The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-14
MISFlTS WERE HIS STOCK.
DEATH OF DENIS SHEA, CLoTHLER
TO THE POOR AND PROUD F.

SNhNt ~ = NNSE8 Nv hhNNhhueUus
and n Coed One It was. Too-stors or the
Haunted Clothes. Probably Not n Mlsnt
since the Ghost Insisted on Having Them.
Denis Shea, tho well.known clothicr, died at
his residence on Washington Heights yestor-
day morning of disease OF the kidneys. Mr..
Shea, who was in his sixty.first year, was
born in Ireland and came to this country when
n boy. After trying his hand at various occu.
pations, he finally embarked in the misft cloth
ing business. His place on Broomo street Is
known all over the country-its unique feature
being that most OF the goods came from the
shops Of the fine merchant tailors Of New York
and other large cities. OF this branch OF the
business Mr.. Shea was the originator and en-
5oyod practically a monopoly.
The notion which led to the establishment of
the misht clothing business originated In Mr..
Shea's brain when he worked in a fashionable
tailor shop in Fifth avenue nearly forty years
ago. Clothes that did not At or were never
called for he saw lying around the place or
packed away to be sold eventually for q song.
The fact that the garments were OF the highest
grade Of material and workmanship. and that,
nevertheless. they brought smaller prices than
ordinary roady-madc, clothes struck the young
man forcibly. On leaving the employ Of the
tailor he went West. but after a year or two
there returned to this city. AL this time he
had kept in mind that contrast between the
high grade material and the low-grade prices.
He had accumulated q little money, and with
this as a basis decided to set up in business.
First he went to his old employer.
I'll buy all tho clothes that your customers
leave on your hands, said he. "at a better
price than you get for them now"
you'll get stuck" said the tailor. after
hearing of the plan, ''but I'll be glad to have
you take the clothes of my hands"
A little place on Broome street was rented,
and ID. Shea, Dealer in High Glass Misft
Clothing" opened up. For q time very little
business came his way, but hard times were
prevalent then, and there were many men who.
while fastidious in dress, were unable then to
pay large prices. In some way Mr.. shea be-
came known to this class, and from that time
his prosperity dated. His former employer sent
him to other high-priced tailors. until soon no
had specimens in his stock of the work Of every
fashionable tailor in the city. So largo did his
business soon become, however, that there
were not enough misft clothes in the high.
orders, SO he began reaching out for supplies in
other cities. Frequent trips to Boston and
q his Business sss reIstio mn a RT1SSe.se eam sstsn si@e
when even Chicago exhibits were to be found
h In d aes sh with ~ onIS The very ns wS Best hi tai Goast that
OF late years, since his two oldest sons have
been in the store, the business, has been ex-
ing department., but Mr.. shea's own personal
interest always centred about the misft de-
partment- OF this he had made q careful
"0vercoats are the best. ;" he would say. "A
good overcoat is an easy seller because 1t needs
mer Of reasonable Size. Next to oyercoats
eo%s 'f BSt tf SSassi a are t eesSb sas@ 0H II dess
ihsY i % eS. &c Left to to i Il !sn for 5 M yssf n ssiG are y Sars
particular about their trousers than their coats,
though the common belief is that it's the other
Vny. Fancy wniRfcnata and Rnch thiDUa ara
good business, but we don't get q great many
Of those; Dress suits Sd.s Ar as good as you
For his regular clients Mr.. Shea would look
out for clothes Of PARTICULAR excellence. For
Next winter want to pick up an astra-
khan ulster"
book, and II such a garment came in he would
be notified before the ulster was put on the
% sageSfns s 9sasE t RRsEiso sisd he came MSul Id. notify man T nSo
was easy to 1T could be. clothed elegantly by
exhibit the trade marks Of New Yorks best
t tau r. as m,sgS %af gnafse 0 OF ths s goods Is Occasion < choa,
him. The method Of procedure WOULD be fr
the man to order a suit from q fsshionabls
that it. didn't At A month later he would turn
up at Shea's and buy the same suit for less
be clever to fool MIR Shea, who would not be
q party to any such arrangement knowingly.
Fifth avenue tailor and refusing to accept it,
found the suit at Shea's.
.H iTa1 aa sssT as ,s a. want RS R fs4 IL, yell" he said
'one hundred dollars said tho dealer. who
swhat, Why, the tailor. wouldn't charge
me more than That to make It,"
shs ae cha! charged Sdr you %o5 jpst tt that ntI much y6 said ao Mt;
pay, It here, either. &c! out Of my, place!".
SST The ate that particular a kind Of 2 fraud ID
of a peculiar experience he once had in. the
matter Of a cutaway coat. 1t had come from
N Efffh wanna ahnn 0lnnD NTH onvarol nfhaH
garments that had been refused or left uncaiIed
for, and it was sold to a regular customer. who
shea
~ looked to At you very nicely" said the
Nothing that / can explain, It's q hrst;rate
fit, but 1t doesn't feel comfortable. No; l don't
isS't tb shst lind II Sl of S og Rl1feRes me an yS b sor. If
nervous feeling. as II l didn't have any right to
the coat. i, couldn't have been a stolen gar
Not POSSIBLY. Game direct from %,
Well. just for curiosity ia like to have you
wasn't accepted. I'm sure there's something
Having occasion to &c, to Is on the fol.
lowing day Mr.. Shea made inquiries about the
"'Oh. that was made for poor j." said the
tailor. KILLED in the big railroad accident in
Buffalo the other day. That's how you came
to get that, and a particularly fine garment it is,
Yes" said Mr.. Shea thoughtfully; 80 1t is.
A particularly fine coat"
A week later the purchaser of the coat brought
It to the shop.
give Inc any price you like for it," he said.
81 wouldn't put 1t on again for 81 900"
Whats wrong with it'll" asked the dealer.
Wei Shea, you can laugh at me If you want
Did you ever see j, the well-known law
"No; but I've heard OF him often. Let me
tell you about the coat. Yesterday evening ]
wore 1t and all through the evening l felt as II
After / went to bed something anne into the
room and put on that coat. When l jumped
out of bed the figure vanished away and left tho
coat in a heap on the floor. The figure was that
OF an elderly man with a white mustache."
Every curious" said Mr.. Shea. IF / were
superstitious ] should say you had seen the
ghost of =, who was killed In a collision last
week. AS 1t is, I'll take back the coat-yes. IL
was j. that II was made for-and give you
another one for it,