The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-12-02
THE CLAY EATERS.
Their HOMES AND HABITS UNTOUcH-
ED BY ClVlLlzlNG INFLUENCES.

/ OF inc people OF Winston county, Ala, live
and thrive on. The county of Winston is
In the northwestern portion of the state
and Is sparsely settled its population being
/ poor and appearing to be el,ing out mere
existence. 1t Is only within the past few
| years that the amount of taxes collected
from the entire county amounted to 81 900.
/ Until 1888 Winston was 40 miles from the
nearest railroad and the county courthouse
| 20 miles farther. Houses of worship and
| those for educational purposes are few and
far between. A majority of Winston's pop
ulation 1.-Two in small log cabins of the
rudest kind and exc out a miserable exist
ence by farming, hunting and fishing.
Their farms, or patches, as they call
them, are small cleariugs around their
| cabins and are seldom more than few
acres in extent. Their "crap," as they in
! variably say, consists of corn, peas and DO
tatoes, and few who are fortunate enough
to own u horse attempt to raise "a little cot
ton. Tho land is very poor, and, as the
/ crops receive little work, the yield is al
! ways small A few hogs are raised but
| the majority depend on the country stores
! for the few strips of bacon they eat during
the year. Here in this county, though,
| the moonshino stills flourish as the green
bay tree In almost every cave and on ev-
! Cry llttlt DINtk uluOuR UuO NUS may be
found n still whose undertaker's delight is
/ produced by the soft light of the moon and
| where Uncle Sam fails TO get his pull down
of 90 cents on the gallon These people are
! too far from market to sell their corn for
money, but they can convert it into good,
straight liquor carry it in kegs or jugs to
the more thickly settled neighborhoods
few miles away and obtain few dollars
in money, some tobacco, coffee and snuff
! for the women folks. Men, women and
children are all slaves to the tobacco habit.
! The women chew, smoke and dip snuff,
but dipping" is generally a Sunday lux
ury, as snuff is hard for them to get.
The interior of the cabin of the clay eat
err is rude in the extreme 1t is usually
built of small pine logs, from which the
| bark is sometimes removed. There are no
windows, and sometimes only one door.
In winter the cracks between the logs are
filled with rags and clay or thin boards
nailed over them from the outside In
! summer these cracks are opened in order
to allow plenty of fresh air to enter There
/ are no pictures on the walls no ornaments
of any kind, and often no furniture worthy
of the name. OF these are bedsteads. and
they are of the crudest kind made by the
head of the family with no other tools
~
cabin is too small for bedsteads if the fam
lily is large, and they sleep on quilts and
mattresses spread on the floor, and often the
ground. The entire family often ten or
more persons, eat and sleep in the same
room, and the cooking is done on one fire.
| place, the utensils consisting of a frying
| pan, Kettle, oven and u pot. All modern
conveniences are almost unknown. Few
families ever see q newspaper, and there
are but few of the people who can read
Their parents before them could not, and
their children are growing up equally ig-
norant
The clay eaten by these people is found
along the banks of the small mountain
stream in inexhaustible quantities and is
of dirty white color usually, sometimes
pale yellow. 1t has n peculiar oily ap-
pearance, and the oil keeps it from stick
ing to the hands or mouth. When dry, it
does not crumble, and few drops of wa
ter will easily soften it until it can be
rolled into any shape desired. The clay is
almost without taste, but evidently pos
sesses some nourishment, as these people
declare they can subsist on it for days
without any other food whatever. They
place small piece in the mouth and hold
1t there until it dissolves and is swallowed
in small quantities at time. The guam
tity eaten at one time varies from lump
as large as pea for a child or beginner to
lump as large as mans fist for those
who have eaten it for years. These people
eat the clay with a ravenous relish, and
the only bad effect seems to be the peculiar
appearance it gives the skin of those who
become addicted to the habit. The skin
turns pale--so pale, in fact, as to give the
face the pallor of death-and then later on
1t turns sickly pale yellow, q color close
ly resembling some of the clay eaten. Chill
dren who become addicted to clay eating
grow old, at least in appearance, prema-
turely, and their faces lose forever the
bright glow of youth and health. Strange
as 1t may appear, there is little sickness
among the clay eaters, and they live as
long as the average mankind, this proving
that clay eating is not fatal in its effect.
1t may or may not be the result of clay
eating, but these people are as supersti-
tious as the followers Of voudoo They
have signs for everything and almost
worship the moon. Corn is planted when
the moon is full and potatoes on the dark
of the moon. They will not start on
journey or begin n job unless the moon is
right, and they foretell storm and disaster
by the appearance of the moon. If one end
of the new moon is lower than the other,
1t will rain before the moon changes again,
and If the new moon is level there will be
no rain until another change occurs. 1t
might DO remarked that the clay caters are
often as successful in their representations
as the average manipulation of the weather
bureau For an owl the eater has a holy
dread. The hooting of an owl at any hour
after O'Clock in the evening and until
nightfall the following day is an omen of
bad luck. If heard in the quiet hours
Of night and answered by the howl of a
sleepless canine, it is sign that one of the
family will die before many moons. As
soon as the boot of an owl is heard chair
is overturned. If the hooting ceases at
once, the threatened danger has been ward
ed off for time, but if it continues there
are weeping and waiting in the home of the
clay eater. The bowling of dog at night
is also an omen of i'll luck, but it is not a
sign of approaching fatality unless it is in
answer to the boot of an owl Atlanta
Constitution.
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