The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-07-17
A HISTORIC MARKET.
OLD CLOTHES IN LONDON ALL DRIFT
TO A FAMOUS PLACE.

Old Clothes Mart In Tfoundsditch Attracts
Hundreds of Thousands OF People Who
Want to Wear Expensive Apparel. but
Can't Pay Very Much For II.
Down in the unsavory and i'll favored
quarter of Houndsditch, behind the area
Of the city where countless gold ismade
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 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
first cursory glance seems to reveal only
a collection of rags and decrepitude. The
floor is nothing more than the pavement.
The roof is the sky, and in rain or SUM-
shine the heaps Of clothes are exposed
without protection to the changes OF the
capricious London climate. On slushy
days they present lamentable appear
ance.
There are no benches or stalls, as in
other markets, only lines Of wooden rail-
ing running along the inclosure marked
out in lengths and apportioned to the
different venders. The goods are packed
in sacks or bundles deposited on the
flags, and at the open mouth or top Of
each Is displayed 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 petticdats, 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 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 bust, pair of vases or q
water bottle worth sixpepce is infinitely
more tempting than shilling, and the
buyer has the satisfaction Of emptying
the barrow laden with fashy, 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 q group of men
calling themselves commission buyers
who bid against each other fer the whele
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 of
wholesale quantities for Belfast, Dublin,
Cork and other localities beyond the
channel. Taking into consideration the
nature and general appearance of the
consignments, it is startling to learn
on good authority that occasionally ESQ
and even G40 have been paid down in
cash for one lot. Credit is never given,
and payment precedes the delivery of
the goods.
Hats, which, as rule, are the most de-
plorable objects, fetch but little, yet are
eagerly bought whatever their state.
They are sent to Paris for the sake of
the silk on them and there
into new ones. Coats vary more in price
than any other article; some go for q
penny, some for sixpence and upward to
f5. There was legend on the mart that
one 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 party to the desecra-
tion. but because tho 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 haggle desperately
over sixpence, are well to do capital
lists. One Of them is the proprietor of
several houses in 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 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 1000 on Sundays. A not
able particularly is that while on week
days the stalls are free and charge is
made for the admittance of the public
on Sundays the stallholders pay small
fee and the customers enter gratuitously.
The mart is open from II to 8. 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 Hounsditch is
not comprised in the list Of the 100 mar
kets mentioned in the report Of the com
mittee of public control, and it may