New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-09-09
THE MAKING OF CLOTHING.
A GREAT INDUSTRY IN NETWORK.
fxrzsr OF THE BUSINESS AS SHOWN BY THE GEN.
sUs RETURNS.

rx.rx m. knows in a general way that the
,oth,ng business In NewYork Is large and the mere
na.sng through Broadway habituay Tor several years
snrsses one with the increase OF houses devoted 10
that speciality. Few people. however, are aware OF
tbe fact that the manufacture aid sale OF clothing whole
.als and retail Is the most extensive industry in the
metropolis To trace It's growth by accurate figures or
those even approximately correct Is utterly impractical
ba but In the compendium OF the Census OF 1880 Part
III under the head OF mems clothing these figures are
given:
uacurers for the trade and custom taiors or artst
as many OF them desire to be called, 736. Average
hands employed-men. 3o,444; women, 1897; cnii-
dren s31. Amount paid in wages annually $ls'oiz,-
eO5; worth OF material, $40 2o9340 annuai product
kG0 79s 897 and all this invested capita Oh @-~
S96S93
j. wheeler Hardley under whose supervision tneso
statistics were obtained and tabulated, said 10 iS
,r o,orr RECENTLY that In doing this work numerous
digienltss we're encountered !" The small ho'ises'
said he "were anxious TO make as large sno"ihs q.
possible while really important estaonshneh's Vi
the first class thought it to their interest," or vio'
reasons TO make their figures small as possible In
great number the statements were SO papaoy
xrong that they were back for revision On the
whole think the two kinds OF lies produced genera
average that s as nearly correct as we couo PosS'
Obtain One expert employed by us 10 correc' .n0
figures of clothing houses-an old aud welEkho"h "uo
tioneer-actualy died from the enecSs Va
induced by over-work"
Az IN the figures re ting to the number OF hands en-
nloved Mr. Hardley said: 1t was impossiple W"o
moro than approximate the real nunoers ai'nouSh
think the total we give is nearly right Tne uouoic ~
occurring accuracy this great many OF the hahos
,mnloved live in Newark, Hoboken, Williamsburg ana
other places the vicinity manufacturer OF co'nik
,bsn asked for the number OF hands employed, would
include men and women not only In THIS Guy ou. Al
ntber places as well While in one sense u "ouu no
proper to enumerate them here being directly
In New-York industry. these same people were likely 10
be Recommended In the towns where they Ne' anu u
= complicate the hnal census report
THE LARGE CLOTHING HOUSES.
f the 100000 900 annual pro luc OF the clothing ous
mess In this CITY, S55 900 is for ready-made CLOTH
Ing in the opinion Of partner In one OF tne ieaonk
firms OF the $50 to 400 ready-made clothhg houses
In this city," said this gentleman. 1.-The bulk OF all Tue
busness wholesale and retail is done by twenty-five
arms The largest establishments in this city, in alpha
betical order are Brokaw Brothers, retail only; BROOKS
Brothers, retail only; Carhart, Whitford Co., whole
sale and retail Devlin & Co., retail only; Hammers
lough Brothers, wholesale only; Naurn berg kraus'
Lauer Co.. Wholesale only; Rogers, Peet Co., whole
vale and retail There is increased demand for cheap
clothing Tor shipment the West for emigant and oher
iaboring classes In this city there is tendency 10
nd less money on hgh-price6 taors and more TOT
frse ready made clothes which are rentteo 10 sun
the purchaser. No clothing is shipped out OF the
country unless occasionally in the shape of uniforms Tor
some Central or South American army The making OF
clothes for the NewYor dealers is scattered all through
this State New-Jersey and New-Ehgland AS 70 the
question it is always difficult TO get sRileu
labor for the class OF custom work such men COM
uand their own figures and we are powerless their
hands During the dull season in summer tho best
eustou hands are put rsclass readymade work for
the home trade but the fall they return to their GUS
tom work at about such prices as they choose to ask
they have scale OF printed prices, and all we have TO
do is to sign and whatever 1t calls foroi nave
ttrike The way they put the charges Tor extras -
which are ostly regular parts of garment that every
one wants-s simply outrageous. Every time You cal
at your tailors and try ON coat we nave 20 pay
dollar the workman Now here Is my own business
making aud the speaker showed the reporter inc price
list Of charges to prSve ~ sasy oSaned but of
these there is always demand for good worklnen and
No labor is more independent than the men who make
clothes. You can't talk any : poor tailor 10 me-
THE WHOLESALE TRADE.
Naumberg Kraus. Lauer Il Co.. in Broadway, above
Bleecker-st are the largest manufacturers and
wholesale dealers in ready made clothing IN New
YORK. A gentleman connected with that house
thought that rs per cent OF the SOoOOO,-
0Ou annual product was for ready-made clothing He
thought the estimate OF 600 hands
ing men, women and chidren-was low. He was OF the
opinion Judging by their own business, that the large
houses are doing as much when the census OF 1850
was TAKEN probably and that there Is an ncIeas-
ing demand for better class OF goods. fuiLy
$50 COO o capital invested in this city in the max
ing OF mems clothing" he said; but great deal OF cap
ta Is used which is not owned )y the houses using ID
Some of them use the banks and all Street freely
/. When asked for a rough estimate OF the Number OF
garments made annually by this firm, the answer was:
rness i, would not put It at e.s than 10000
And ho~ many yards of cloth would that require T.
Another interesting feature the readymade clothing
asn sunsles to long distances Ma ne for example
where the thrifty housewife Of the no less frugal farmer
spcnds the short winter days, between work, and tho
lang winter nights after other work is making
up garments may be IN Water-st or santa
are aSout the same in Maine NewYork or Newark.
But how about the freighti was asked
"Oh we deliver the unmade goods here and they have
10 deliver them 10 up before pay for them
We send Of about 100 garments one or two cases
At time. Freight is cheap. though less tnan 20 cents on
asnt of clothes both ways should say as they snip ny
boat" A., 81. .,on,sn q, Maine make c,o,bo,
for the Nsw-YoIs CA, cheaper than Tile
"They do, by just the amount they pay ior freight
SOME "REMINISCENCES.
1t the good fortune OF the reporter 10 come across
ne of the oldest respected men In the clothing
business city, who has been in some branch OF 1t
"a employe or employer, for half century. . At tho
time of the big fire of 49," said he the principal ready
made clothing h,uses Baker, johnson Co.. Pearl
at: Conant Co. Pearst.-i was astonished TO see Mr.
Consns obituary in the papers few days ago. for SUI
posed he dead years before and Cornelius Baker
Co.. Exehange-pace. In those days there was LITTLE
ready-nade clothing sold at retail u New-York. Afte
the panic 3 caused by the fire OF 80, there followed
n period of initiation and there boom In thu
clothing business. The oldess, or about the Oldest
clothing house In New-iork was that OF Alb
ner Weyman Co.. In Maiden-lane, established in 1893
They fitted the Miranda expedition TO the west in
d;cs-jn III or 10 about that time-wth clothes 10
which they never got cent That house lasted hrOu q
three generaobs-I was connected with the h0usein ~
last generat0nbut 1t is not In existence. The mex
oldest ready-made clothing dealer was Robinson, II
broadway, Liberty st. In 1907 20 He didn't keel
much ready made, but sold some and was the pionee
IA Broadway Alter him Wi lam Il. Jennings, ais
IN Broadway- think his place Barclay-sf. III
twas u iooi too; he made plenty OF money and ent
the dogs There also I'd ward Fox at one time unde
the Museum and at another time further down, bet~ee
John and Fulton sts., In Broadway. The Deylln
came In about the time.