The Benton weekly record., 1880-01-30

war ii 1861 was lle. last great military
movement since her conflict Riifh Napo-
leon, nos more than hllfs;l century ago.
During this long period of Pace no do
mestie catastrophe has occurred 10 tax her.
resources or to disturb he1. industries or
her commerce. Indeed it has been he1.
boast that never was her material pros
peritF SO unfmpeded or so great. With
peace abroad and prosperity at home,
why her population should nos be thrown
into a condition Of pauperisus, deplorable
and SO universal, is problem of unusual
difficulty in her political eednony. tits
none the less \ problem thar viii demand
solution: or worse will follow.
ssThe song of the turtle is Heard i'll the
land, = but the song. d. the great and only
Turtle Club echoes among the hills Of Ho-
boken. It is formidable clliD Of several
hundred members, but substantial as it is
like many other very material atfiairs, its
history rests upon that shae7oWy FONDA
tion-a legend. In the last century q IA
nous landowner on the Jerse.F shores be
came inspired with the spirit Of enterprise
this, bear in mind, is slegendary- en-
gagged extensively il the business of rais-
ing poultry. For awhile the hearts Of
Staten Islanders were made glad with his
spring chickens; his hens were fruitful
and his flocks increased an hundred fold.
But after a period some of The foraging
roosters made the discovery That the wa
ters of the river were alive with soft-shel1
CLAIMS, and they speedily communicated
this information to their featisered follow
ers. Henceforth there was rs more virtue
in bran for them, and the en;icing mixed
feed which their thoughtful owner com
pounded was Utterly sneezed 1T by his fish
struck fowls. They fairly tsamored for
clans; and they rushed pell-mell down
the river road in a wild tumu:tuous 5strug-
gle for clans. But, for all his, the pro-
prietor Of the hennery was satisfied, for
his fowls not only enjoyed their diurnal
elam-bake, but grew fat upon it, and all
went well for while. Only for awhile,
heNever. By and BY it was observed
that Of the mighty flock wliiel fshed for
soft-shells in the shallow waters not every
bird returned. To-day a ntatronly hen
would strut down to the waters edge, and
never more strut back. Again some vail
ant chanticleer, very Brigh&m Young Of
h.pr, n7G, No g-!,I f,,c, H..
accustomed place, while tender young pull
lets would drop off by the score. This
state of affairs soon aroused he Hobollen
poulterer's suspicious, and I}a employed a
detective to work up the case. The de-
tectiye, fisher-boy, presently discovered
that the fowl destroyers were nothing less
than monetrous turtles which came I'D out
of the waters to feast on chicken flesh
The proprietor at onceswore vengpnct on
the turtles, and going over ID New York
he solicited the most accomplished turtle
the desroyers of his roostS. He found
men fitted for the task, and thus unsus-
pecting he laid the foundatjo.a for the f4-
NOUS Hoboken Turtle Clp', which for
more than eighty years has vaged war
OF eXte rmination on the turtles of the Jer-
sey shore. Its members arc Ill men of
fine mould and alderman. proportions,
some Of them having been II i've, members
of the Club for sixty years. Ali Of which
only goes to show that as IN article of
steady diet there may be q worse thing eat
than turtle.