Clay-Eaters.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 397, 28 August 1889, Page 4

Clay-Eaters.

There are a strange people living in Alabama, ab fchepresenbtirae who have eaten white clay from their infancy and like it, and beiieve in all sorts of silly things. A writer who saw them says : — They were poorly clad, men and women were barefooted, and thi-ee children in the party were also bareheaded. Their faces were pale and haggard, and in their eyes was a dull, hopeless look, showing they were not only densely ignorant, but were without ambition to better their condition in any way. They live in small log cabins of the rudest kind and eke out a miserable existence by farming, hunting, and fishing. Men, women, and children are slaves to the tobacGO habit. The women chew and smoke, and most of them also use snuff when they can obtain it. The clay eaten by these people is found along the banks of the small mountain streams in inexhaustible quantities. It is of a dirty white colour generally ; sometimes a pale yellow. It has a peculiarly oily appearance, and this oil keeps it from sticking to the hands or mouth. When dry it does not crumble, and a few drops of water will easily soften it until it can be tolled into any shape desired. It is almost without taste, but must possess some nourisLment, as these people declare they can subsist upon it for days. They place a small piece in the mouth, and hold it there until it gradually dissolves and is swallowed in email quantities ab a time. The quantity eaten at one time varies from a lump as large as a pea for the child or beginner to a lump as large as a hen's egg for those who have eaten it for years. ' How did you learn to eat clay ?' I asked of a uxan " whose face was almost the colour of the stuff he was eating. ' Dunno,' he answered, ' I seen pajj and bothers eatin 1 it, an' I gob ab it.' 'Does the habit grow until you acquire a baste for the stuff?' * Huh ?' * Can you quit eating ciay ?' 'Dunno : never tried.' ' Has the stutf a pleasant baste '!' 'If 'twant good I wouldn't be eatin' it,' and the native drew a second lump from his pocket and began to eat iC with relish. The only bad eflect of clayeating seems to be the peculiar appearance it gives to the skin of those who become addicted to tli6 habit. The skin turns pale, so pale, fti fact, as to give the face the pallor of death, and later on it turns a peculiar pale yellow, a colour closely resembling some of the clay eaten. Children who become addicted to the habit grow old, at least in appearance, prematurely, and their faces lose for ever the bright glow of youth and health. There is little sickness among the clayeaters, and they live as long ad the average of mankind, so it is conclusive that the habit is not fatal in its effects. The clayeaters of Winston County do not number over 100 families, it is said, and they live in a sparsely settled region remote from the civilising influences of schools, towns, or churches. Of these 500 or more people less than fifty have ever been seen in a town or railroad train. Of modern inventions they have never dreamed, and they would xidicale the man who told them the world was round. With the tenacity ot ignorance they cling to their old traditions and superstitions, but in time they will disappear before the onward march of civilisation and intelligence.

There is a retui n to white lace f oy the throat and sleeves of bodices, even for afternoon wear,