Smyrna times., 1886-02-24
About Delaware Terrapin and
Oysters.

The Philadelphia Daily NelUs of last
week has the following reference to
Delaware in a long article on terrapin
and terrapin cooking:
81 CLAN that q man must live in
Philadelphia or in Baltimore to know
how to cook and to know how to enjoy |
this most delectable dish. In those
two cities they will tell you that the
best diamOnd-backs come from Chesa-
peake Bay, and so they do, with one
exception. 1 am prepared to say, as
the result of a gastronOmic investiga- |
tiOn, that the best come from the small |
village of Little Creek Landing, on |
the western shore of Delaware Bay. I |
will tell you why think so.
"In Mahon's River Harbor, on the |
Delaware's western shore, anchors
every night from one hundred to two !
hundred little oyster and fish schoon-
ers. At o'clock every morning,
weather permitting, they sail forth on
the bay to dredge for oysters or search
for fish. Everywhere about them the
heads of stakes and the brushy tops of
sapplings fix the boundaries of the Oys-
ter grounds belonging to the different
fishermen. For a stranger to find a
certain locality among them would be
like hunting for an unmarked farm in
a wilderness. But each stake or sap
ling bears a notch, or number or fut-
tering rag that tells all that need be
told to the initiated. Disputes, however,
owing to trespasses, will arise and
pirates from other places will swOop
down upon the beds. In order to en-
|, Lot IoA
submarine properties the State of Del
aware has a superintendent in the per-
son of William S. Heverin, a brother of
the eminent counselor James H. Hev-
erin of this city. He is provided with
a beautiful yacht that was built in Bal
timOre at a cost of $20,00O In this
and accompanied by other State Off
cials, he sets sail whenever the
oyster fleet moves, and returns at
night when the Oystermen have ceased
their lObOrs for the day. 1t is his duty
to drive pirates away and prevent tres
passing. For this protection each YES
sci pays a yearly license to the State,
and none can fish without one.
"One-half mile from Mahon's River
HarbOr is Little Creek, in which the
Delaware bay tide rises and falls. A
short distance up this arm of the bay
is Little Creek Landing. There Sup
erintendent Heverin has q general
store, at which the oystermen obtain
their supplies, giving in exchange oys-
| ters, fish and terrapins. Where are the
! latter caught? Along the bay shore.
| They float in the water with nothing
but their little heads sticking Just
] oh No1r gIn TO 4 &c
cover them. When a few heads are
seen the watchers wait until more ap-
pear and they know that school has
gathered. They are caught with
either a short or a long seine. If they
are very near the shore the former is
used, the men walking out in the
water and surrounding the tOrtoises
with a net. If they are too far from
land to do this, the long seine and two
boats are called into requisition. They
are captured just as the shad are down
at Gloucester Sometimes hundreds
are caught in one haul or the capture
may include three or four. The fish
ermen have no place to keep them and
so they take them to Superintendent
Heverin's store and there dispose of
them.
1T is the superintendent's method of
keeping his diamOnd-back prizes that
makes them so excellent. You must
bear in mind that terrapins are mostly
caught in the Summer and early Fall.
Custom hereabouts says that during
these periods they are not fit to eat,
and consequently there is no market
for them. | boldly say that this is an
I f,,1l e !
really at their best. Every Summer at
Cape May-in an humble looking res
taurant-I get as fine terrapin stew as
man ever ate. Down on the Western
Shore those who have no means OF
keeping them, and cannot easily reach
Heverin's store, feed the terrapins
they catch to their farm hands in har-
vest time. In that region, however,
they never use the entrails, as we do.
They are so rare and expensive here
that we would swallow the shells if we
could. In Winter time, of course, any
body can keep them by packing them
in barrel and placing it in dark
place. This inability to keep them in
warm weather brings the, aristocratiC
amphibians to Heverin's store, and in
one season he gathers together about
; five thousand. A few weeks ago he
sold at one time three thousand to one
man in this city at eighteen dollars a
dozen total $4,5OO. The purchaser, ]
suppose, is now selling them to you at
prices ranging from twenty-fOur tC
thirty-six dollars a dozen. The price
is regulated by the size and sex. A
count" COW brings the largest price
! hn hs 10 ~
less than five inches across the lower
shell. The COW or female is broader
than the bull and has a yellow under
shell. The presence of the highly.
priced eggs in her is generally indica.
ted by distensiOn.
But / haven't told you how Super.
intendent Heverin keeps his terrapins
He has dug a channel from Little
Creek leading to a water-pen of i'm
mense size. On every side boards have
been driven down to prevent his cap
tives from escaping. Into this the tide
rises regularly, and consequently the
terrapins live in their native element
, and on their native food, the
, waters of the bay bringing into them
| all they wish to eat. A large inclined
|, plane leads to the bed of dry bay shore
sand, and on this the terrapins climt
and sun themselves and lay their eggs
No effort is made at propagation
= They beceme so tame that they will
= mount the plane in drOves to eat from
, their owners hand. When colo
weather sets in they are packed in bar
rels and shipped to purchasers in Balti
} more and Philadelphia"
. M, ....A Ll:I t:l -