Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-08-10
THE JINsANG MAN.


cloth, but solid structure, rs firm MS
the hull itself. A small mast at the
bow and bit Of rusty stovePipe stick
ing from the end of the cabin-these are
sU that show to any one that passes by.
But il you will take your time-it may
be like tho time Of the flatboat, very
slow--you will run across the "jinsang'
man and he will talk to you of his house
on the water and of the strange kind of
life he leads.
He lives at Whitehall, on the southern
end Of the lake. AS soon rs the roots
are in good condition, by the middle Of
svery summer, he starts on tour, skirt
ing all the shores of the lake. lie gath.
srs and dries the roots of the ginseng
the mandrake and whatever else he can
sell; loads up his boat and starts for
Whitehall, where he ships his load to
wholesale druggists In Boston or New
York. Then he takes another turn
about the lake and returns to Whitehall
loaded again. This he repeats through
the summer and in the fall he gathers
he bark of the birch and the wild cherry
until winter comes.
"How long have you kept at this
work." I asked.
ever since returned from California.
was one of the old forty-niners. You
will find my name cut in tree at the
entrance of the Sonora Gulch. IL is
aearly 40 years now since took up this
work"
sand have you always been alone on
he lake?"
"Nearly always. Ihave taught two or
.hree boys the work, but they get tired
pf it and run away. There are mighty
few boys nowadays that are worth hav-
ing. l have family of girls at home
hat I have educated and brought up.
well from the profits of my work.
II see q stove there. DO you board
yourself?'
II should say did. See here! Walk
inside" And he led the way into the
interior of the cabin, which must have
measured about 10 feet by z orr 1t
was high enough for man to stand up
in, and the sides were lined with shelves
on which the roots were drying. In one
corner was bunk and in another cor
DER was a small stove fitted out with
two griddles. Under the deck in tho
bow was a pork barrel and several D,.s.
kets and boxes filed with potatoes, on
ions and other vegetables. saw at
once that had disturbed the old man in
the midst of his preparations for supper.
Apologizing to him for coming SO unex-
pectedly, / was met with this reply;
Don't you mind that bit Just sit
iown here and talk with me, and when
the supper is ready we will have it to-
yether." So let him go on making his
biscuit and slicing his onions into the
,tewed potatoes, with every little while
comment like this: "A little onion in
everything: that is my motto. l tell
you what, could teach some Of those
housekeepers how to make warm biscuit
for tea il bad mind TO do il" etc.
touched the old man in u tender spot
when asked him to tell me something
about the roots that he ga thered and the
life he was leading. lie went ON in
something like this style: Professor
Huxley said he believed that n plant
existed to meet the eNigency of any dis
ease to which man was subject, or, in
Huxley's own words, "a plant to yield a
cure for every disease that flesh is heir
to- / believe SO, too. When i was in
California and on the borders of Mexico
found out that, from Chiapas and Tabas-
20 up to Sonora and Chihuahua, the In
iians make good use of the herbs of the
field and forest. The Indians who live
around the little hill called the Penol,
near Mexico City, can cure intermittent
fevers much more easily than our physi'
clans, and in the state of Queretarc
the Indians have a remedy known
only to themselves, and the secret OF
which they most jealously guard. This
cures the worst forms of blood diseases
as many foreigners there can testify,
So cunning are these Indians that they
employ medicine which has the prop
erty Of paralyzing temporarily the sens
Of taste, and thus their patients can sc
no clew to the nature Of the herbs they
are taking. Malaria yields quickly t,
the powerful remedies of the Indians
and these same rude practitioners vii
cure bad cases Of typhus fever. In tn,
treatment of the small pox the Indian
are very successful, placing their pa
tients in dark rooms, but permitting
currents Of air to be continually passir
over the body of the patient, while son
herbal remedy is continually administe
ed. That the Indians of the count
towns and of the little hamlets up in Il
6ierras are healthy is plainly to be see
They live often to an incredible age, al
say themselves that the white man is
sickly fellow who has gray hair viii
their own is still coal black"
"Then ! suppose that you sell to Il
Indian herb doctors and the patent me
icine menf"
"Oh, not at all. ] was only telling y
what the Indians could do with her
and roots. As to the patent medicine
there have been no such things sir
1883. From 1861 up to that time +,
manufacturers Of specifics had to get {
patents and pay into the United Sta
treasury per cent of their receipts.
there were {, 200 articles on the list,
government derived largo reyer
from this source. The amount for
twenty-five years reached $50 ,0O0,C
In 1883 the tax was abolished. 81
that time there have been no pat
medicines. Now, do you see this ro'
lie held up small, cream colored 4
somewhat the shape Of the hun
eguye il WAS 20 clear that one co