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1. "The Sale at Sargeants"
Posted by augusta on May-4th-02 at 7:55 PM

On page 24 of the Preliminary, there is this testimony from Bridget:

Q:  Where was Miss Lizzie?
A:  She came out in the kitchen, as I was starting to go up stairs.
Q:  What for, if you saw?
A:  She came out, and she told me there was a sale in Sargeants that afternoon of dress goods at eight cents a yard.  I told her I would have one.
Q:  Did she say anything else to you?
A:  No Sir, that was all.
Q:  That was before you went upstairs?
A:  Yes Sir, just as I was starting.

In the margin, Mr. Jennings has written "Sargeants NO."  Did Lizzie tell him she never brought it up to Bridget?  That it never happened?  If so, why would Bridget make this up?  Or did Lizzie forget?  Or was she lying, so it would not look like she was trying to get Bridget out of the house? 

I think I heard earlier that the sale at Sargeants did not take place until the following Monday.  Does anyone know if that's correct?

I have read somewhere in Bridget's testimony that Emma was always the one to tell her of any sales.  This was the first sale that Lizzie ever told Bridget about.  Too coincidental, don't you think?

Can you make ot what it says on the opposite page?

"___Adams___about going out in afternoon   Sargeants"

Stef has written in the margin, pg. 24:

"No sale until next day.  Rebello says sale was in Evening paper-what time did evening paper come out?"
--Back then she was in touch with Ter who was following this up with Rebello, I believe.

Bridget had testified at the Preliminary Hearing that Lizzie had told her about a sale of dress goods at Sargent's Dry Goods Store for 8 cents a yard. Lizzie denied that she made the statement. However, there was no ad in the Evening News that a sale was taking Place.  The ad appeared in the evening edition of August 4th.  Lizzie's  lawyers said she may have predicted the sale. (Rebello p.183)

Kat, Where about on what opposite page?  The back of page 23?  The only other notation I have on page 24 is a big X and the testimony line of Bridget that says, "She asked was I going out that afternoon.  I told her I did not know, I might, and I might not.  I was not feeling very well," is in brackets by Jennings.  I don't see any notation anywhere of what you have. 

Lizzie predicted the sale?  That's a good one.  Well, after all she did pretty accurate predicting to Alice Russell on August 3.

Ya, the white back of page 23, that faces the page you wrote about.

When William said that, I thought *predicted* meant Lizzie *had heard about in advance*, the sale...
Like, hey Auggy, there's gonna be a big sale at Nordstrom's tomorrow...Back then, I suppose "word-of-mouth"?

You so funny....

(Message last edited May-6th-02  2:46 PM.)

Assuming Lizzie said it, would Lizzie really care if there was a sale that day? The idea was to get Bridget out.

Bridget would go downstreet and discover that there was no sale and think Lizzie made a mistake. She'd come back and meet Lizzie who would tell her  of Andrew's death.

However this would have looked VERY suspicious to the police. If Lizzie said it, she was lucky Bridget didn't go and instead went upstairs of her own choice.

There's also the matter of the words "this afternoon". This implies after 12 o'clock. Bridget had the responsibility of the noon day meal to attend to so she wouldn't be able to leave until after that was through.

I think Lizzie would have to kill Andrew before the noon day meal as he would have expected Abby to return or send word before that or would have grown more interested in her whereabouts.

(Message last edited May-6th-02  10:43 PM.)

I think Andrew had to be dead, and the body of Abby found, before MORSE arrived back from Emery's.

But I don't know WHY...

BTW:  If Bridget were to leave, she would be one less possible victim.

(Message last edited May-6th-02  11:29 PM.)

I am a Southerner so my not being able to understand this is because of the vernacular. Can anyone explain to me the meaning of the way that Bridget said "I will have one" when referring to the sale? How can somebody "have one" when the comment was supposedly about a sale of fabric at 8cents a yard?

This is a small item I always wondered about but never thought to ask about.

When Bridget said she was going to "have one," she meant one "dress pattern," as the term was used.  (Just kidding!)  However, there is such a thing as a "dress length," meaning enough yardage to make a dress.  That might be what Bridget meant.  My grandmother in North Carolina was a seamstress, and she used to speak of a "dress length" as one item.

Edisto, my dear, I hate to quibble, but is that a certainty?  Did Bridget use "have" as we would use "get?"  Did she, in effect, say, "Eight cents a yard?  I'm going to get me a (one) yard, then!"  For the movie, I know Bill Bast altered the somewhat incomprehensible phrase to, "Aye, I'm going to have some..."

I want to believe that's what she meant, but that phrase has been a point of discussion for years, and I just thought I'd bring that up.

