The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-08-07
LON BISHOP OF VERMONT.
Ee Soils Hair From His Head and Gum
From His Trees.

From His Trees.
Lon Bishop is a singularly fortu.
nate man. He has an assured annual
income for merely sitting around
and letting himself grow. When he
was but young man, he began to
let his hair grow winters to keep his
ears warm in the woods. Observe
the result. After several years of
letting himself grow thus he discov-
cred there was a demand for him.
self. Young women who didn't
know what was the matter with
their hair single women of ad-
vancing years who had reached the
sad melting period of life, elderly
married women whose husbands
considerably cheered their way in
the sacred family circle by telling
them they were getting immodestly
bald-all these sought clandestine
rendezvous with Alonzo and whis-
pered their vague hidden wants into
his willing ear. He soon found in
this way select line of personal
customers for his product, and no
questions asked. And now for years
yelled women have como up to his
mountain home throughout the year
and bought off the fleece. They
know what they are getting. SO
every July Alonzo goes down to
some town at the foot of the noun
tain for his annual hair harvest and
comes back again shorn with little
newspaper bundle. 1t is beautiful
crop-thick and soft and black and
fully q foot in length, all twisted up
into heavy natural curls. One year,
no says, no got as much as SIS for
his hair, and $40 is good slice of
the years expenses in Searsburg.
Lon took to the woods when he
was II years old and has staid in
them until now he is 80. In summer
he wanders around and catches a
few trout, but it is only in winter
that the serious business of life be-
gins, when the sticky juice of the
spruce tree hardens into gum. Then
it is the village maid at close of day
secs Alonzo, armed with scoop and
o Ratchet, pair of snoWA hoes and a
pair of creepers and provisioned with
an occasional mountain biscuit. It
doesn't sound much, but there is a
great deal packed away in one OF
those biscuits. You can tell that by
lifting them. He finds the best gum
on tho exposed heights of the noun,
tains, he says, where the big trees
strain and seam in the heavy wind.
The juice exudes through the gaps
and gathers in little amber nuggets
along them. Bishop used to reach
it by climbing up with creepers, but
now he gets most of it with q scoop
on the end of long pole, which he
pushes up under the Jumps. He
ranges all the way up the hills tC
Stratton mountain. He knows the
place by heart and very often is gone
days at q time in the winter, sleep.
ing on bed of fir boughs spread I'M,
der the lee of some protecting ledge.
Naturally he has cleaned out the
gum considerably. But the supply
is good still, and the prices are much
better than they used to be. When
he started out, he could gather east.
ly 800 pounds winter where now
he can only get 100 pounds or so.
But then he used to get but 10 Is
cents pound, where now he gets
81. He sells it in bulk to druggists
md regular customers and some.
times retails it in little barrels, but
he generally disposes of all he gets
easily. The biggest days haul he
ever had, he says, was about 10 years
ago, when he struck $50 WORTH
Springfield Republican.