Arizona weekly enterprise., 1889-10-26
ARIZONA ENTERPRISE
FLORENCE. = OCTOBER 26. 1889
CLAY THEIR DAILY FOOD.
SUCH IS THE DIET OF A CURIOUS SET OF PEOPLE IN ALABAMA.


 SET OF PEOPLE IN ALABAMA. Peculiar Complexion Seemingly the Only Bad Enect-How the Clay Eaters Live and Get Their Daily CIay-One of Them Interviewed to Little Purpose.
 Those people are clay eaters"
 The people referred to were group of men and women of various ages who had gathered at country store in Win ston county, Ala, to barter a few eggs and chickens for coffee and tobacco. They were poorly clad, men ard women were barefooted, and three children in the party were also bareheaded. Their faces were pale and haggard, and in their eyes was dull. hopeless look, showing that they were not only densely ignor- ant, but without ambition to better their condition in any way. The storekeeper after attending to the wants of these strange customers, informed the writer that they belonged to the poorest class of mountaineers who inhabited that sec tion, and that white clay was a part of their regular diet.
 The writer spent several days in Win ston county recently and visited the homes of number of these people who eat clay as a part of their daily food. They live in small log cabins of the rud- est kind, and eke out a miserable exist ence by farming, hunting and fishing. Their farms, or patches as they call thn,,, e,,,on rla ha. cabins, and are never more than few acres in extent. Their crops consist of corn, peas, potatoes, and a few who are fortunate enough to own horse attempt to raise a little cotton. The land is very poor, and us the crops receive little work the yield is always very poor. Men, women and children are slaves to the tobacco habit. The women chew and smoke, and most of them also use snuff when they can obtain it.
 THE ABODE OF A CLAY EATER
 The interior of the cabin of clay eat CT is rude in the extreme The cabin is usually built of small pine logs, from which the bark is sometimes removed There are no windows and usually only one door. There are DO pictures on the walls, no ornaments of any kind and often no furniture worthy of the name. If there are bedsteads they are of the crudest kind, made by the head of the fanily with no other tools than a saw and an ax. Usually the cabin is too small for bedsteads if the family is large, and they sleep on quilts and mattresses spread on the dooH The entire family, often ten or more persons, eat and sleep in one small room. The cooking is done in the one fireplace, the utensils consist ing of frying pan, kettle, an oven and possibly few pots. Cooking stoves, sewing machines and all modern conven- fences are unknown.
 The clay eaten by these people is found along the banks of the small mountain streams in inexhaustible quantities. IL is of dirty white color usually; sometimes pale yellow. It has peculiarly oily appearance, and this oil keeps it from sticking to the hands or mouth. When dry it does not crunble, and few drops of water will easily soften it until it can De rolled into any shape desired. It is almost without taste, but must possess some nourishment, as these people declare they can subsist upon it for days. They place a small piece in the mouth and hold il there until it gradually dissolves, and is swallowed in small quantities at a time The quantity eaten at one time varie: from lump as large as a pea for the child or beginner to a lump as large a; hens GEE for those who have eaten il for years
 CLAY EATER INTERVIEWED.
 How did you learn to eat clay?" asked of a man whose face was almost the color of the stuff he was eating.
 Dunno" he answered. II seen par and t'others eatin' it. an got at it"
 ''Does the habit grow until you acquire taste for the-stuff?"
 "Huh?"
 Gan you quit eating clay?"
 Dunno; never tried"
 Has the stuff a pleasant taste?"
 Eff 'twant good wouldn't be eatin' it, and the native drew a second lump iron his pocket and began to eat it with { relish.
 Theonfy bad effect of clay eating seems to be the peculiar appearance it gives thr skin of those who become addicted to tn, habit. The skin turns pale, ss pale, il fact, as to give the face the pallor O death, and then, later on, it turns pc culiar pale yellow, a color closely re sembling some of the clay eaten. Chil dren who become addicted to the habi grow old, at least in appearance, prema turely, and their faces lose forever tn bright glow of youth and health. Ther is little sickness among the clay eaters and they live as long as the average O , mankind, so it is conclusive that tn habit is not fatal in its effects.
 It may or may not be the result of cla eating, but these people are as supersti tious as the black followers of a voodoc $ They have signs for everything and d !, most worship the moon. Corn is plante : when the moon is full and potatoes ar s planted ill tue dark of the moon. The will not start on a journey or begin a jo unless the moon is right, and they fore . tell storms and all kinds of disasters b the appearance of the moon. If one en of new moon is lower than the other VIII idiH DcIOle tHS HlOOl Clliil9eS dStllI say the clay eaters, but if the moon level there will be no rain until anothe change occurs.-Macon (Ga.) Telegraph
 On Their Heads.
 L In Franco, when patient is unde chloroform, on the slightest symptor ,, appearing of failure of the heart, the turn him nearly upside down, ths j. is, with his head downward and hi heels in the air. This, they say, alway e restores him: and such is thair faith i