The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1885-05-06
C.. Fl. LEHELLIN.

Tie trade of the tailor is the most
ancient of which we have any histori-
cal knowledge. The first recorded
work in this line was Of an amateur
character. it is true, and we would
have liked to have seen the "it'' of
those Zig leaves-we presume it was
all Correct; at all events The "gar-
ments" were modi<h, for they were
-"the first of the season >, - thou Fl
not exactly adap] FrTa5Te p
| climate as this, they undoubtedly
had special advantages. Since the
! days Of Adam, tailors' work has been
in demand. Qneer work some Of it,
if sacred and profane historians are
to be relied upon, and not to be COM
pared with the product of a modern
merchant tailoring establishment.
We have often thought what &
"level-headed" man PoIonious was,
and wondered if he "stoo1 in" with
some merchant tailor, when, amid
other advice he gave Laertes was this;
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaud ";
u "a cAS @ppoiOi oie pkOtAdtilio bHC uitiIS
The advice was good at all events
In all Young and growing commu
mites the business of a merchant tail.
or is fair index to the development.
of popular taste. Take the business
| of Mr.. Lewellin as an illustration
He came here in 1877 and opened the
first regular establishment of its kind
in town. His action was variously
criticised, but the conclusion arrived
at by the majority was that such an
enterprise could not be made sue
cess in Durham. Certainly the es-
tablishment gave no special promise
as regarded the future. But few goods
were carried in stock, the salesroom
and shop were small, and the prospec-
tive patronage still smaller. During
the first few years of his business here
Mr.. Lewellin made several changes
of location-sometimes his place of
business was in the basement again
it would be up stairs. and it was not
until September 1882, that he finally
secured his present eligible quarters.
Here he has opportunity to display
the stock of goods carried-goods
from German, French, English and
American looms, goods that are la.
test in design, unimpeachable in
quality and exquisite in appearance,
and it is only the best class of goods
that is carried. Mr.. Lewellin does
not place himself in competition with
ready-made clothing dealers-the
material he makes up is of different
quality-every garment is made by
skilled workmen, and the fitting is
no hit-or-miss matter. Measurements
are carefully and exactly taken by
Mr.. Lewellin himself the cutting is
all d. ne by him; garments, after be.
ing made up, are subjected to the
most careful scrutiny, and it, when
tried on by customers, it appears that
the fit is not perfect, the customer is
not expected to receive the goods. -
In this connection we may add that
not an average ofone garment per year
is rejected. Another thing we may
say, for the information Of buyers
this Spring. and that is: while prices
have not materially changed from
those that ruled year ago the goods
themselves have wonderfully im-
proved, owing to the competition
among manufacturers at home and
abroad. T.
Mr.. Lewellin is a veteran in tue
tailoring business, and has thor
ough, comprehensive knowledge of
the trade as practical man
is, in fact, specially we'll adapted to!
make a great success of his BUSINESS
He is a Virginian by birth and 50,
years ago began learning his trade att
Lynchburg, serving an apprentice
ship of six years. During most of
the time since he has carried on bus.
mess for himself, and twelve years
before removing to Durham he was at
Warrenton. As a business man and
as citizen he is held in high esteem
in the community, and we do not
wonder that he is SO generally en-
dorsed by those who know and APP
preciate him.