The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-07-18
A HISTORIC MARKET.
OLD CLOTHES IN LONDON ALL DRIFT
TO A FAMOUS PLACE.

~ n FAMOUS PLACE.
Old Clothes Mart In H~oundsditch Attracts
Hundreds OF Thousands OF People who
Want to Wear Expensive Apparel: but
Can't Pay Very Much For IT.
Down In the unsayory and i'll favored
quarter ofiHoundsditch, behind the area
of the city where countless gold is made
and turned over, there is an inclosed
space, part of the so called Phil's 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 q man stand
Ing at the barrier that divides the street
from the emporiums beyond. The gen.
eral aspect Is far from INVITING, and q
first cursory glance seems to reveal only
a collection of rags and decrepitude. The
floor Is nothing more han 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 tho
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 it's 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 or
the handles of sticks and umbrellas. The
goods vary considerably in quality and
aspect. Some are moldy, tattered or
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 NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 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 a bust, q pair of vases or q
water bottle worth sixpence is infinitely
more tempting than a shilling, and the
buyer has the satisfaction Of emptying
the barrow laden with flashy, worthless
articles at a profit of 80 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 buyers
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
channel. Taking into consideration the
nature n general appearance of the
conslgnments, it is startling to learn
on good authority that occasionally G3O
and even e40 have been paid down in
cash for II lot. Credit is never given.
and payment precedes the delivery Of
the goods.
Hats, which, as a rule, are the most de-
plorable objects, fetch but little, vet are
eagerly bought whatever their state.
They are sent to Paris for the sake of
the silk ON them and there manufactured
into new ones. Coats vary moro in price
than any other article; some 90 for n
penny, some for sixpence and upward to
e5. There was q legend on the mart that
n coat was actually sold for "a 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 q 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, ~disreputable and poverty
stricken looking railing holders at the
mart, the men who hagglo desperately
over q siXpence, are well to do capital,
lists. One of them is the proprietor OF
several houses in a good quarter Of Lon
Ion. Others have q 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 ayear, which is not surprising,
as the mart is opened every day and WIS.,
tied by 600 or 700 people on week DAYS
and by 1000 or 5000 on Sundays. A not
able particularly is that while on week
days the stalls are free and q charge is
made for tho admittance Of the public
on Sundays the stockholders pay a small
fec and the customers enter gratuitously.
The mart is open from II to 6. 1t is a
favorite lounge for the dwellers in the
district, while those on business intent
flock to it from great distances.
The old clothes mart of Hounsditoh is
not comprised in the list of the 100 r~,or-
kets mentioned in the report os rho corn
mittee or public cont..ol, and it MAJ
therefore co4tin--e to exist with impuni-
" IL H"ds been in working order for
aDout 60 years and is an important one
IN Its line. Its trade extends to Spain
and the Cape, whittier go the renovated
costumes and repaired goods. France
and Scotland receive their consignments
In their unregenerato state and treat
them according to their own require
ments.-London Cor. New York Sun.