Waldenburg district in Silesia is also noted for its fine grade of porcelain. In Thuringia, Bavaria, as well as in some districts on the Saar and Rhine, porcelain is manufactured in considerable quantities. One of the most noted porcelain factories in Germany is that which is operated by the Saxon Government at Meissen. It exports about $50,000 worth of porcelain goods to the United States every year. There are 700 workmen employed in the factory, and it is worthy of note that this number has remained about the same during the past one hundred and fifty years. Girls earn, when skillful, about 75 cents a day, and the skilled workmen who can model and paint earn $2.50 a day. There is an industrial-art school in connection with the factory, where pupils and apprentices are taught drawing for two years. When this course is completed they pass on to the modeling and painting department for another two years. At the completion of the course the most skillful are sent to Dresden, Berlin, and other cities to study the fine arts. On their return to Meissen they are sure to find life employment, either in the porcelain factory of the Government or in some other factory of the city. There are four primary industrial schools in Saxony, namely, in Chemnitz, Dresden, Meissen, and Zwickau. The number of pupils. at present in all four schools is 241. These pupils are all apprentices, who are compelled to spend four years in learning their trade, and four months each year are spent in some one of these industrial schools. According to Gothein's Deutsche Aussenhandel, in 1900 Germany exported 26,643 tons of white china ware and painted porcelain goods to foreign countries, valued at $9,900, 800. The United States is far in advance of all other countries in buying china from Germany, importing 10,463 tons, or 20 per cent of the total exports. Great Britain holds second place, importing only 5,722 tons. In 1900 Germany imported from France, Austria-Hungary, and Japan 766 tons of porcelain ware, valued at $309,400. EIBENSTOCK, GERMANY, July 11, 1903. ERNEST L. HARRIS, WINDOW-GLASS MANUFACTURE IN GERMANY. The Chamber of Commerce at Saarbrücken has just published a report on the business done by the Verein Rheinischer Tafelglashütten (Union of Rheinisch Window-Glass Manufacturers) in 1902, some data of which will be interesting to our manufacturers of window glass, as it shows the present situation of the German market in this class of goods. The production of the six factories which form the union amounted in 1900, 1901, and 1902 to 28,333,598, 27, 189,702, and 26,488,026 square feet, respectively. Thus the production shows a steady decrease, and the decrease in the quantities sold is larger still. Of the total sales in 1902 only 1,262,696 square feet went abroad, against 4,448,528 square feet in 1901. During the latter part of 1902 the decreased demand was more pronounced and the prices, owing to a strong competition on the part of the Saxon, Bavarian, and Silesian works, had to be reduced from month to month. The result was that the inland prices which had already been reduced considerably in 1901 underwent in 1902 a further reduction of nearly The export trade in 1902 yielded unsatisfactory results; there was a limited demand at prices which were barely sufficient to pay the costs of manufacture, which were kept up by the abnormally high prices of fuel. The prospects for 1903 are by no means favorable; the demand during the first months remained very small, and as there is nothing. in view which would justify the hope of an improvement in the near future, it is not unlikely that further reductions in the production will become necessary. Manufacturers are still in hopes that the reduction of freight rates to Switzerland and to Antwerp, which has been petitioned for during the last few years, may be finally granted. This would help them to compete on about even terms with the Belgian manufacturers of window glass. COBURG, GERMANY, August 8, 1903. OLIVER J. D. HUGHES, Consul-General. BOHEMIAN LACE INDUSTRY. The making of lace in Bohemia has increased to such an extent that it may now be considered one of the industries of the country. It is principally made by hand by the peasants during the winter time, when they have nothing else to do, in the neighborhood of Erzgebirge, Sumawa (Böhmerwald), Strazow, and Weissensulz, near Bischofsteinitz and near Vamberk, and Kostelec (Orlici). As soon as the peasants can return to work in the fields this work stops, as they are paid but the trifling sum of 40 to 50 kreutzers (18 to 20 cents) per day for lace making, whereas they realize double this. amount for work in the fields. This lace is cheap and very beautiful, and I am informed it is taking the place in the English market, whither most of it is exported, of the more expensive lace now in vogue there. Lace is also made by machinery at Barringen, Neudek, and Teplitz. The various kinds of this lace are known as Idrian Duchesse, Point a la Aiguille, Point de Venise, etc. Believing there might be a demand for these goods in the United States, I have secured a large and valuable collection of samples of the different varieties, which, with prices attached, I forward to the Department. The following is a full list of makers and manufacturers of this lace in Bohemia: Krajkarska skola, N. J. P., Strazov. Jindr. Fr. Melnicky, Vamberg. W. Schmid & Söhne, Weipert, Erzge- Carl Günther, Gottesgab, Erzgebirge. Eduard Schönfelder, Gottesgab, Erzgebirge. Johann Wähner, Gottesgab, Erzgebirge. Kurz & Zeidler, Graslitz, Erzgebirge. J. A. Baumann, Neudek, bei Carlsbad. PRAGUE, AUSTRIA, July 22, 1903. M. Faber & Co., Neudek, bei Carlsbad. Maschinen Spitzenfabrik bad. Gebrüder Löw, Langgrün, bei Schlack enwert. Deutsche Spitzenfabrik Aktiengesell- Josef Heinrich Bürger, Warnsdorf. Consul. LACE TRADE OF NOTTINGHAM. Much complaint is heard, on the lace market, of the summer trade. Manufacturers say that the orders placed are not sufficient to keep their machines going steadily, and they are not disposed to make goods simply to increase possibly unsalable stocks. Many calls for new patterns are reported, but the willingness to speculate on novelties is not so pronounced. The exports to the United States have |