The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-24
LoNDoN,s PErTIooAr LANE.
A strange Market That Occupies n Square
Milo in tho Big City.

PETTICOdT LANE.
A Strange Market That Occupies n Square
Mile in the Big City.
From he Providence Journal. london Letter.
Petticoat lane beats any place Of the sort I
ever saw for size and swarming humanity, and
for the reflection or demonstration OF the ex-
treme poverty OF a multitudinous population.
1t is not q slum so much as It Is the rendezvous
and market or exchange Of all the slums. It is
an outdoor second hand shop of mind-bewilder-
Ing immensely. 1t covers a square mile Of Lon
don Just of Bishopsgate street, in the CITY,"
and monopolizes a score of streets within that
area. 1t exists only on Sunday. and complete
ly blots out OF notice the petty tradesmen
who do business in those streets on the other
days of the week. 1t is Phil Mays happiest
stamping ground to which he resorts for types
OF the coster. the fakir. the few Hebrews who
are not at the top Of high society over here,
and for the Bill Sykeses. and flower girls and
street creatures OF all the lower orders. 1t is
the place where the Jews Of London are the
merchants and the very poor are their custom
ers. where theatrical plunging careers like that
OF Barney Barnato are often begun.
Many cities in Europe have Sunday second
hand fairs Of this sort. That at the Central
Halls in Paris is we'll known. and there is a big
one In st. Petersburg, excellently housed in a
sort Of double arcade in which the Jews do
business lightly all the week and heavily on the
first day. The best and biggest and dirtiest
and most, peculiar exchange OF the sort that 1
is the Louise Market" of Moscow. Not a
pretty name yet one that must be written be-
tive. This market is also perennial. but Is
At its best on SUNDAYS In the summer.
side. and is such q ragbaG and onanium gath
erun OF a place that one may buy there. either
| CLOCKS or fllr9 or wOTn-nnf hOnfQ or hnnufifnl
church ornaments or the sifted emptyings OF
a ath,s barrels mart Very hi, Polite I no,, folks IS, s call It nl. the
are SO called all over the world. also that the
people who sell goods in them like to be con-
get the idea that they can sell their wares for
less than they are worth. because they paid
4 ! turned out Of B%ishopssate. street around
the famous barroom known as Dirty Dicks
! swarm Sam e 81 pcop ne p tns sdte Side edge tS si az t bssv ysss
the vendors along the curbs-1ort the poor can.
not be ehoosers; and make no complaint at
can get q great deal OF the necessaries of life for
q very little Of their money, Along the Prin-
coat, lane. yet is all known by that name, the
goods on sale were mainly old clothes, In single
Some were, in fairly taHiS'i GOOD Condition, others Red
i TedEeb Sifa11sa ss or sGih Rs6 or P snS E tbi amd al were
the %cast-of raiment Of people who had them
we're displayed on boards set up on wooden
@SN - Va VIC va, Aht D'doh NoANc' ocIlAO
The statesmen were all jews, but not such as
spring OF Jewish families that have been estab-
lished in the East End for centuries, and they
manners than the people around them.
Some OF these merchants mounted ladders.
tase; others stood on II chairs before be h soiied
and 0dorops HEAPS Of %sartoriai refuse; Their mhEedirr
% beEan to OF ar ssl Them G St d b %as fSS u and T They
ran the price down Themselves without waiting
for a word from the crowd; indeed, do not re-
They listened with looks Of Interest in the goods
scenity Of the merchants. or OF curiosity when
+ nt man dyehf ut 7 rec G HP4n a h,nzmGES that tv, was
Now. them merchant Would shout, 'ff'dlRd
not come away from my Rachel, and the kids
time. I amt. Here's a suit as fine as Lord
RR Tincs If W Would o Ta,Pft IS 70 % %Snr before o,Ior a. the be
twenty bob. At eighteen. then nor soIelp
me. I'll let it go at sixteen and a tanner. Who
ten-at eight-at Six.at tive-at four bob and a
t@sSn3hn ST There; tha aes, ny 5Hyd bG p to 1b pF9 Is our
is shilling. of course. and a tanner is a six
pence. In London slang. .
relieving the m9notony OF the heaps OF
S Sc ed and and s hi da. BIT ggSSnaeFEa orally s cracked and ID
In lines along the ground, There we're also
many stands given upto the sale of lemonade
enough for one 0f the forty thieves to get into
and made ~ lee deadly l99kkins T by the gnn9t :
f 6efore 81 w vRS 6af@ men ~t eriod omsre " Tfse gtng ySf
nice of cooling ing, c tibtrn acid and sugar" or
Of " tSptar R Iozysns these the suibR sst rc and Ssea% NJ
the blood a1soine% There. We're ire
m]endous and Formidable scales Of brass, made
q ton, upon which the public, was asked to
weigh itself; there weIo poppy shows and peep
Who buttonholed young lads and Whispered
that they had contraband photographs, and
for none dare to sell those things. There was
an extraordinary t!irade.ip what the English
Sad tb fsc xd me en y Or bc t9niSs th hs we Wg T RSaqb sSyd
Of the Stock Exchange y the only other place
IN which have seen tonnes advertised and hay
ing q great sale in London.
There were other streets in Petticoat lane
that were given over 20 The same odds and ends
secondhand hardware that | saw In Moscow's
u~nsayory market, and. strange above all else.
Clothes Exchange where other dealers than
tho ones In the streets rented regular stalls. as
ments. with the extra dignity Of rent payers
and the advantage OF shelter when il rained.
All the clothing. except a little shown by a line
OF eight or ten women, who stood in a gutter
and cried out skirts and nettlcoats and colored
undergarments, was for the men, and my com
paniOn venturcd the Surlnisc that this was not
b%ecause the women did not want clothes as
much as tho men. but was more likely TO be be-
cause me men tOlhlutltu llHlT own uNtus ll!hl'
Finally | came upon n restaurant or dining
street off 10 one side Of all the other thorough
fares. II, that Is, n good name for places so
blocked 10y crowds as 20 be all but impossible,
In this eating street the wares were not. II is
needless 10 say. OF the general second hand va
riety, They were very fresh aud alpetlzlnR
looking, though. nothing except seq food was
very poor Londoner. because It Is the cheapest
he can buy, We're in the gTentest abundance.
These, are peIiwinkles with their names short
ened by one syllable, Oysters were next In
point Of plentiiulness. and crabs and fried eels,
with a sort of mash made OF boiled peas, HerO