435 
woolen manufacture, and 773 in the manufacture of various other materials. The 
mechanical looms numbered 1,388. Yarn was bleached to the amount of 336,000 
pounds. The principal establishments of Silesia are— 
ist. The Royal Factory (Koenigliche Seehandlung) of Erdmansdorf, which devotes 
8,450 spindles to flax, and 5,190 spindles to tow, and employs 800 workmen, producing 
16,000 shocks of linen yarn, and 11,000 shocks of tow thread. The flax used in this 
establishment is principally obtained from Russia, Moravia, Saxony, Silesia, and 
Westphalia. Besides the 800 workmen employed in the factory, work is; given to 
about 2,000 outside laborers. In 1871 this factory produced 4,500 pieces of linen. 
2d. The Royal Factory of Landshut, with 7,400 spindles, employs 460 workmen, 
consumes 672,000 pounds of flax, 1,232,009 pounds of tow, aud produces 14,000 shocks 
of yarn. 
3d. The factory of the brothers Albert, at Waldembourg, employs 4,000 spindles, 
400 workmen, consumes 1,456,000 pounds of flax and tow, and produces 9,000 shocks of 
arn. 
i There are also five other factories of minor importance: that of Petzhold and Hof- 
mann, at Waldembourg, employing 300 workmen and 4,000 spindles; that of Websky, 
at Tannhausen, 250 workmen; those of Held, at Friedland, Falki, at Lieban, and Vial- 
ard & Co., also at Lieban. The two latter use steam-machines, and run 20,000 
spindles. : 
fin “ T/Eulengebirge,” therefore, there are eight large linen manufactories, employing 
50,000 spindles. 
We should mention the village of Greiffenberg, which manufactures yearly about 
120,000 dozen of handkerchiefs, which are sold not only in the States of the Zollverein 
but also in Norway and Switzerland. Formerly it carried on an important trade with 
Russia, which has completely ceased. 
Besides the workmen employed in the factories, the linen industry gives employment 
to a great number who work in their own dwellings ; some of these are employed for 
the year, others only during the dull season. In the district of Reichenbach there are 
villages, like Langenbielan, Peterswaden, Ernsdorf, and Haberndorf, where the whole 
population work in. flax, either at home or in the factories. The work pays by the 
job. In the factories the workmen ordinarily get $24 to $4 per week. The workmen at 
the Jacquard loom earn more. With this modest salary, these mountaineer families, 
that are generally numerous, can with difficulty earn a subsistence, even when their 
labor is uninterrupted ; for this reason all the women, old men, and children above the 
age of six years are employed in spooling. The most skillful spooler can earn but 
twelve cents per day. 
Warping affords an occasional resource. It is generally performed by girls. They 
can earn from $14 to $2 per week. 
The average weekly salary of a family, all the members of which labor from morn- 
ing to evening, is little more than $5, or $260 a year. 
It is surprising that large families can live on so small an income, and that whole 
populations manifest a singular attachment to so unremunerative an industry. From 
time immemorial the trade has been transmitted from father to son, and it is rare that 
the children ever seek to learn another trade, although the life of these unfortunate 
beings is only one of deprivation. If we deduct the modest rent of $14 or $20 for a 
chamber or attic, from the annual income of 9260, there remains to each family only 
$220 or $230 to expend for food, clothing, fuel, and incidental expenses. The only aid 
the government allows these working people consists in gratuitous primary instruc- 
tion. 
The Silesian manufacturing companies employ one-fourth of the whole number of 
power-looms used in Germany. 
The greater portion of the products manufactured in Silesia, the yarn as well as the 
linen, is consumed in Germany. Large quantities are, however, exported to Austria, 
Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and even to the United States. 
The year 1871 was not generally favorable to the linen industry in Silesia. It felt 
the reaction of a war that had just terminated, and the want of hands, and especially 
the need of fuel (it being difficult to transport coal by railroad) forced many estab- 
lishments to stand still. Raw materials also rose in price. Flax increased to $2} per 
hundred-weight. Fortunately most manufactories had a supply of yarn, which, as 
workmen could not be procured, had not been woven, and by reason of this cireum- 
stance they were able to resume work and to support the high price of the raw mate- 
rial without proportionally increasing the price of their manufactures. 
The culture of flax is pursued on a great scale in Silesia. About 50,000 acres are de- 
voted to this cultivation, producing, on the average, 339 pounds to the acre, making a 
total of 16,950,000 pounds. This culture is carried on principally in Upper Silesia, and 
on the right bank of the Oder. Of the 16,950,000 pounds of raw flax produced in Si- 
lesia, about 1,000,000 pounds alone enter into general commerce; about 500,000 pounds 
are sold at the principal markets; the remainder is either delivered directly to manu- 
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