Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-11
LON BISHOP OF VERMONT.
He Sells Hair From His Head and
Gum From the Trees.

Gum from the frees.
From the Springfield Republican.
Lon Bishop is singularly fortunate
man. He has an assured annual income
for merely sitting around and letting HIM
self 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 discovered there was
a demand for himself. Young women, who
didn't know what was the matter with
their hair" single women of advancing
years. who had reached the sad moulting
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 whispered their vague
hidden wants into his willing ear. He soon
found in this way a select line of personal
customers for his product-and no questions
asked. And now for years yelled women
have come 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 mountain for his
annual hair harvest, and comes beck again
shorn, with little newspaper bundle. 1t is
beautiful crop, thick, and soft, and black,
and fully foot in length, all twisted up
into heavy natural curls. One year, he
says, he got much as s45 for his hair,
and $i5 is a good slice of the years eX-
penses in Searsburg.
Lon took to the woods when he was
twelve years old, and has stayed in them
until ow he is fifty-two. In summer he
wanders arc md and catches a few trout,
but it is only in winter that the serious
business of life begins. when the sticky
juice of the spruce tree hardens into gum.
Then it is the village maid at close of day
sees AlonZo, armed with a scoop and a
Ratchet, pair of snowshoes and PAIR of
creeperS, and provisoned with an occa-
sional mountain biscuit. 1t 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
Oh the exposed heights of the mountains
he says, where the big trees strain and
seam in the heavy wind. The juice eXudes
through the gaps and gathers in little am
Der nuggets along them. Bishop used to
reach it by climbing up with creepers, but
lew he gets most of ii with a scoop on the
end of a long pole, which he pushes up I'M
der the Jumps. He ranges all the way up
the place by heart and very often is gone
days at time in the winter, sleeping on a
Led of fir boughs spread under the lee of
Sc me 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
lie started out he could gather easily 500
pounds a winter, where now he can only
get 100 pounds so. But then he used to
get but 12la cents pound, where now he
gets 81. He sells 1t in bulk to druggists and
regular customers. and sometimes retails
it in little barrels but he generally disposes
of all he gets easily. The biggest DAVIS
haul he ever had, he says, was about ten
years ago. when he struck $50 worth.