Perhaps what they were referring to was ready made ladies dresses that were on sale, depending on the amount of yardage that went into the making of one, it was only 8 cents.  And Bridget being on her maid's budget would have appreciated the savings. 

A:  She came out, and she told me there was a sale in Sargeants that afternoon of dress goods at eight cents a yard.  I told her I would have one.

I am still flummoxed.

Bob, you said there was a discussion regarding this wording in the past? I don't remember it on the old board. If you could recall, what was said or decided by the discussionees?

Or, Stefani, perhaps what Bridget meant when she said she was going to have one was that she was going to buy enough material to make a dress.  Since I imagine that dress goods were probably sold in certain increments to make a dress with, you have to buy enough to make at least ONE.  I don't know, it is a really odd turn of phrase. 

Good idea Susan. But would Bridget make her own clothes? I don't mean she would use a dressmaker, but wouldn't she buy them "off the rack"? Or was that not possible back then?

Yes, Stefani, ready made women's clothes were available in the 1800's.  Have you ever seen the old Sears Roebuck catalog from that time period?  They have ladies wrappers(house dresses)cloaks, and such and apparently made to fit the wearer.  I would imagine that Bridget would know how to sew up a dress or at least be able to afford one of the cheaper dress makers in town.  What woman in the 1800's didn't know how to sew, knit, crochet, tat, etc.?  Plus with that sewing machine in the guest bedroom....

yes, but she would not be allowed to use it would she? It was in Lizzie and Emma's sitting room. She didn't even clean up there.

I feel dumb for not remembering the sears catalog, after all I have it all over my web site! Those dresses were very inexpensive. But then, so is 8 cents a yard.

I have no idea why I am harping on this rather mundane detail of the case. It is not like it is going to make one whit of difference to anything. But I obviously can't stop myself, so I will continue.

So if Bridget bought her clothes then Lizzie telling her about the sale would not make sense. Perhaps the "have one" was referring to ONE, one yard. I shall have one yard. Maybe she was discussing some need of hers in this area previously and Lizzie, being the helpful sort of person that she was, knew this and was simply being nice. "I shall have one yard." For HANDKERCHIEFS?

Or perhaps an apron or something.  I agree it sounds strange when you really dissect what Bridget said.  But, I agree, maybe she only wanted to have ONE yard of the dress goods.  I guess it is like the murders themselves, we may never know as we were not there, but, can speculate all we like. 

I've always wondered, and don't laugh, if Maggie's "I'm going to have one" in reply to Lizzie's helpful info about the sale of dress goods was some long-lost colloquial way to say "Ok, but now I'm going to have a nap." 

Or did she mean to say "I'm going to have one HELL OF A TIME MAKING A WHOLE DRESS OUT OF ONE YARD OF CLOTH, YOU RED-HAIRED, BIG-JAWED KNUCKLEHEAD," but was interrupted...okay, now you can laugh. 

For what it's worth. This is one of the definitions for "one" in Webster's International Dictionary, 1891 edition:

"Referring to future time: at some uncertain day or period, someday."

OOOOH! I like that definition. So then she might have been saying "I am going to Sargeants later, now I am going to take my midmorning nap." Cool.

Perhaps Bridgett meant that since there was a sale of dress goods at a very reasonable price that she would "have one" meaning have her choice of "one" of the pieces of fabric that was on sale at the time. I am assuming that a choice of fabrics were on sale in either bolts or folds.  Maybe Bridgett meant that since she couldn't have a couple or three of the choices that at least she could have "one" of the choices.

It sounds plausible to me, Carol! 

(Message last edited Oct-6th-02  11:21 PM.)

A dictionary of this period indicates a "bolt of cloth" contains aproximately 40 yards.  I believe this would have been excessive for Bridget's needs. The cost would also be prohibitive; approximately 80 per cent of her weekly salary.

Bolts of fabric differ in quantity, when a number of women have bought off of a bolt there is less remaining for the next person to choose from.  It is not uncommon, then or now, for a store to put on sale fabric bolts which are almost gone in order to get rid of excess stock. We do not know what this particular store had for sale that day, left overs or possibly had gotten in a certain number of bolts of fabric that were not "quality" but that could be sold as seconds. My point was that Bridgett, knowing that a store would have a selection of fabric pieces (bolts or folds of undetermined quantity) that she would like to pick out or "have" "one" of them, of a color or print if any appealled to her.  I don't believe any woman in a position of a maid or any other woman would have it in her head that she would be expected or even want to buy a whole bolt of anything for a dress that would consist of 80 yards. As far as I know dress goods by the yard are only sold as "fabric on bolts or folds" as I have never heard of stores advertising ready made dresses as cost by the yard. But if you have information to the contrary, I'm all ears.