The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-07-25
The Turtles Were Fighters.

''In 1870" said Deacon Seth Gregg,
of old Steuben, 81 was crossing one Of
my father's fields ON my way to the
Cohocton for a days fishing-for there
were trout in those days. Bill Spicer
was with with me, and We came upon
a couple of land turtles that were hav-
ing the ugliest kind of a scrap. ! don't
know what started the fight between
the turtles, but from what | know now
il must have been something serious.
The turtles bit and tumbled and claw
ed each other for n spell, and then Bill
and | separated them and put them
long distance apart. They turned rs
soon as they were down and came tow
ard each other again as fast as they
could, which was at the rate of about
mile an hour, but there was fire in both
their eyes, and when they got together
they pitched in again as fierce as ever.
We hadn't time to stay there and
watch them, and 50 we went ON and
left them fighting. When we came
back that way, late in the afternoon,
there were those two turtles yet, fight
ing as ugly a. ever, and neither ode of
them seemed to have the best of it.
Then we broke up the fight | took
one of the turtles home with me and
Bill took the other one home with him.
/ cut my name on the bottom of my
turtles shell, with the date, and Bill
cut his name and the date the same
way ON his turtle.
"My folks were getting ready about
then to move out To Illinois, and Bills
were going back somewhere in Massa-
chusetts, where they came from. When
we went away took my turtle with
me, Just for the fun of the thing, and
Bill took his along to Massachusetts.
We settled out i'm Sangamon county,
and Peter-that was my turtles name
didn't seem to like it out there. Any
way, he disappeared before we had
been there a week, and l couldn't find
him, high or low. We lived in Hi
nois twenty years, and then, the old
folks having died, | moved back TO old
Steuben, bought the farm We moved
off of in lS40, and have lived there ever
since. OF course | forgot all about
Peter, the turtle, fifty years ago ormore.
Zone day last week was going over
my farm, and not more than three rods
from where Bill Spicer and ! surprised
the turtles at their scrapping match
/ fifty-fOur years ago last spring, | came
on TO two turtles having it out with one
another in exactly the same way. Ii
brought back the old days like flash,
and Law down in the grass and watch
ell the turtles fight for quarter of an
hour Then l got up and took one of
/ them by the tail and turned him over
on his back. His under shell was cut
and carved like beech tree in a coun-
/ try schOOl-hOuse yard. / went ON de
ciphering the carvings, when the first
! one looked at nearly made me drop
i'm my tracks. And good reason. There
it was, plain n day seth Gregg,
I 1910 - The very turtle / had caught
more than half a century ago, and
which had got away from me three
months later, way out in Illinois
As soon as could get over my sur
prise and wonder began scanning the
other inscriptions ON the turtle. They
dated all the way from lS4S down To
1892, and the names Of places carved
now and then showed i'm chronological
order that old Peter was steadily and
unswervingly travelling East.
"All the time | was examining Peter
the other turtle stood on guard, glaring
at Peter, and evidently impatient to re-
sumo the fight 80 put Peter down
and picked up the other one. | know
YOU will believe me when | say that my
first sight at the under shell of this tur-
tie actually sent me To the grass. IL
had carvings, too, and the very first
one was w. Spicer, IslO.' And there
were carvings on Bills turtle showing
that he had been as sunswervingly head
ed West during the past fifty-fOur years
as my turtle had been pointed East.
Had these turtles been governed by
some mysterious instinct that drew
them back To the old home for love OF
il, or had they been nursing undying
animosity toward each other for half u
century aud travelled hack with the
hope of wreaking vengeance each on
his foe? From the way they glared at
each other and waited for new chance
10 get even, made up my mind that
the turtles had journeyed all those YEAR
toward the old home simply with the
intention of having that fight out, ano
50 / got up and left them by them
selves. Two days afterward ] went
that way again. The turtles lay in 4
ditch. Peter had his jaws fast on Bill'i
turtles throat and Bills had Pete
foul in the tender spot under the lef
shoulder. Both were dead. / buried
them right where they lay, and it sad
) dened me to know that any living
thing could carry hate - long and =
g.