The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1886-01-15

~ sny ~ my tea0ekb nave ever seen
the boys Of the Country Week" re-
turning from their weeks run and roll
In the green fields. they will have seen
an amusing sight. These poor little
waits, born in the slums Of the city,
and most Of whom have never seen the
verdant meadows or heard the CUR.
| Cling brooks. come back not only full
Of delightful memories, but most OF
them bringing some prize from the
treasure-box Of the country paradise.
And the most valued Of all prizes seems
to be land turtle. Every little urchin
who has been lucky enough to secure
one OF these queer creatures clings TO Il
as proudly as il il was one Of King
| Sol0m0n's jewels, while his less fort
innate companions gather around him
with curious and envious eyes.
Boys like turtles that may be set
down as an axiom. Whether turtles
like boys il another question. A turtle
Is not much of thinker. Give him
something to eat. and let him alone
and he will get along almost any
where. And IL disturbed too much he
can shut himself up in his shell like a
'jack-in-a-box" and laugh 1t his tor
mentors.
And, by the way. as most people
know the turtle mainly by the outside,
and as young and old folks generally
are interested in this comical creature.
some short account Of what there Is in
side the turtles box may not be with
out interest.
The turtle-or the tortoise, to give
the little crawler its proper name-is
not the only animal in box. Oys-
ters. CLAIMS, crabs and many other
creatures are boxed-up animals But
they all differ greatly from the tortoise,
which u, in fact. q very distant cousin
Of ourselves; that is to say, It has .
backbone and ribs, as we have. The
lower orders Of animals have no inside
bones; all their hard parts are outside
their bodies. 1t is the popularity Of the
vertebrate Cor backbone) animals 70
have their hard parts inside, while their
outside Is Of soft flesh, or IL covered
with scales, as in the fishes and rep
tiles.
But the turtle Is peculiar in that Il
has bones both inside and outside. IN
this peculiar animal the bones come
through the flesh. and spread over the
body outside. The turtles she'll il
made up Of it, backbone and ribs,
which are spread out broad and Nat
over it, back, the ribs joining at their
edges. This tent Of bone Is covered
With thin, almost transparent, beau
tifully tinted coating. which is the tor
toise shell from which such pretty
combs, knifc-handles, and like orna-
mental objects are made.
The lower she'll Is made in the same
manner. Here the brcast-bones comes
out, and spreads into broad, fiat she'll.
Thus the tortoise is actually shut up
in box made of its own bones. THIS
i usually joined together above and
below, except where the head. tail and
legs come out And these can be with
drawn at will, and the shell closed bv
strong muscles, until the creature be-
comes like an old-time knight shut ND
in his iron box Of armor.
The head ID also covered with coat
ing Of horny plates. and the edges of
these plates ct the jaws do duty as
teeth, since the tortoise has none of
these useful organs. These horny laws
are often saw-toothed. 50 that they cut
up food very well.
Our little land tortoise Cisfudo Caro-
lima. to give 1t its scientific name
Is BY no means confined to Carolina.
but may be found everywhere along
the Atlantic coast from Maine to. Flori-
da- II il very abundant in the pine
forests Of the South, and is familiar to
almost everybody everywhere through
out the region named.
The shell Of the box tortoise Is about |
Xix and half inches long by four and |
! half wide. II is more rounded than |
: usual with turtles. and has a remark 1
lble variety Of colors and markings.
is most common colors are yelIowish-
brown and bright yellow, but these are
o variously arranged that Il q nearly
= quite impossible to find two tortoises
like.
In its wild state 1t feeds on insects.
md probably on some species Of plants:
ut when confined Il very quickly makes l
tself at home, and will cat nearly
verifying offered Il, such a. bread, |
'otatoes. apples, and other civilised
are.
Ouc suIuB IemnTkooIc ABOUT ~ % 1e0 /
vonderful length Of life. We are not
urprised 70 hear that the huge ele-
liant can live for two hundred years:
here Il stun enough in the great beast
keep Il going for centuries. Yet il
hard TO conceive that little crawl
g tortoise can live - long - an ele-
liant, though writers declare that Il
%. doubt however, Il any single
bserver he's watched tortoise for two
There = one way Of telling turtles
Be-, and that Il BY cuttinga date on
3 shell. Tho inscription viii remain |
uring IT, whole life. But a. e Is not |
Uncommon for roguish boys 70 date
ich inscriptions twenty years or more |
lck, they are not fully to be trusted.
Yet All boys are not rogues, and We
IN relate one remarkable and well
Tested instance Of this character. Mr..
lillian Eyre, gentleman Of Chester, III
-, relates that when he was boy Of ! I
a he caught land tortoise and cut | I
d initials on it, under shell. Going | /
nt aftcrward for . ride, he took tho | I
'rtoisc with him, and left Il &C place
n miles away That was the last he | /
w Of Master TORTOISE until M svaa - I