Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1889-01-04
MOUNTAIN CLAY EATERS.
PEOPLE IN NORTH CAROLINA WHO !
LIVE ON EARTH.

"Jim here's stranger from the
north, l reckon, who says he does
not believe folks kun eat clay
"Hoo!n said the leaden visaged
specimen. "Them fellows moth
think they know bout every thing,
but they don't. Eet clay J course
we do when we kin git nuttin' bet
ter, an that's most NV the time IN
these mountiDgs. Come in' strang'
or; yu're welklm. Jist trot INTO
my shake.down an see the ole wo'
man an the children. They're all
uv'em clay eeturs. or course, the
yung uns can't eet clay an nuthln'
else; they've got to git usen to 1t
ike us ole folks, fust.
The "shakedown," as Jim called
his house, was primitive log
cabin, through the chinks OF which
the rays OF the sun in the summer
and the cold winds of winter en-
tered and played about at will
In the farthest corner stood two
beds built upon crotcked sticks,
while upon the wall hung the skins
of coons, 'possums, muskrats and
other fur. bearing animals. In the
other end was a fireplace in a chin
ney built of sticks and lined with
mud. A thin, worn woman in a
faded cotton gown sat by the side
of the fire, smoking pipe, while
by her side stood three tow-headed
children of perhaps 9, IL, and Is
wears. The children we're clad IN
nothing more than a slip OF dirty
cotton goods, bareheaded and bare
footed.
Chow do, stranger | said the
woman, taking her pipe ont OF her
mouth temporarily. The children
we're too back ward, having per-
haps never before seen a
stranger from the Moth to make
any reply to my salutation.
"Poll, this here stranger is from
the Moth, an he un don't b'lleve
we uns kin eet clay. Hoo! them
fellers hain't learned it all yet, hav
they, Poll"
Poll signified her dissent by mo-
mentarily taking her strong smell
ling pipe from her mouth, and Ia
conically saying, "Nary."
"Wall, Jim, hev We any eetin'
clay in the shanty ?" asked the
landlord.
"Hevn't eny here jes now" said
jim. "But we kin git some nifty
quick. Here, Jack :" to the eleven
year old boy, "you jess 60 the bank
an get sun eetin' clay"
Jack started for the "baIk" and
the Post Dispatch correspondent fol.
lowed close behind. About 100
yards from the "shakedOwn" Jack
called a halt on the bank of small
stream, where, STOPPING close to
the edge of the water, be drew out
with his hands a handful of blush
clay. The Post Dispctck correspon-
dent took some and examined it.
1t was a fatty clay, having an oily
feeling, and was, probably, a sub
stance the chemical compound of
which was water, silica and alumi.
ma, firm and compact, slightly
tinged with the color of iron. 1t
was lnordOrOus and rather insipid
to the taste.
Jack returned to the house with
the clay, which Jim took in his
hands. After wettlng it sufficient
ly to make it pllable, he proceeded
tc roll, break and manipulate it
until he had worked it into the
CONSISTENCY Of soft putty, when he
separated II into boluses of various
sizes. Three OF the smaller ones,
about the size of common marble,
be handed to Jack and told him to
"swaller it I'M show the stranger
it's good to eet."
With little or no effort Jack
gulped down the bOluses, while
Jim rolled out and swallowed three
other bOluses about twice the size
of those swallowed by the boy.
aye see, stranger, we only eat
the 'eetin' clay, when we uns is
hungry. Just now we uns hev
plenty. That's a big 'possum a
hangin' Oh the wall outside yet,
an only las night we ct whole
coon. Games plenty jess now an
we've no call to eat clay. When
game gifts scarce an there's ma
corn to git, then we uns jis' come
down to clay"
"How much clay does it take to
satisfy hungry man ?"
oval, stranger, | gently eat a
piece big as a hen egg an that
lasts me a couple Of days"
"Doesn't it make you sick to eat
all that earth 7"
"Nary. Wy, stranger, my dad
afore me ct clay, an I've been usen
to it all nv life an I've never been
sick yet."-T. Louis Post Dispatch.