OLD CLOTHES. 277 



hands through which they pass, whether given away or sold, 

 and with every change they drop a little lower in the social 

 scale, becoming shabbier and shabbier, until at last, when 

 they will hold together no longer, they are sold as rags, and 

 forthwith enter upon a fresh career. 



The trade in old clothes is almost entirely in the hands of 

 Jews, whose great mart is in Houndsditch (Fig. 55). Some 

 articles are sold just as they are, others are mended, patched, 

 " translated," and made to look like new. The skirts of a coat, 

 being the part least worn, are easily converted into children's 

 clothes, but old black cloth always has a certain value even 

 when too far gone to make miniature waistcoats or knicker- 

 bockers. France takes the best of it to make up into caps, 

 and that which is still more threadbare is bought up for the 

 same purpose by Russia and Poland. The black velvet 

 waistcoats, still worn as best by certain classes, are converted 

 into skull-caps for German and Polish Jews. The bulk of 

 our old clothes goes to Holland and Ireland, but the vast 

 majority of the scarlet coats worn by officers in the army are 

 said to find their way to the annual fair held at Leipzig. 



Regimentals, smart liveries, robes of office, &c., are 

 greatly admired by the natives of the West Coast of Africa, 

 and many of them are therefore despatched thither ; but the 

 red tunics of the British infantry are chiefly bought by the 

 Dutch, who make them into under-waistcoats which are 

 worn next the skin by every careful working-man, since they 

 are believed to be effectual in keeping off rheumatism, 

 a matter of no small importance in their watery country.* 



* Until recently, soldiers have been allowed to dispose of old uniforms 

 as they pleased, and have been careful of their clothes accordingly, knowing 



