Evening star., 1911-06-10
Disorganization of London
Clothing Trade Imminent.
REVELATIONS ARE MADE
Garments Manufactured in Disease
Reeking Places.
KILLING OF BIRDS DEPLoRED
Hunters and Dealers Are Said to Be
Keeping Up Their Work Of
Slaughter.
Foreign Correspondence OF The Star.

Foreign Correspondence OF The Star
LONDON. May 3. 1911
A strike OF operative tailors employed
In the west end Of London Is Imminent
and unless employers and workmen come
to terms on the subject OF dispute tho
entire high-class clothing trade will he
and the necessary prepare
tions for the coronation will be dangerous
ly delayed.
Some startling sidelights on the cond!-
tons under which the garments OF tho
arietocracy are produced have been re-
vealed by James Blyth. secretary OF the
London Society OF Tailors and Tailoresses.
At the present time clothing for the great
majority OF the west end shops Is made in
the homes OF the workers or In rooms
rented by them IN Soho. and SO utterly
disgusting and repulaive is the environ
ment In many cases that the system ts a
constant source OF danger to those whose
garments are made In such surroundings.
Mr.. Blyth stated that hardly q single
west end tailor provides workshop sc-
commodation for all employees. A few
keep q number OF men. women and boys
on their premises. but the great bulk OF
the work is given out to small contractors
who have their own workrooms and their
own men. The masters do not wish to
provide workshops. They would have the
rent OF them to pay. The gas bill would
be heavy item and they would be SUBJ
Ject TO inspection under the workshops
and factories act 1t suits the masters in
busy times to give their work out. IL
the workmen were employed in proper
workshops 1t would be impossible TO keep
them working for long hours overtime.
but when q man takes . garment to his
own home he can remain up working at it
the whole night. II he pleases. There Is
no supervision OF the work done in the
mems homes. ana ae long as II fs turned
out the employers are Indifferent as to
where and by whom 1t is done.
Most Of e Made in Soho.
Most Of the clothing for the West
End" said Mr.. Blyth. '1s produced In
Soho. and at the moment coronation robes
and uniforms are being made in the fifth
lest dens imaginable. know Of one place
where a tailcr's workroom is at the back
Of an offal shop. The woodwork and tho
stairs are covered with dirt and grease.
The place smells abominably. and the at
mosphere is laden with the germs OF
purifying meat. but ct this very moment
ing made there. The houses In Soho are
divided up into little dens, where tailors
and tailoresses work under the most ap-
palling conditions OF overcrowding. Dust
bins and refuse buckets are to be found
all over the place. In many cases sim
gle room apartment is used as q Sleep
ing. eating and working room. The work:
rooms are at the back OF all kinds or
shops and In AL manner Of insanitary
alleys, and there is not the slightest
doubt that disease Is carried from thees
places TO the homes OF the rich There 10
always disease Of some kind In Soho.
'T known a. an absolute fact that on
one occasion clothing for the present
king-then Prince Of Wales-was found in
the process OF making In fever den IN
Soho. A case came to my notice where
uniforms were 1sing MADE ~, IN = mouse o,,;,
measles. In another house q case OF
scarlet fever was noticed. Inspectors
were sent to disinfect the premises, but
before their arrival garments for a high
class firm, which were In course OF manu-
facture were smuggled into the next
house and brought back after the officers
had gone. / am confident that many
Bases OF infectious disease could be
the wealthy classes IL made by men
working where there il no decent sani-
tary accommodation. and no attention
paid to the primary rules OF health
Destruction Of Birds.
In spite OF all that has been written
on the subject, the destruction OF rare
and beautiful birds for the plume trade
still continues. 1t is clear. says Bird
Notes and News. the organ OF the Royal
Society for the Protection OF Birds. that
the hunters and dealers have no inten-
tion of slackening in their work of
slaughter Rather II would seem that
they are making every effort to Kill all
they can while they may. In recent
sale 1900 ounces Of osprey feathers were
catalogued for sale. representing the
breeding plumes of $4,000 birds. In this
same sale over 5000 kingfishers and 1900
white terms were offered. and 10000 wings
,f wild fowl. OF crowned pigeons, from
New Guinea, there were 4.s64; OF Inn
,eyan pheasants. from East India, 4S.
bundles With other feathers and
skins shown were 2,40o 'dominoes"-the
black and white sooty tern OF the Pacific
md 419 skins OF the emu. And so the de-
;truction goes on, in spite OF ordinances
against the expectation of plumes.
British New Guinea has issued such an
,rder against the exploitation OF the bird
# paradise for plumage purposes But
he birds are still killed In great mum
,ers, and emuggied out OF the country
inder various guises.
Tho destruction OF the egrets 10 the
worst feature OF the plume trade a
Lnown Australian ornithologist. visited
he marshlAnds. where the white e{refs
,uild In the Riverina district OF New
south Wales. Various species OF herons
,reed In this marshland, among them
,eing about l5o white egrets. He arrived
ust after Q visit by the plume hunters
o and that there were very few left Of
he colony.
Saw Carcasses Of Fine Birds.
"As we drew nearer" he says. "wha.
spectacle met our gaze-a sight that
made my blood fairly boil with in
iiynation. There, strewn on the floating
waterweed, and adjacent logs. were at
east fifty carcasses OF large white and
smaller plumed egrets-nearly one-third
II the rookery. perhaps moreTthe pirds
,aying been shot OF their nests.
containing young. What q monument OF
,uman caliousness. There were fifty
birds ruthlessly destroyed. besides their
,ounR (about 2OO) left to die of starva-
ion. This last fact was betokened by
II least seventy carcasses OF the nest
ings. which had become SO weak that
md they had fallen from the nests into
he water below and been miserably
lrowned In the trees above. the remain
Ter of the parentless young ones could
,e seen staggering in the nests. some OF
hem falling with a splash into the water.
while others simply stretched themselves
,ut on the nest and SO expired"
In the little bench beneath the gallery
4 the house Of commons there is gen-
rally to be found during the debates on
he parliament bill and other measures
!. sharp-looking young man who is fire.
uently consulted by members of the op-
Is to say. the unionists.
his is Mr. Seymour Lloyd. who was
dr Churchill's opponent at Dundee az
he last two elections, and who has for
ONE years past supplied the brains of the
nore aggressive section of the opposi-
ION II was he who devised many Of the
aost ingenious amendments to the parlia-
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