The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-08-20
SHIRT WAISTS IN ENGLAND.
American Makes PoDuiar-British
manufacturers Aroused.

| cuSSeS the trade IN AMERICAN Snlrt WatStS
| and underwear in the English market as
| follows:
Until two days ago there had been no
! hot weather here. and the phenomerally
| backward season had injurious effect
| on the business of iobbers and shopkeep-
ers who had stocked summer fabrics and
! clothing American-made ladies' shirt
waists have been a source of particular
anxiety. as the best shopkeepers had this
year very heavy stocks of them. few
consignments of these shirt waists were
| put on the British market in the summer
of 1898 and found a ready sale for in
neatness of ct and novelty of design they
were very attractive and surprisingly su-
Derior in price to bioases OF Eng ish OF
German make.
IN the spring of 1899 shopkeepers gen
orally gave to dealers in American shirt
| waists what they considered were excep-
tionally large orders but the summer de-
| nland was far greater than anticipated.
Consequently, shopkeepers put in still
| larger stocks for this summers sale, but
! the unreasonable weather has so far in
| serfered. There probably has never been
| an article of ladies' clothing which has
so completely dominated the British mar
| ket.
An American storekeeper's capital is
| in his stock. as he does not give long
credit. while the capital of the British
shopkeeper is represented on his books
for he gives very long and free credit, and
! therefore cannot have a big stock On
account OF this smaIl-stock custom, there
still exists in England a type Of jobbeT
| or smah wholesaler long since wiped out
in the United States. and manufacturers
here are willing to accept small orders
and to guarantee the filling of repeat or
ders-
The American manufacturers of shirt
waists have done nothing in the way Of
meeting small-order demands. and. while
they have deserved their two season 5
success. owing to the merit of their arti-
cles. they must not expect the sale to
continue unless they hereafter take care
Of the trade in the way customary here,
foc the British manufacturers have had
| their lesson. and Will compete next year.
They viii sell IN small lots. will call the
article blouse instead Of shirt waist
/ and their statesmen viii appeal to the shop
! keepers to assist British industries by buy
tnS of those who employ British labor.
1T IS extraordinary that British shop
keepers have for TWO seasons stocked
heavily with American blousCs and il can
be attributed only to the great superiority
OF the American article: but they VIII not
stock American blouses again II they can
get British-mada b!oUSes OF anywhere near
The same attractiyeneSs in small lots and
with guaranty that their second orders
VIII be executed
4 have heard that one London merchant
} had sales OF American shirt waists tosei-
ing $2T1.og0.50 and a salesman for a big
wholesale house who travelled with me in
railway carriage the other day said that
two-JhirdS of his blouse sales this year
had been American. He had also sold
some thousands of American braces (sus-
penders Tor mem and said il had made
: him smile when he met welI-to-do Amert-
cans travelling here who, when questioned,
boosted they wore imported suspenders.'
He inspected, at my suggestion, the sus-
pendeTs / was wearing bought In New
York for so cents and said that their equal
! could not be produced here OF in France
| for that price al wholesale.
/ An American manufacturer who has
l called at the consulate told me that find
ing several years ago ne could no longer
: compete in common eottons al his New
England mill with the cheap labor Of
North Carolina. he sold his old machinery
10 q company then building a Southern
mill and studied the processes of suspend
ct manufacture here and on the Continent
| He boosted that while the British manu-
/ factureT had only about eighteen styles. he
manufactured 15S styles his first season.
uLlA 6ld4iiitt Has SISScl1SES were better
: and cheaper, for he had adopted all the
l good processes, rejecting those he thought
merely traditional and had put in labor
saving machinery, some of which he had
: invented, the rest being designed by cley-
er men whom he employed for the pur-
: pose
! American manufacturers Of all gar
ments for ladies' underwear Of the many
: cotton and semi-siIk kinds can if they
adopt the proper merchandising methods,
} more than duplicate the success of the
I sbirt-waist manufacturers in Great Britain
: BY a well-planned campaign, they could
simply TAX command OF the market and
: ! furnish shOpkeepeTs with articles which
would. | am certain. be q revelation 10
/ their customers. American ladies living In
: England frequently write home fer ur--
, + dPTweaF- Sometimes they have them
: made here with their old garments as mod
els, but even then are seldom satisfied
: / with either the fl or the needfework. No
, 20 cotton is used here where No. so serves
in the United States, and there is abso-
Lutte disbelief of the statement that '201
| thread is sometimes used. Sewing is
being carefully taught in the public
schools. and as a merit reward the most
| prof1ient are permitted and encouraged
| to use No. 100 cotton thread. There would
v at first glance seem to be advantage in
t using No. q thread for sewing on buttons
y it is used here for that purp0se-but
think what holes must be made in deli
cate fabric with a thread and a needle bic
e enough to carry it.
American ladies have difficulty in pro-
curing hose of full length and reasonable
shapeliness- The type of hose in genera
use is short-a knee length only-as side
: garters are little known or used, though
2 a few Of the better-class stores now keeI
the velvet clasp but there is positively
/ no shaping for foot or ankle.
i MEMS black cotton socks I find it i'm
t | possible to buy in shops here with top:
r at all elastic. I am told that the fas
black dye for cotton was the discovery OF
an English chemist; that English hose
manufacturers would not at first buy hi:
secret; that the Germans did aand bull
| up trade all over the world 1t may no
be out Of place here to stats that severa
years ago, one of the BARRIERS of thread
e making fame told me the discoverer of
y | fast black dye for linen thread could com
| mand his own price. Examine the thread
. holding the buttons in mems clothing, ant
you will see that after a short time thf
| black disappears, and even new liner
thread has not sufficient depth of Color
CRAzED BY HIS INJURIES.