The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-05-15
OWE r IN LONDON
Sketches from Life in n~illingsgate n
Petticcst Lane.

PettiocSt Lane.
Providence Journal. -Billingsgate,
he notorious fish market, is almost too
novel and lively a place even for the
rambler with ~propensities favoring low
tide life. The market itself and the
street leading to and from it, parallel to
the Thames is indescribably nasty" as
the English would say. Sometimes you
pass through B~illingsgate without hear
ing any of the foul language for which
the place has become so famous. But
usually in the busy season of the day
you are more liable to hear language
which is not adapted to the drawing
room. It seems as though the fish
mongers had created an atmosphere
wherein they considered it impossible
to effect a bargain without invoking the
aid of profanity. Doubtless many of
the latest styles in the way of oaths may
be trac d directly to Billingsgate.
Nothing could be stranger by contrast
than a little CONNECTION stand which /
discovered one day right down in the
heart of that blasphemous community.
Over the cornice was the legend:
Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap" Below the counter was
another inscription "Our motto, Filter
your words" This wee lonely effort at
reform was almost comical in its isola-
ton,
Alas for the modern disciples of
Dickens, Petticoat lane is fast becoming
a Renaissance. Indeed, it does not ex-
ist il rame any longer, for its enter
prising citizens write their addresses as
Middlesex lane now. For a long time
it seemed impossible to purge the local
itv, but rigid police surveillance and
other causes have combined to effect
quite a metamorphosis. One could al
most be sentimental enough to regret
this. There was something exhilarat-
ing in the pristine lawlessness. of the
place. Never, | suppose, was there a
more thoroughly rotten community any
where, and yet one which more com-
pletely bafled the police. 1t was as if
the inhabitants werein league with each
other, and operated always on the NUT
ual protection basis. You might saun-
ter down the street with a watch in your
pocket, but there was little hope that
you could ever return with it, as crowds
could be called together at any moment
either for purpose of riiing an unwary
strangers pockets or for the purpose of
baking the police. All these things are
still measurably true of the Lane to-
day.
Sunday is the great occasion in this
part of the city, and people who do not
lack in courage often make it a point to
60 around there at that time for
bargains. Of course it is presumed that
all the articles for sale are stolen prop
erty, but it is impossible to fix guilt
upon any one. From time immemorial
the police have been in the habit of
making for "Petticoat lane" Gas l shall
continue to call it, rather than indorse
the new naple) whenever any important
burglary has been committed. Know
ing the futility of trying to convict the
guilty party, they more often than
otherwise advise the loser to buy his
property back. The costliest gems and
articles Of apparel are often to be
obtained there for a mere song. When
! man has found" a watch worth 800
ne is frequently quite anxious to dispose
If it as early as possible, even though
le shall get but $40 Or $15 for it.
The moment a stranger enters Petit
,oat lane he is spotted by the citizens,
the majority Of whom are Jewish. If he
is suspected of being in search of some
mar or some piece of property, up go
two or three fingers, and the word is
passed along the lines by a secret signal
system, so that every one is on the look
out. III you purchase a silk handker-
chief, it is we'll for you to clutch it with
both hands until you are quite away,
else it will be nipped out of your pocket
and sold again before you have got q
block distant.
Petticoat lane is great for its exchange
bargains also.
A shrewd representative of the needy
fraternity can readily makes living sim
ply by this process. Perhaps he is all
rags and tags" when he enters the street.
He divines the articles which the pro-
prietors are specially anxious to get rid
of, and piece hy piece exchanges his
seedy outfit for similar but better pieces;
and these again for pieces still better,
until at last he energies from the further
end of the lane q real swell.
The restaurants are also q great feat
ure. You can get a meal that certainly
lacks not in quantity, whatever may be
said of the quality, for three o. four
pence. Sausages and potatoes constitute
. most popular dish, and may be purchase
ed in a score Of places at apennya dish.
The street cries are, alas, also deteri-
Grating. Legislation has been aimed at
them as d popular nuisance, and those
which aforetime possessed much Of al