The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-03-13
Kaolin Would No, Ordinarily Be
Thought Wholesoms or
Palaiable.
But Clay Eating Is "A Habit Which
Has Firm Grip ON It's
Votariee.
Race OF People who Are Surrounded ~
Civilization but Live LiRe Foriorn
Auttnas

few brick buildings here and there ar,
monuments 90 the glory OF departed days
and AN old fashioned rosehush Is sometime.
found blooming In the pine thickets. rs
minding one strikingly of what was ia the
long ago.
This old town marks "a radical change ia
the soil and vegetation, for there the Pied
mont escarpment ends and the late geolog
teal formation begins The clay gives mp
It's red hue and takes on loamy white
ness, interspersed with extensive sand beds.
The long leaf pine begins 20 pop mp. aud
the underground also changes.
What is more remarkable. the people
change. Instead Of the red faced. sturdy
farmer huoyant with strength and health,
fun of vigor and rejoicing In the conscious
ness ~ his own robust nature. there comes
q class Of people with faces SO worn and
harrard that it sends a shudder through
your very soul 60 look at them. a little in
quiry about the ighborhood will put you
onto SOME appalling facts. and the shudder
Of pity will increase 90 an ague Of alarm
WHEN You learn that these mortals are clay
eaters, real and genuine.
For the sake Of information 10 might be
well 90 state that clay eater is one who
eats clay This definition. however simple,
sidcrltion that these beings make a regular
practice a fixed habit of dining upon the
dainty morsels of kaolin. Chew IT. Oh,
yes. they chew it with ms much en- joyment
as a cow gets ont Of her cud. and swallow
IL with more eagerness and relish than a
small boy does a green apple. lncredulous
As it may appear. whole families have the
habit. From the father, and grandfather
too. If he has CHANGED 20 survive. down to
the skinny faced little tot who cries for his
share they all eat clay regularly and eager
ly.
This depraved taste esitselfupon them
IN early childhood, and as they grow older
the habit becomes stronger and stronger
until it is an utter impossihlity 10 break
of. IL is said TO be more powerful than
the whisky, opium. morphine, cocaine or
any other habit yet known OF course
heredity has much 10 do with IL, and thus
the habit is transmitted from generation
unto generation with singular precision.
There Is no installing clay eater Their
cOuntenances have a distinctly original and
unearthly cast, reminding you more Of "a
deaths head with a bone in its mouth"
then anything else. The children have
large eyes, set deep in the head and accen-
tuated by high, skinny cheek bones. These
eyes lack luster and they glare with leaden
stupidity from the cadaverous hollows
And, as for the men and women, compared
with theirs the face Of an Egyptian mum
my would look fresh and beautiful
The milky whiteness of the skin. which
they have in childhood, has changed into
parched brown, which falls in folds about
their eyes and neck. Deep wrinkles radi- /
ate from their mouths and spread in every .
conceivable direction. You can easilytrace .
them, as they serve for convenient aque-
ducts TO tobacco juice.
The clay which they devour Is not, az
some have supposed. the red variety So COM
mon throughout middle Georgia. but "a pc
culiar white kind with soft and greasy
feel. and found only in certain localities Ii
Is said TO contain arsenic, thus accounting
for the force Of the habit aud it, effect upon
the system.
The clay eaters are not wholly without So
cial instincts. They are said to hold festi-
walls, or rather diungs, the menu Of which
Is made up mainly Of clay.
For instance, one Of the patriarchs will
decide 20 celebrate, and invitations are is
sued TO all the families in the neighbor-
hood After several wild "breakdowu-'
the tempting glebe is passed around for re-
freshments. Corn liquor, Of course is q
necessary adjunct
These beings make no attempt at regular
work. They IKE ont their existence in the
winter 10y selling kindiing wood in town,
and during the summer the most energetic
pick and sell hlackberries and huckleler-
les. which grow DO prolusion there. some
lf them own donkey-. aud these. attached
20 the little two wheeled nondescript We
licles, are familiar sights along the public
highway, leading 90 Milledgeville
Last winter. returning from "A hunt In
De lower part OF the county. was forced bv
he rain 20 take shelter in the dwelling
place of q fuil ii,dged clay eater. The house.
such DO l-ht De called, was built ia the
egulafiou log cabin .tyle The building
v1- set hacs some distance from the road.
md "a we'll beaten pHfh Jed through the
Veel- 20 the doorway, from which the
1lanchol faces Of some half dozen children
lecreu ilr.l curou-Iy. lt was "a squalid
Zen. There were Two windows, utterly dcs-
-itute ~ glass, stuffed with old rags and
paper zoo keep ont tLc chill. while the rain
beat drranly und the wind whistled dis
mally between the old rotten logs. u q
customary % daub up the cracks In a Iog
house with clay. hct the abs- fce Of il there
,ould Bee explained
The plank floor. l.iI directly upou tho
ground. ras lfnh.u i1 many places. and
.he damp. green mulI oozed ID tbrpugb
the numerous cracks OF furniture fb.re
'sa- none except "a poor ausIa-sv fora Lad
over iu one clruar. 4 Ial-e pile 81 oo-n-
-l1s Il tlc OF ..Dr corner Appeared ID b..tla
b .-hilv r.-..a- fIa.. offUncniidr,.u
THIS gloomy interim ,-s. ...,...,..tt