San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-01-04
THE STORY OF THE SECOND IKE,
"Ihe turtles left OF borin and aUent to
bttttig heads"

| DuCttG HGuUS.
This Pike was .called Bud. He
opened by saying: Scents, can't tell
you a fish story, for 1 never keered a
durn bout fishin. Knight tell you some
stories Of gator shootin in Florida, cock
fightin in Cuba, rattlesnake and porker-
| pine fights in Mobile and SIGH like things,
for was alters dry land sport and
better at gittin up dog and peccary
fights and them kind of games than any,
thing elst l made mighty well for a
good while travelin with two fghtin
peccaries that picked up in Texas.
! had fightin coon to ketch the colored
brother, fghtin armadiller from Hon.
| duras and other SIGH rackets, but my
| greatest show ventur was made down in
| Orleans.
Scents all, though don't look it now,
| was onct in fair way to be bigger
man in the show business than old Bar
| mum. Ny great exerbition was the
edercated turtles. For nigh onto six
| weeks my show drawed powerful-was
| all the rage All over New Orleans was
seen in big letters, The Edercated Tur-
ties; the Greatest Livin Wonder of the
Age
II had my hall crammed every day
| and every night. Larned professors
wrote long articles bout 'the almost
human intelligence of the giant soft
shelled turtle l was making money
hand over fist when an accident hap
/ pened that busted my business-but of
that you'll soon hear.
my show was beautiful one and
highly Instructive as it said on my
bills. 1t was my pride to give an exer-
| bition. With light rattan cane in my
hand I'd appear on the stage, take my
| place near the footlights and relate how
| I'd led the life of hermit six years on
Florida Keys and at Tortugas, ederca-
tin my four turtles, which I'd Matched
out in my bosom from the eggs, and
which, as would be seen, had now at
tanned a length of nearly five feet. l
had long speech that newspaper fell
| Ter wrote out for me for six bits.
cat last, when I'd worked up the
audience to SIGH a pitch that the cries of
'Trot out yer turtles and the whistlin
and stampin drownded my voice., I'd
face about, flourish my rattan and at
| the word of command two of the turtles
would come marchin in from opposite
sides of the stage. Then they'd lumber
along down to the footlights, run out
| their heads and make bow. Then the
| other pair would march in and take
their places between the first, likewise
| bowin.
| ''Music then strikin up, the turtles
would get up on their hind legs, take
their places and dance a French four.
1 They'd also do double sh1ffles and pat
| juba, which fetched all the nigs. They
| played leapfrog, made pyramids and
wrastled; also their drill with wooden
| guns was very pleasin. The big thing
after all was the boxin match at the
wind up. That alters brought down
the house, but it was that which at last
busted the whole business.
"One Sunday night, when two of the
turtles was boxin and the other two
actin as seconds, the glove contest all at
once turned into a regular fight. To the
establishment of all the whites, and to
the delight of all the niggers, the tur-
ties on a sudden left off boxin and went
to buttin heads.
"Only few dashes was made afore
off went the head of one of the turtles,
and the other was butted clean out of
his shell, exposin to view two little
naked darby boys.
"a howl went up from the audience,
and. seein that a rush was likely to be
made for the stage, l gave the word to
my turtles and we all skipped by a back
door, rippin the little nigs out'n then
shells with my jackknife.
Next day the papers gave the whole
thing away. They told that to the back
shells of turtles had been added artif
cial heads and necks, that the belly part
was too flaps of cotton cloth sewed tC
the edges of the shells, and painted t
initiate shell, and fastening up in front
with small, we'll concealed hooks and
eyes. They had it about right.
"But for the papers BLOWN the thine
would have taken my show up tn,
river as far rs st. Louis, and likely cleal
on to New York.
Gin gittin up this show the worst o
, the job was findin little darkies of jis
the right build. They had to have long
necks and small heads to play the par
ofturtles The masks were all the skin
of turtles heads greatly stretched AM
fitted with glass eyes, and the boys wor
turtle slippers tanned till as soft as XII,
glove. The animal suffer who got ii
the rig charged two hundred dollars TO
it, and warranted that no deception
= could be detected from the front, no
= would there have been any trouble bu
= for the fight between the two little mig: