The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-29
-s-sr-~----
GUA1EMALAN CLAY EATERS.
A Strange Habit That Possesses the
Children of That Country.
From the Washington Star.


"Ramundo died last night. patrone."
said the old Indian to the administrator
of the coffee plantation, or ''fnca," as
they are called in Qua temala. The Indian
was what is termed a "Caporal" or. In
English, a foreman. He was making his
morning report to the overseer. lie con-
tinued in Spanish:
I'VE had been expecting It for several
Gays, senior. You yourself have seen how
the hoy was swollen. He had not touched
food for a week. He could not move /
was awakened some time In the night by a
scream which made my blood run cold.
Then there was a sound as IL something
had exploded ! lighted the candle. Ii
was Ramundo, patrone We could not
make him stop eating che clay, and now
ne as dead"
Directions were given for interring tie
body of the 14-year-old boy, who had
become one of the hundreds of annual
victims of the deadly habit of eating a
certain kind of clay which IL found in
many sections of Guatemala and of Gen.
trail America.
The craving which anilcts the children
of the Indians is almost an mexplicable
one. even TO those who have studied the
subject. The only theory which has been
given is thai the victims are attracted
by the sweetlsh taste which the clay pos
sesses
Ia appearance il is gray, with hecks OF
some mineral shining substance through
IL which somewhat resembles mica When
first discovered on the hilsides, where
the soil has been washed away by the
heavy rains of the wet season, 1t Is soft to
the touch, about the consistency of putty
ON being exposed TO the sun for short
while II hardens and can be crumbled TO
pieces in the fingers. on tasting 1t II 10
found to have a decided saccharine flavor
mixed with the earthly one. 1t is hard
to conceive how It can appeal to the pail
ate of IA human being, but II is fact that
from the time the baby Is, emancipated
from the mantle which binds 1t to it's
mothers back and can toddle about I'M
watched, the little half-breeds, with un-
erring instinct find the clay, and, not be-
ing content with putting 1t In their mouths
and sucking IL, swallow IL in
toto. No amount of scolding or
even beating will prevent a child
who has once tasted the stuff from
indulging his or her craving for II again
and again. The strictest watch must be
kept over the little ones continually by an
older person, and instances are known
of where the watcher has even succumbed
TO the disease, for such it must be without
doubt.
1t Is not only the small children who are
numbered among the clay eaters for
those within a few years of attaining
their majority likewise die from the ef-
fects of filling their stomachs with the
| clay.
The symptoms are so marked that in
| Guatemala they noted Immediately.
| The one indulging in the strange habit
presents a sckly, pallid, blush color With
no appetite, there is an apparent plump
ness about the body. The face becomes
pulled out the abdomen is greatly dis
tended, and the limbs swell up terribly.
The sufferer is loath 10 move. and will
not do so unless forced. The eyes sink in
the head and become glazed The whole
appearance Is that of a person with the
dropsy. When eaten the clay has a GU
mulative effect, and the various organs
fail 10 perform their functions. The pa
tent finally dies a horrible death. the body
not infrequently swelling so that Il bursts,
and death results from suffocation.
The only real cure known, or what Is
supposed 10 be one, Is the use of strong
tobacco If a child of not more than or
4 years of age Is seen putting away at a
puro, a big, black, native cigar, IL Is a
certainty that the kid has been caught In
the act of eating clay, and that the smok-
ing Is to take away any further craving
in that line which may exist The smok-
ing is not supposed TO injure the child in
the least, as the youngsters of the tropics
take to this as naturally as duck does
to water. The use Of tobacco does not
appear to have the slightest III effect up
on them
II may be that the httle Guatemaltecos,
as the natives of that country are called.
having no candy as do those of other
countries, 10 satisfy an inherent desire for
sweets select the clay as the next best
or next worst thing, as the case may be.
Many deaths are caused by II, and, so far,
the only remedy appears TO be in watching
the child so closely that II is not allowed TO
satiate It's craving for something that will
in the end cause death as certainly as IL
the most noxious poison were used.
To satisfy their longing for "dulce," OF
something sweet, the children also make
themselves III by sucking the coffee tree.
Two coffee beans, with their fiat sides to
one another, grow in a hull which Is al
most Identical in looks with the ox-heart
cherry. The inside of this has a bitter
sweet taste. which, when there is no clay
20 be had, is much sought after. While
not as dangerous as the clay, it still has a