The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-05-22
SASSAFRAS MAN OF INDIANA
FROM 4 IVHEELBARROW HE
 PEDDLES "TARBS,n
Turns Roots Into Gold-One of These Big Loads WilI Return Anywhere From $l5 to S25.

l from MD tO Sl5.
 l One of the unfailing signs of spring
 in Indianapolis is the annual advent of l the Brown county root man, George
 Meriday. Meriday is character of
 the first water. His clothes show a
 button here and string there, and his big brogan shoes are coated with the dust of many roads. But this does not indicate either poverty or hoboism. On the contrary this unkempt Wanderer
 carries on a thriving business, and is
 one of the most industrious of men.
 His inseparable attachment is a Wheelbarrow, and his merchandise con-
 sists, primarily, of roots, barks and
 herbage, which he bathers among the
 hills of Brown county. These he puts,
 each kind by itself, into bags and bum
 dies, and piles them on his barrow till
 the load has to be boomed down like
 hay. In addition, he lays long roots of
 sassafras across the handles, and thus
 laden he takes the road for a trip that
 lasts for a week or more and covers
 in it's circuit over a hundred miles, ex
 tending 10 or 15 miles farther north
 than Indianapolis.
 One of these big loads, whenx peddled out, will return anywhere from $15 to $25, andz consists, generally, of sassa- fras, spignet, sarsaparilla, dock gin
 seng, calamus and blood roots, wild cherry, dogwood and slippery-e m bark, and variety of herbs. These are only a small proportion, however, of the ar ticles that may be had for the ordering. For ak noWledge of roots and ''yarbs' and their medicinal values, Meriday would put to shame an Indian or Thompsonian doctor. To use his own words, there's a million things for a million purposes" and the uses of these million things has been his life time study.
 If you have anything the matter with you he will fix you up" with a blood purifier or a liver regulator or some other remedy that is wholesome and fresh from mother earth. And the number of people who, in these days of drug stores, compounded medicines and medical college doctors, still have faith in natures simple remedies, is a matter of note.
 All along his route through Johnson and Marion counties people wait for Meriday and his 'one-hoss shay" so by the time he reaches Indianapolis his load is considerably diminished. His customers are not only housekeepers who buy for home consumption, but also saloon-keepers, who concocst bit ters' by putting sundry roots in whis- ky. Sassafras, however, Is the great staple, As spring beverage it retains it's old-time popularity, and Meriday sells it, fresh and odorous, by the foot, givng enough for a dime to make gal Ions of tea Besides these medicinal plants he also has some trade in wild flowers, the roots and bulbs of which he will on order, deliver and set out. Tn fact, you have only to engage any of the million things that grow ob- scurely amid the hills and hollows of Brown county, and the root man will bring it to your door.
 Meriday has dispensed the gifts of na- ture in this manner for the past 30 years, and he has trundled his wheel barrow along the various roads for un- told hundreds of miles. On his return trips he carries all sorts of selabe things, from old bones and junk to tin ware, so as to catch the pennies both coming and going. Scattered up and down the land are regular customers, who always buy of him, and 1t is his l boast that square dealing and plenty i of good goods for their money holds | them. He declares that no one else could fill his place. as he not only has an unequaled knowledge of roots but [ was also, as he puts it, "borned with Inack for talkin'."
 This he will prove at the slightest ! cement on the street or wherev- er you may chance to meet him, and in l stentorian voice, acquired in the wide hill spaces of his native habitat, { le will pour forth melanEe of botani- ,al information, philosophy and quaint that are full of racy shred ] ness and wit. He characteristically Iays:
 'I don't care what they call me, so ong as they don't call me too late to ,at."
 When asked as to the gold in Brown 'ounty. he said: "Yes, there's pecks of t there for them as want to hunt it