Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-02-14
Saint Maru's Beacon



a well-known Baltimcrean from a
New York journalistic friend, to
whom he mad sent pair of terra
pin only shows how the choicest
gifts may be wasted on those who
do not know just what to do with
them
BROOKLYN, Jan. 21, 1S95.-Wy
Dear Friend Il write to thank
you for the fine pair of live terra
pin you sent me. They have given
myself and the family especially
the two children) great pleasure,
though not Of the gastronomic kind
you intended. They arrived at my
New York office in excellent cOndi-
ton, the change of air having the
effect of making them very bright
and lively. Having priced off the
cover of the box and left them I'M
guarded few minutes, / returned
to find them parading the editorial
floor to the great delight of the en-
tire staff, including the office boy.
You forgot to label them, and as |
had never seen Q terrsPin on the
hoof, 50 TO speak, | was not sure
what they were. Strange tosay no
member of the staff was any wiser.
Hence discussion, the majority in
clining to think they were just plain
swapping turtles. When / said that
/ had received them from Baltimore,
however, the general opinion at once
prevailed that they must be terrapin.
The exact difference between turtle
and terrapin is evidently hazy in
the Northern journalistic mind, but
Baltimore and terrapin are, as Web
ster said of the Union, cone and in
separable, now and forever"
With visions Of terrapin soup la
DelmOnico / therefore recaged the
two truants and carried them over
the big bridge to my home. Ar
rived there l again liberated them,
this time on the kitchen floor, where
at the cook screamed as badly
as if they were mice. Mrs. B
came down by-and-by and, after
surveying them with with suspi-
cion, inquired, "Now, whatever
possessed you to bring those crea-
lures home:' "Terrapin, my dear
baltimore terrapin - l expect
cd her to be enthusiastic, but she
simply exclaimed, "Oh, dear, how
queer they look; you surely are not
going to try and eat them" "Why,
yes" stammered, 81 thought you
would cook them and give us a reg
ular Delmonico surprise" GLOW
ridiculous you are, said Mrs. -;
"why, / never saw terrapin be-
fore. / don't believe they are real
terrapin; and, if they are, how
should | know how to cook them:"
| soothingly suggested that our fish
dealer would probably be able to
tell us. There we left it for the
night.
Next morning the cook said she
thought it was cruel to keep the
poor things cooped up in box and
she thought they would die unless
they were put into water and fed.
She had heard of terrapins dying
for lack of water and refreshments.
Thereupon they were taken out and
put in large tin bowl, with sides
about foot high, and gallon Of
water was poured upon them as an
encouragement to live. The two
children insisted on treating them
as pets and dropped crackers and
cake into the bowl, which they de-
clined to eat. The cook said that
she believed potatoes and raw cab
bage was their best diet, and these
also were supplied to them. Still
they showed no appetite, but occu-
pied themselves in frantic attempts
to crawl up the sides of their waite
ry prison and get away.
The fish dealer was now waited
upon. He showed a perfectly shock
ing ignorance of their proper culi-
nary treatment. He believed that
boiling them alive, after the man
ner of Holsters, was the proper thing.
The butcher, next door, said he
knew that was not the right way,
and thought that their heads should
be first chopped off and that .he
rest of them should be left to sim
mer in warm water until the shells
could be easily removed with the
fingers. After that stage was reached
he could not say what should be
done, but thought it would be all