Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-10-25
A HISTORIC MARKET.
OLD CLOTHES IN LONDON ALL DRIFT
TO A FAMOUS PLACE.

Hundreds of Thousands of People Who
Want to Wear Expensive Apparel. but
Can't Fay Very Much For It
Down in the unsavory and i'll favored
quarter of Houndsditch, behind the area
Of the city where countless gold is made
and turned over, there is an inclosed
space, part of the so called Pills build
ings, which goes by the descriptive name
of the Old Clothes Mart. Admission to
it is obtained on payment of a penny as
entrance fee, collected by man stand
ing at the barrier that divides the street
from the emporiums beyond. The gen.
eral aspect is far from inviting. and a
first cursory glance seems to reveal only
a collection of rags and decrepitude. Tho
floor is nothing more than the pavement.
The roof is the sky, and in rain or sun
shine the heaps of clothes are exposed
without protection to the changes of the
capricious London climate. On slushy
days they present a lamentable appear
ance.
There are no benches or stalls, as in
other markets, only lines of wooden rail-
ing running along the Enclosure marked
out in lengths and apportioned to the
different vendors. The goods are packed
in sacks or bundles deposited on the
flags, and at the open mouth or top Of
each is displayed n sample of its con-
tents, which is also temptingly laid
across the rail, whence depend the legs
of trousers, the sleeves of dresses, the
frills of petticoats, the soles of boots OF
the handles of sticks and umbrellas. The
goods vary considerably in quality and
nSrnrt Y,,11I.- V.@
cOlorless; others are in fairly good con-
dition, clean and serviceable.
Old Clothes Mart is victualled by hawk
ers who haunt certain suburban districts
to purchase the cast off garments of the
more modest nhabitants-those who do
not hesitate to discuss the conditions OF
the business in person at their front
doors. The dealings are not carried on
in cash. The hawkers, with astute knowl-
edge of human nature, offer in exchange
crockery, plaster figures or even flowers
in pots, experience having successfully
proved that n bust, a pair of vases or
water bottle worth sixpence is infinitely
more tempting than shilling, and the
buyer has the satisfaction of emptying
the barrow laden with flashy. worthless
articles at n profit of so per cent.
When his original stock in trade is re-
placed by wearing apparel, the hawker
adjourns to the neighborhood of the
mart, where he finds a group of men
calling themselves commission buvers
who bid against each other for the whole
lot. The successful competitor forth
with distributes his bargains among the
holders of the rallied off compartments
inside, who endeavor to retail them to
the customers who have paid the en-
/ trance fee. The best of these customers
are always Irish buyers They carry off
wholesale quantities for Belfast. Dublin,
| Cork and other localities beyond the
1 channel. Taking into consideration the
nature and general appearance of the
| cOnsignments, it Is startling to learn
| ON good authority that occasionally $50
and even SO have been paid down in
| cash for one lot. Credit Is never given,
and payment prece,les the delivery of
the goods
/ Hats, which, as a rule. arc the most de
/ plOrable objects, fetch bat little. vet are
/ eagerly bought whatever their state.
| They are sent TO Paris for the sake of
1 the silk on them and there manufactured
/ into new ones. Coats vary more in price
! than any other article; some 20 for a
| penny, some for siXpence and upward TO
e5. There was legend on the mart that
one coat was actually sold for u tenner.
Clothes that have been worn by the
highest and richest in the land have
found their downward way to Hounds
ditch, not excepting those once belong
ing to the Prince of Wales. not that the
noble owners are party to the desecra-
| ton. but because the Wallets whose per
quisites they become know of this way of
realizing money for them The bargains
are advantageous to all parties. Some
of the shabby, tisreputable and poverty
stricken looking railing holders at the
mart, the men who lagglc desperately
over a sixpence, are we'll to 30 capital
lists One of them Is the proprietor of
several houses in 4 good quarter Of Lon
don Others have large balance at the
bank, and others still own considerable
property in stocks and shares They
turn over thousands of pounds in the
course of year, which Is not surprising,
as the mart is opened every DAY and Wis
tied by GOO or zoo people ON week days
and by 4 1000 or !. 200 on Sundays. \ not
able particularly is that while on week
days the stalls are free and charge i:
made for the admittance of the public
on Sundays the stallholdcrs pay a small
fee and the customers enter gratuitously
The mart is open from II to 8. 1t is &
favorite lounge for the jewellers in the
district, while those on business intent
flock to it from great distances
The old clothes mart of uuUns,iitch Is
not comprised in the list Of the loo mar
kets mentioned in the rgTu I of the com.
mittee of public control. and it may
therefore continue TO exist with inpuni
~. 1t has been in working order 70.
about GO years and is an important one
in its line. Its trade extends to Spain
and the Cape, whittier 90 the renovated
costumes and repaired goods France
and Scotland receive their consignment
in their unreeenerate state and treat
them according to their own require
ments.-LondOn Cor. New York sun
Repentant Lovers Awful Mistake.
Archibald Augustus barrow stood
gloomily in the dock, the wreck of {
well dressed man about tom, and wher
it came time to make excuses for his wO,
he said:
Your honor. | am the victim of an
other mans mistake. 4 few days ago
was the happiest of men, Fortune ans
love both smiled IwoOed and won on
of the city's fairest but most exactin.
maids. Then / was persuaded to TAX
part in the Circus Maximus fcstivity n
Demetrius Propulsius, one of the myr
millones.
1.-THE rehearsal for my exacting an
heroic role took all my time. Ineglecte
LADY, lnr-n r1y,fS1 q,
my fate. Then l said to myself, L vii
L !.