The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1893-08-19
A HISTORIC MARKET.
OLD CLOTHES ~ LONDON ALL DRIFT
TO A FAMOUS FLAc=.

want to Wear Expensive Apparel. but
Can't ray Very Much For 1t.
Down il tie unsavory and i'll favored
quarter of Iioundsditch, behind the area
CT the city where countless gold tx made
and turned over. there is I'm inclos ed
space. part OF the 80 called Pills build.
iags, which yoes by the descriptive name
of the Old Clothes Mart. Admission to
1t is obtained on payment of a penny as
entrance fee. collected by u 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 sun
shine tho heaps of clothes are exposed
without protection to tho 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 ut the open mouth or top Of
each is displayed a 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 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 q bust. q pair of vases or a
water bottle worth sixpence is infinitely
more tempting than n shilling, and the
buyer has the satisfaction of emptying
the barrow laden with fiashy, 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 of 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. 1t is startling to learn
on good authority that occasionally G30
and even c40 have been paid down in
cash for one lot. Credit is never given,
and payment precedes the delivery OF
the goods. ~ 4
Hats, which, as u rule, are the most de-
epl6rable objects. fetch but little, yet are
eagerly bought whatever their state.
They are semitic Paris for the sake of
the silk on them and there manufactured
into new ones. Coats vary more in price
than any other articles; some go for a
penny. some for ~sixpence and upward to
e5. There was a legend on the mart that
n coat vas 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 u party to the desecra-
tion. 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 haggle desperately
over u sixpence. are well to do capital
lists. One of them is the proprietor Of
several houses in a good quarter of Lon
don. Others have u 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
H. Al -. -.z r. 1.-