Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1894-08-25
THOSE CLAY EATERS.
a STRANGE COLONY IN GEORGIA AND
HOW THEY LIVE.

Iron Grip-A Race OF People Surrounded
By Civilization and Enlightenment. hut
who Live Like Forlsrn Animals
Scotsboro Is town OF other days, about
1--WE miles south of the thriving city OF Nil
ledgeville, and the crumbling remains of
few brick buildings here and there are
monuments 20 the glory OF departed days, /
and an old fashioned rosebush In sometimes /
found blooming In the pine thickefs. re-
minding Que strikingiy OF what was In the |
long ago.
This old town marks radical change In |
the soil and vegetation. for there the Pied |
mont escarpment ends and the late geolog- |
icai formation begins. The clay gives up
it's red hue and takes on a loamy white |
ness, interspersed with extensive sand beds.
The long leaf pine begins to pop mp. and
the underground also changes.
What Is more remarkable. the people
change. Instead Of the red faced. sturdy
farmer. buoyant with strength and health.
fall of vigor and rejoicing In the conscious
ness Of hts own robust nature, there comes
q class OF people with faces 30 worn and
haggard that Il sends shudder through
your very soul TO look at them. A little In
quiry about the neighborhood will put you
onto some appalling facts. and the shudder
Of pity will increase to an ague Of alarm
when you learn that these mortals are clay
eaters, real aud genuine.
For the sake of information it might be
well to state that clay eater is one who
eats clay. This definition, however simple,
carries weight when II Ia taken into con-
sideration that these beings make a regular
practice, q fixed habit, OF dining upon the
| dainty morsels Of kaolin. Chew 1T Oh,
| YES, they chew it with as much enjoyment
as a COW gets ont of her cud. and swallow
| II with more eagerness and relish than
small boy does green apple. fncreduious
a. It may appear, whole families have the
habit. From the father, and grandfather,
too, II he has chanced 10 survive, down 70
the skinny faced little tot who cries for his
share, they all eat clay regularly and eager
ly.
This depraved taste fixes itself upon them
In early childhood. and As they grow older
the habit becomes stronger and stronger
until 1t Is an utter impossibility 20 break
Oft IL Is said to be more powerful than
the whisky, opium. morphine, cocaine CT
any other habit yet known. or course
heredity has much to do with IL, and thus
the habit Is transmitted from generation
unto generation with singular precision.
There Is no mistaking clay eater. Their
counteuances have n 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
stnpidity 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 Wilderness Of the skin, which
they have In childhood, has changed into a
parched brown, which falls In folds abou,
their eyes and neck. Deep wrinkles radi.
ate from their mouths and spread In every
, conceivable direction. You can easily tracs
, them. as they serve for convenient aque
ducts to tobacco juice.
i The clay which they devour IL not, N
, some have supposed. the red variety so com
: mon throughout middle Georgia. but pc
culiar white kind, with soft and greas,
feel, and found only In certain localities. I
Il said to contain arsenic, thus accounting
b for the force of the habit and its effect upol
/ the system.
5 The clay eaters are not wholly without so
' cial instincts They are said to hold festi
: walls, or rather dinings, the menu Of whicl
Z IL made up mainly Of clay.
I For instance, one of the patriarchs will
/. decide to celebrate, and invitations are Il
: sued TO all the families in the neighbo,
y hood. After several wild "breakdowns
! the tempting glebe Is passed around for N
freshments. Corn liquor. Of course, IL
necessary adjunct
l These beings make no attempt at regula
I work. They exc out their existence in tn
: winter by selling kindling wood In town
a Al.
pick and sell black berrles and hucklebel
rics, which grow In profusion there. Som
D of them own donkeys, and these. attache
5 TO the little two wheeled nondescript ",
' hicles, are familiar sights along the publ
| highways leading 20 Milledgevilie.
Last winter, returning from hunt I
the lower part OF the county. was forced b
Q the rain TO take shelter in the dwellin
l place OF full fiedged clay eater. The honss
!, II such 1t might be called, was built In th
! regulation log cabin style. The bnildin
was set back some distance from the road
and a we'll beaten path led through th
weeds TO the doorway, from which th
|, blanched faces OF some half dozen childre
. peered forth curionsly. IL was a squali
den. There were two windows. utterly de-
titute OF glass, stuffed with old rags an
+ paper TO keep out the chill, while the raj
= beat drearily and the wind whistled di
{ maily between the old rotten logs II
customary to daub up the cracks In a 10
house with clay. but the absence OF II theI
3 could be explained.
The plank floor, laid directly upon III
ground, was broken in many places, an
the damp. green mold oozed mp throug
!, the numerous cracks. OF furniture thei
i. was none except q poor apology for q be
over In one corner. A large pile OF corr
cobs In the other corner appeared TO be u
nightly resting place Of the children.
This gloomy interior was somewhl
b cheered by the iitfnl blaze OF n pineknot {
4 the hearth. A cur dog. composed main
4 of ribs, had already asserted his right
4 way.
One thing il certain-however squal
and wretched these unfortunate morris
!, | may be, there IL always on hand bouni
D full supply Of children. and they follow IN
X In the footsteps Of their fathers.
n Numerous efforts At different times ha'
q been made 20 better the condition Of q
q clay eaters Preachers OF every denomin
! ton have tried their skill at turning the
y from the error Of their way. but TO all a
pearances they have wasted their ammul
y ton. They ara barbarians still, and th
10 die a. they have lived--ir the midst Of q
II deepest squalor and misery, unwept, u
l. moaned. unloved.
"a Think of III With all the iuxuries al
"A enlightenment Of the nineteenth centu
4. about them, living almost In sight OF o
y Of Georgia's most thriving cities, watchii
daily the trains speeding ON 70 the bu
Is r.,.rfs xxhsla aha wires above their hea