Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-17
MEN OF GREENIsH SKINS.
"ora'' Mental and Physical Degradation Of
the Clay Eaters Of the South.

ultra-rural districts of Virginia and
North carolina-the clay eater is virtual
Mi ~ w'' IN Nv so unheard-of an abnor-
| 's 10 ne mat the great world outside
| tHe iocantles In question may be almost
as skeptcal about his existence as land
| , Nv are IN regard to the existence of
| Inc common notion that the CLAW eater
| sunSlsts wholly or even mainly upon the
| eafth out OF which he is believed to have
| i oiisilaiiy created is an error. Clay
| - hot ms Sole diet. nor. in fact, any con-
| silerapie portion of his provender The
| cray eater merely uses certain kinds of
| so,i lnucn the same way as a chewer of
| tobacco disposes of the narcotic weed
| h.'nieis, ny mastlcating frequent and CO.
plous mouthfuls, in the belief that he de-
| flVes therefrom solace as well as mental
Summation n,i;i There are two kinds of clay
| eagerly sought after by the clay eater
! pipe Gay and that more plentiful red
| material with which so many chimneys
are partially built and so many cabins
S Co. hhampeu ana chinked throughout the
| southern states. The red clay chmneys
| are great source of supply for the ar
| my OF those addicted to the habit of eat
ing dirt. -
the communities in which thew exist ac-
qnlre the habit at a comparatively early
hse-not few of them as soon as they
ri6o " am 70 crawl or toddle around to the
Siue OF rear OF the house and pick away
some OF the red clay with which the
| rocks constituting the chimney are
81 uueis ceinented. Many neglected
| youngsters in the widest regions of the
southland are veteran and inveterate dirt
caters long before they are u years of age
| Ihelr saliva speedily relaxes the hard
e,.li lli GA; they can obtain no 9th
| seSsed by chewing gum. Clay eaters will
tell You that clay is far superior in ev-
| cry respect to tobacco 1t has far better
SedatlVe properties, little eXpectoration
| Is necessary, while the taste is far slipe-
| rior, the flavor of the clay being sweet
ana slightly spicy. The dirt eater. like
the TOBACCO chewer. will tell you that so
| ronSoling Is the effect of the habit upon
ms nervous system that he feels him
sell lost without quid of clay. Yet in
| spite OF all their claims to the efficacy
| or clay as mental sedative. dirt eaters
| are usually individuals of minimum intel
| ligence. physical wrecks with horribly
ieranged nervous systems
50 far as the alleged nutritive proper
| ties OF clay are concerned, there is abso-
| iutely no evidence in its favor while
there is much evidence to warrant the
assumption that ii is totally devoid of
any properties of the kind. Investigation
tends 10 show that clay has deleterous
effect upon the nerves of those who chew
| i. This IS however. merely a, secon-
Diary result. the primary injury caused
| being an exceedingly deranged con ltion
| OF the stomach and liver. Find him
| where You may. you will invariably see
| in the dirt eater Il being of unnatural
| mien. His eyes are duh and CLASSY
much like the eyes of an opium eater
| his flesh is so puffy as to create a stspic-
| ion of lurking dropsy; in both his mind
ana his body energy is seriously lacking.
! while his skin is often of a decidedly
| hluish-yelloW hue-in some rare cases a
pronounced greenish tint is unmistak-
able. In his History of the Crimea."
klnsiake mentions the olive green tint of
Napoleon's skin on certain occasions.
| Emile lola in his "Dehacie.', refers o
| the same popularity of the skin of the
! French emperor when unduy excited. II
| l1=f t1nf h6r ha ip,f. ,t<.,t
| poleon was dirt eater. His occasional
| strange cutaneous tint is known to have
| been due 10 other causes, and it is re-
| ferred to here only for the purpose of
| minimizing any incredulity which may be
aroused by the statement that the skins
| of some dirt eaters. especially the skins
of those who have irreparably ruined
| their systems by the habit are of pro-
nouncel greenish tint.
| A lawyer of extensive practice is re-
! sponsi5le for the following story and
| the anecdote is here given because it is
| Il fair Illustration of the mental quality
| of the average dirt eater. The lawyer
| was engaged in defending some moon
shine cases. and was anxious to throw dis
credit upon the evidence of one witness.
| young dirt eater whose testimony was
peculiarly damaging to the Illicit distll-
| ors. It was the lawyers aim to show
| that the young man lacked sense suffi-
! cient to qualify him to be a witness in a
court of justice.
who is your father" asked the law
yer of the youth on the witness stand.
| Dunno. mister was the reply.
who is your mother?"
Il amt acquainted with the CONAN
| now. sir"
did you ever hear of God?''
''Mebbe 1 have. mister; but he don't
| live about our parts.
You have never heard of Christ,
| them"
| NO mister. that's sartin I never has.
Is he white man or niger? Anyhow.
he don't live nowheres about us"
Then, of course, you've never heard Of
the Holy Ghost-the Holy. Spirit of God?'
| asked the lawyer. as a climax.
mo. mister-that never did. Old man
| Daniel Jones, who lives up at the fur
end of Murderer's Hollow. he's allus
talkin about the ghostesses, spirits and
hants he meets up with; but | never did
hear him say nothin' about any holy
hant. I'll swar | never did
What the dirt eater does not know
would take many a long month to tell
| All that he really does seem TO know
when he can be drawn into conversation
is how TO give a cruiely lurid descrip-
| ton of his many ailments. real and i'm
aginary. and a few of his experiences at
| making love ''coating'' as he calls it.
| Upon all else his mind appears to be
blank He usually lives in squald pow
| erty-he has no aims or aspirations
higher than raising little corn and meat
wherewith to keep his body and soul to-
gether so long as dirt chewing renders
| this possible. There is more truth than
harshness in the statement that he lives
like a dog dies like dog. and is buried
like a dog; but as he knows of few of
mans responsibilities it is very common
place charity to trust, as do his less de-
graded neighbors. that his stripes Will
also be few.
Many a country physician has set him
self to work in earnest to improve both
the physical and the mental condition of
the dirt eaters. These efforts have been
seconded by those of many other well
disposed aud intelligent persons. Some
I,,S. hnon oh