The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-05
GreuiHs telegraph
MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1861.
OLD CLOTHES MARKET IN LONDON.
mome ConanmptLon and ExperLntIon.

The streams Of old clothes that hour by hour
are seductyely drained, either by floral ex-
change, attractive advertisement, or by the down
right pestering of "Old keys" culmnate In the
great old clothes mart in Houndsditch. where
Hebrews most do congregatc. The clothes that
are intended to remain in this country have 10 be
tutored and transformed. The "cobbcrer," the
"revivcr,' and the translator" lay hands upon
them.
TIE duty Of the "clobberer" is to patch. to
sew up, and 70 restore, as far as possible the gar
ments 20 their pristine appearances black cloth
garments pass into the hands OF the "rcvivers,
who rejuYcnatc sCcdy black coats and for tue
moment, make them look as good as new. The
"trauslaturs' duty is Of higher order; his Office
IS TO transform ono garment into another-the
skirts of cast-Oh coat, being the least worn part
OF the garment, make capital waistC0ats, tuuics
Tor children &C. Hats are revived in a still more
wonderful manner; they are cut down TO take out
the grease marks, refined, aud appear 10 the shops
like new ones. The streets surrounding the old
clothes market are full of shops where these
"clobbercd' and revived good are exposed for
sale, and really stranger TO the trade would not
know but what they were new goods.
TIE PURCHASERS.
There Is department Of the market also ded-
Gated to old clothes, male and female, "rlob-
bered' and revived. 1t is q touching sight to see
the class OF persons who frequent the mems mar
ket and turn over the seedy black garments that
are doing their best TO put on a good appearance
the tOil-wOrn clerks, who Tor some social reason
are expected to apparel themselves in black and
the equally careworn members Of the clerical pro-
tessiOn, chiefly Curates whose mCagre stipends do
not permit of the extravaganza Of new suits of
clothes. The ladies' market is vast wardrobe of
silk dresses, but If we are 70 believe the sales
women, the matrons of England are more thrifty
than we give them credit for. Servants come
here to purchase, sir ; No, indeed, sir; ladies
worth hundreds Of pounds was the reply we
got TO our inquiries as to the class Of purchasers.
EXroRTED MATERIALS.
Black cloth clothes that arc too far gone to be
"clObbered' and"reyved" are always sent abroad
to be cut up TO make caps. France takes the best
OF these old clothes for this purpose The Innings
are stripped out, and In this condition they are
admitted duty free as old rags. Russia and Po-
land, where caps seem to be universally worn by
the working population, are content with still
more threadOare garments, to be cut up for this
purpose. The great bulk of our cast-OtT clothes
of all kinds, however, find their way to two mar
kets-Ireland and Holland. The old clothes
bags OF the collectors may, in fact, be said 20 be
empued out in the land Of Erin, as far as the
ordinary order of clothes go, while to Holland
only special articles of apparel are exported Sin
gularly enough, the destination of the red TUNES
of the whole British infantry is the chest of the
sturdy Dutchman.
There seems to be some popular belief or super-
sttiOn in that water-lOgged country that red
cloth affords the best protection against rheu-
matism, consequently these jackets all find their
way to the land Of dykes. The sleeves are cut
ell, and they are made to button in a double
breasted fashion; thus remOdelled they are worn
next to the skin like n flannel waistcOat by all
careful Duichmen among the labOring classes.
The Irish chiefly favor COTdurOys, and we SUSPECT
the worn-Out legs Of British pantaloons of this
material are cut of and converted into breeches
for Pat Where he gets those wonderful swallow
tailed coats with brass buttons is puzzle to all
the dealers; il is very certain they do not come
from this side of the Channel, and 1t is equally
clear they are remnants OF costume two genera
tions back
UNIFORMS AND LIvRRGEs.
Our readers will perhaps have noticed the
special ayidity the dealers in old clothes evnce
for all kinds of regimentas, full dress liveries,
volunteers uniforms, beades' coats &c. Any
thing specially splendid in this line is marked by
the collectors as a sportsman marks any rare and
brilliantly plumaged bird, and ultimately it is
sure TO be bagged by them. One of the largest
dealers in London in these snowy dresses once
said to us, seeing guardsman going along the
street, "a thousand to one that coat comes into
my hands" Really the nevitability there appears
20 be about the destination of these regimentas,
If known to their wearers, should make them
very uncomfortable. The dealers would, If they
could, strip them of their backs just as an eel
woman skins an eel.
Lord Mayors footman's full dress livery is
viewed by these gentry with wolfish eyes. These
arc the great prizes Of the prOfession-and their
barbaric splondOrs are destined for special mar
I ket-the South Coast of Africa, where nature
puts on her most gorgeous apparel, and the great
ones of the land are determined to have some
thing to match Travellers often tell us of the
marvellous appearance of the chiefs of these
parts when in full muftl but we scarcely ex-
pected to find our old clothes dealers the regular
cost,ierS Of these sable digntaries, transmitting
regimentals, laced liYeries, and cooked hats, as
regularly to them as a London tailor sends his
clothes to his country customers. And AIumbO
Jumbo will not be put off with inferior articles
the slightest blemish in color or inferiority in
cloth is instantly detected and rejected by these
semisavaRes hence the greatest care is necessary
Ia cateringifor their wants.
Il Is just possible that the Lord Mayors for
these last dozen years would be able to recognize
,heir own splendid liyeries on the backs Of coun-
4 Gil of these potentates IL they could ever be got
n together for any purpose whatever. We our
< selves saw an assortment OF well-preserYed
iveries OF the heir % the proudest throne III the
world just be ng packed for expectation TO the
grand estnation of all fine liyeries we have lust
mentioned. II should be some solace to the
parish beadle that his clothes instead of descend
ing in the social scale, like those of ordinary
civilians, is destined to flame upon the back of some
autOcTat who holds the lives of thousands OF
men as his disposal, instead of only being the
II embems OF terror to poor parish boys.
THE wAIsTcoATs.
n There is one odd item of old clothes that has q
singular history. There are still a certain class
II in the community addicted 10 the use Of silk
IVelyet waistcOats. This class is generally TO be
found among the wel-to-do tradesmen Of coun-
vtry towns. The longevity Of black sik-velvct
IwaistcOat is proverbial; it will not wear out.
IAfter adorning the responsible corporation of
IsOme provincial grocer until he is thoroughly
Itred of IT, what does our reader think Is its uti-
Innate destination ?-the pate Of some streetGerman
Ior Polish Jew! In obedience to a Rabbinical
law it is not considered right by some of the
more conscientious Hebrews 20 go uncovered,
and these second hand waistcoats are bought up
Il 20 mako skul-Caps for their use.
RAGS.
When old clothes are too bad for anything else
'they still good enough for shoddy and mungO.
I lIt Is not many years since Mr.. Ferrand de-
lnounced the devils dust of the Yorkshire woolen
manufacturers this DEVILS dust arises from the
\ lgTand translation of old cloth into new Bailey,
lDeMsburY. and leeds have been described as the