The Opelousas courier., 1885-12-12
D~EALERSIN OLD CLOTHES.
One Of New York's Unique
Industries Described.
A Baxter Street Merchant Tells How He
Gets Cast-of Garments.

A Baxter Street Merchant Tells How He
Gets Cast-of Garments.
Baxter street merchants are q dis
tinct class, and resemble nosotheT deal
in-theif-mode of aeing business.
IL things are very dull, and business
men elsewhere are suffering from an
unusual .dearth oil -~trade, these old
clothes men raise their prices, and sell
their goods as fast as they can talk
aboGt them. A young Jew, whose
father has dealt in secondhand cloth
ing foi many years, was asked how
the stock was secured,
cat certain times during the year,"
he said, 'the pawnbrokers have, a
clearing out. They overhaul all the
property received as pledges, and
whatever. has been on hand oyer a
year is sold. Every dealer in second
hand clothing makes it n of the OBJ
jects of his life to strike up a friend
ship with as many pawnbrokers as he
can. The result of this is that he is
informed when a specially good lot Of
clothing is about to be disposed of,
and he is allowed to purchase it pri-
vately. Then there are always a num-
Der Of men who travel around the city
buying cast-off clothing. They fire.
quent the best neigborhoods, and occa-
sionally strike rare bargains. About
three years ago a young Polish Jew.
who had only been in this country a
short time, askeasmy father to assist
him in getting work. Father gave
him a big bag like those used by rag
men, and after, giving him a few
points and $40 in cash, started him
out. During the first day. he made
the common mistake Of travelling
among the poor parts of the city, and
though he filed his bag for about SIS,
there wasn't much profit in that days
work, because most of the clothing
was pretty well worn. The next. day
he was; sent up on Murray Hill, and
succeeded in getting a lot of first-class
clothing for a trifiing amount. He
didsso well that my father gave him
SIS for his first weeks wages. This
was more money than the poor fellow
ever had before In his Life. lie, stuck
at the business. and now has a store of
his ewn, a wife and two children"
"The clothing taken from the un-..
known dead said the reporter, is
bundled up.and laid away on shelves
In the morgue. After a certain time
it is disposed of in some way. Does
any of it ever fall in The hands of deal
ers inzsecond-hand clothingT
IL don't think SO. for this reason:
Nearly all the bodies taken to the
Morgno aud which are never indenti-
fed are taken from the river after
they have loated about for some time.
These are mostly the bodies Of poor
persons whose clothing was worth
very little before it was soaked with
salt water and torn by the spiles and
fish in the water. The first thing we;
do on receiving a lot of clothing is to
put itin as thorough repair as posi-
bic, and then we clean it and press it.
OF c%ourse.the clothing that gives US
the least trouble is the most valuable
to us. That is one reason why we al
ways advise any person engaged in
travelling around buying up east-olf
clothing to select frst-class neighhor-
hoods for their stamping ground.
There are lots of men in this city who
never wear a suit Of clothes longer
than q few months. Men who. can
afford tobuy four or five new suits of
clothes every year usually have them
made BY Grst-class taiIors. Occasional
" the nan himself sells the old clothes,
and when be does they cost less than
when his wife disposes Of them. "A.
woman, you know. takes a pleasure in
haggling oye the price Of anything.
The hardest. bargain to effect, though,
Is when we have q servant Co deal
with. Sometimes they are ordered To-
sell the clothing, and when they are
they always want q goodprice, SO they
can pocket some Of the proceeds.
Very often q man gives his valet all
bis old clethes. The man may weigh
800 posssids and his valet onlg half as
much, vice versa, andso the only
thing the valet can do is 10 sen the
clothes.
Are there any dealers in women's
clothingf'
"Wells shrould say 80. Baxter,
Bayard, and Mulberry streets are full
Of them. They transact their bust
ross IN the same waysthat we dooars,
but Of course, they don't have quite
90 much trade"
There are lots Of people who make
a speciality Of secondhand shoes.
The shoes are those left TO be mended
and never called for these ~nirchasAd