The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-07-17
4 !irSTORIC MARKET.
Oh CLOTHES IN LONDON ALL DRIFT
TO FAMOUS PLACE.
Old Clothes Mart In leousAisditch Attracts
Hundreds of Thousands Of People Who
Want to Wear Expensive Apparel. but
Can't Pay Very Much For 1t.

Cant Pay Very Much For 1t.
Down in the unsavory and i'll favored
quarter of Eoundsditch. 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.
inra. 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 a 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. The
floor is nothing more than the pavement.
The roof is the sky. and in rain or un.
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 q 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
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 inhabitants-those who dc
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 flower
in pots. experience having successfully
proved that a bust. a pair of vases or a
water bottle worth sixpence is infinitely
more tempting than a shilling. and the
buyer has the satisfaction of emptyine
the barrow laden with fashy. worthless
articles at a profit Of 10 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 buyer.
who bid against each other for the whole
lot. The successful competitor forth
with distributes his bargains anon the
holders of the rallied of compartment.
inside, who endeavor to retail them t.
the customers who have PAID the er
trance fee. The best of these customers.
are always Irish buyers. They carry oil
wholesale quantities for Belfast, Dublin
Cork and ether localities beyond tn
channel. Taking into consideration TIL
nature and general appearance of tGs
consignmen"s, it is startling TO lea.a
on good authority that occasionally E.
ami even G40 have been paid down l.
cash for Il lot. Credit is never given
and payment precedes the delivery ot
the goods.
Hats. which. as a rule. are the most IL.
plorable objects. fetch but little. yet are
eagerly bought whatever their state
They are sent to Paris for the sake Of
the silk III tnenl and there manufactured
into new ones. Coats vary more in prize
than any other article: some 20 for Il
penny, some for sixpence and upward =
80. There was a legend on the mart that
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. 0 that the
noble owners are a party to the desecra.
ton. but because the Wallets whose per.
quisites they become know of this way Ct
realizing money for them. The bargains
are advantageous to all parties. Some
Of the shabby. d~isreputable and poverty
stricken looking railing holders at the
mart. the men who haggle desperately
over q sixpence. are well to do capital
lists. One of them is the proprietor of
several houses in a good quarter If Lon
don. Others have a 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,
Is the mart Is opened every day and Wis
tied by 900 or 200 people on week days
and by 1900 or 1000 on Sundays. A not
able particularly is that while on week
days the stalls are free and q charge is
made for the admittance Of the public
on Sundays the stallholders pay q small
fee and the customers enter g~ratuitously.
The mart is open from II to 6. 1t is a
fsvorite lounge for the jewellers in the
district, while those on business intent
dock 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
therefore continue to exist with impuni-
ty. It has been in working order foi
about 60 years and il n important one
in its line. Its trade extends to Spain
and the Cape, whittier 90 the renovated
costumes and repaired goods. France