Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-09
TNewtown Pa Enterprise. ]


Ship.
Newtown pa Enterprise.
The ancestral acres of E. NJ. Paxson,
Judge of the supreme court, lie in the La
haska valley, in Buckingham. 1t is a fine
and well improved farm, lying along the
north side of the Buckingham mountain.
Between the buildings and the rise of the
mountain is flat strip of meadow land,
and In this meadow are limestone sink
holes, depressions in the ground, where the
water will lie aztec rains. While sojourn-
ing on the farm recently, the judge con-
ceived the idea of digging well in ono of
these sink hole: thinking that such loca-
ton would be an excellent place to fnd wa
ter. So the most promising one was Sc
lected, and his hands went to work
to dig. First they passed through some
four or five feet Of earth, clay, etc, which
had been washed out into the sink from
the adjacent cultivated field. Then a
stratum OF black leaf mold was found,
hard and compact. The Judge, knowing
the nature of this deposit, concluded t
contained fertiiZing matter, ane had it
hauled out on his fields. AS they proceeded
down the material became more dry and
compact. so much so that it had to be
loosened by picks, When about fifteen feet
from the surface. and where the material
was hard and dry, and compact, the
workmen came across a swapping turtle,
firmly Embedded in the hard. dry soil. He
was alive and quietly alternating. sleep
ing away his time in idleness. The reptile
was aroused from his letharsy. awoke hope
full and lively, and a few days afterward
made meal for the family Of a neighbor.
Our reporter heard the story from a man
who was present at the finding. We
asked his opinion rs to how the reptile got
into the place where it was found.
His explanation is this: 1--WE all know
the habits of the snapping-turtle. They
live IN our fresh-water streams, and are
generally found i'll Bucks County in mill
dams. When winter approaches, the
snappers, large and small. seek a deep and
quiet part of the dam, where mud, soil and
leaves are deposited, and burrowing deep
into this material remain in a state of sleep
or torpor for the winter, taking and re-
curing no subsistence, and awake when
the genial sun warns the adjacent water
and the festive frogs sound the reveille of
spring. The turtle aforesaid, the one now
under discussion, was habitant of the
sink hole. The hole was then deep. say
about fifteen feet, surrounded by forest
trees, and during the long winter the sun
looked down upon il over the mountain
top but few hours each day. The cold
blasts OF Nov ember came, our hard. shell
friend, bidding farewell to sun and sum-
mer, rooted down with his mailed nose
ana sharp claws into the sOdden leaves in
the bottom Of the pond. The winds that
winter howIed fercely and blew an unusu-
al quantity of leaves into the sink, viii oh
gradually fell to the bottom. making Il
thickec and warmer blanket for our an
cient friend. Spring came, but our turtle
was slow III feeling its balmy presence,pnd,
like many individuals, having larger brain
was lazy. The cold winds of Ma rich brought
more leaves. and thicker and thicker
grew the blanket over him, and he forgot
TO get up that summer. Another autumn
and more leaves, and then on and on, fall
after fall more leaves; spring after spring
more leaves, and the hard-shell disciple
slept on. The Mayfower landed, the
sturdy Quaker emigrants tackled forests
and extended theil settlements north even
into the vale of Lahaika. Years passed
away
SWELL" our reporter asked, show many
years elapsed from the time that the turtle
went into his bed in the leaves until he was
found:" Our informant answered.: sFull
thousand; perhaps much more. If he
could hibernate and sleep through one
summer, why not through two. five, ten,
hundred, or thousand?" Our reporter
asked him if he could not knock off five
hundred years or so, but he could not, with
his idea of the gradual deposition of leaves
and earth. One thing is certain--the tur-
tie was found exactly as described.
DOG WITH TWO TAILS.