The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-04-06
AT SECOND HAND.
How the business of Dealing in Cast-O
Clothing is Conducted.


How the business of Dealing in CASTOR
Clothing is Conducted.
The small, dark shop was packed with pile
after pile of secondhand clothing, old Shoes
ancient hats, and various small articles Of per-
sonal attire The proprietor sat cross-legged
upon a low perch placed by the shops one win
dow, busily stitching away at an ancient gar
ment he was putting in repair.
''Where do all these come from ?' said he, re-
peatng the reporters question as he climbed
down from his perch and gazed about with a
proud smile of proprietorship. "Well, of
course, all of these things are secondhand arti-
cles which my partner has picked up about the
city. Partner? Why, certainly; in this busi-
ness 1t is necessary to have two engage in it,
on the outside who does the buying, the other
in the shop to dispose of the stuff"
'How does your partner operate ~ asked the
reporter.
''He goes about the city, picking out the nice
looking houses where he thinks men live who
wear plenty of good clothes and who will have
some that are pretty well worn which they would
be willing to get rid of for small sum. Or he
sees people on the streets who are neat dressers
and tries to find out what their names are. If
he finds this out he hunts up their addresses in
the directory and mails them our business card
or calls on them himself. In this way we get
all of our stock. When coat becomes frayed
about the sleeves it is cast aside by the average
| man as unfit for wear, but when we get hold of
it, by shipping off the frayed edges and binding
| it with braid, we give it the appearance of new
garment. Vests and trousers that become shiny,
we clean them thoroughly, press them out, and,
presto you would not recognize the article.
Sometimes we purchase entire suit for 81,
| spend little time upon it, and probably dispose
of it for So or $40. You see we must under
stand enough of tailoring to be able to repair
| and scour clothing"
"Who are your best customers?"
"The laboring classes as a rule, although you
would be surprised to see the number of men
of more means who on the quiet do not hesitate
to purchase these renovated garments. Of
course, they don't come to our shop, but send
| for my partner to come to see them and bring
the goods with him. They become acquainted
with him when he calls upon them to purchase
| their cast-oH clothes, and from being the seller
| often in time becomes the buyer. And why not?
We give them very nce-looking clothes, and we
fit them well at less than one-third of the sum
they would be compelled to pay if they pur-
chased of tailoring firm.
"a good many of these customers are Coy
ernment employees who don't get princely sala-
ries and spend most of their money in paying
board and trying to appear wealthy, so when
they can get hold of a suit of secondhand
clothes that looks well enough and of fine ma
terial they quickly close n bargain with us.
And do you know, there are some small cloth
ing stores whose proprietors would appear out
ragged If such thing was mentioned, who are
not above sending out runner to buy up old
clothes, which they repair and scour and place
in their regular stock as new goods? These do
not belong to the good class of clothers, but the
tricky fellows, who haul you in off the street"
"Do any Of your good class of customers buy
old shoes ?' the reporter asked, glancng at a
heap of these stacked up by the door.
"Very rarely Now and then pair of slip
pers may be sold, but seldom pair of shoes.
Very few hats are sold to them They are not
partial either to old hats or shoes
'Are the farmers and farm hands that come
to town pretty good customers?"
swell, they buy coats and vests mostly, OF
old hats and boots. They never buy them fol
usage. No, sir. When countrymun wants
Sunday suit he isn't going to have anything
secondhand, no matter how good it may be, bu
he is going to the clothing stores and purchase
a brand-new suit, no matter how poor the quality
may be as compared with the material | coulC
have sold him for the same money. The darkey
is Just like him in that respect. He always
goes to a secondhand clothes-deaer for ht
working and everyday clothes, but when il
comes to holiday or Sunday attire he is going
to get something real pretty, and with plenty o.
color in it, of legitimate dealer. He will buy
his high silk hat from us, however, and also hi
shoes, as he does not like to break in new shoes
---~-.-
Letter-Carriers' Relief Fund Benefit
The Bohemian Dramatic Association vii
present ''Fanchon The Cricket at Lincoln
Music Hall next Wednesday evening, as tes
timonial benefit for the Letter Carriers Relief
Association, whose funds were entirely ex
hausted during the recent 'grip'' epidemic
The letter-cariers being prevented from selling
tickets themselves, under the rulings of th,
Department, it has been deemed eXpedient t
; reach the public by other means, in order t
make the benefit a grand success; and will
that end in view, Messrs, +. F. Guzman and j
A. Plant have been appointed and authorizes
to wait on the principal business men 9i In
for the entertainment. The cause is worthy 0
generous treatment and it is earnestly hope
that a handsome sum will be subscribed t
crown the success of the entertainment, whic
1 will be of the highest order.
: AT this season of the year one generally lose
9 his appetite and becomes weak, and goo
D | remedy is r Portnnr ~ Go. Is celnhratnd hppra