EUROPE: GERMANY. 125 



consulate, with exact net prices f. o. b. New York, which could be 

 submitted to interested parties here. A still better plan would be to 

 send a well-qualified salesman who could speak German. All prices 

 must be quoted in German marks and weights given in kilograms. 



OLIVER J. D. HUGHES, 

 COBURG, December 22, 1898. Consul. 



COLOGNE. 



POPULATION. 



The population of Cologne is 353,000; of this consular district, 

 about 3,000,000. Less than i per cent are illiterates. 



CONSUMPTION AND PRICES. 



The uses of paper are similar to those in America. All kinds find 

 a market here. Prices are about as follows: White news, 20 marks 

 ($4. 76) per 100 kilograms (220.46 pounds); glazed printing, 24 

 marks ($5.71) and upwards; packing, 10 marks ($2. 38) ; and writing, 

 30 marks ($7.14) and upwards. 



The terms of sale are three months net, or thirty days less 2 per 

 cent delivered free. There are only two paper firms' in this district. 



PRODUCTION, FUEL, WAGES, ETC. 



The people have mechanical traits and produced paper much 

 earlier than it was made in America. 



Materials for paper, such as trees, straw, and rags, are abundant; 

 but the rags are largely exported. 



Coal and petroleum are used as fuel, and transportation facilities 

 are good. 



About a dozen firms make paper machinery. Men working in the 

 mills receive from 2 to 4 marks (48 to 95 cents) per day; girls, 75 

 pfennigs to 2 marks (17.8 to 48 cents). 



The paper is mostly machine made; very little is made by hand. 

 The processes and methods of manufacture are modern. 



IMPORTS. 



Fine English note paper, special English packing papers, French 

 and linen paper are imported. These cost from 10 to 25 cents per 

 pound. Writing paper also comes from Austria, common note from 

 Belgium, and wood-pulp boards from Sweden. The import of paper 

 is limited on account of the customs tariff. Some shipments of pulp 

 come from Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Austria. 



