Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-08-15
BEATSAS SEA SERPENT
A NEW JE RsEY TURTLE THAT WEIGHS
e76 POUNDS.

CMight Near seabright-1s ON Exhibition
at Asbury Thought To Have iseeD
~ Good Age wheE Columbus Cam. 70
Discover Us.
The monster turtle on exhibition In
salt water tank on the Asbury Park fish
Ing pier IL greater curiosity than the ay-
erage sea serpent. Since the turtle was
placed on the pier no less than 90, 900 peo-
Pile have crowded about the inclosure To
obtain view Of this the largest turtle I'm
captivity The turtle weighs S75 pounds,
IL y feet thick from back 20 belly, IN feet
long and 4 feet Wide. His front fins, or
fiippers are "a feet long and foot thick.
They greatly resemble the paddles Of n
screw propeller, and their movement Is
very much like that Of wings.
The turtles neck has many wrinkles and
measures 40 inches In circumference. The
eyes are about tho size Of watch dial
There are five separated ridges on the tur-
ties back, running together mt tho tail.
The turtle Is OF the leather back variety,
and IL very rare In these waters. He was
caught In the fish ponds at Galileo, near
Seabright, N. j. When Captain Locke
woods nets were lifted, the huge turtle
was found entangled In the ropes.
Il required the combined efforts OF five
men TO drag the monster into the boat.
Captain Lockwood telephoned 10 Senator
Bradley at Asbury Park that no had
caught turtle bigger than cow, and
Senator Bradley Immediately bargained
for its purchase and ordered u transported
to tho park. The price paid was e26. Cap
tain Lockwood could have realized much
greater sum had he waited, for several per
sons who wanted to exhibit the turtle In
tent and charge admission endeavored lat
or to purchase 1t with little regard to
price. Senator Bradley, however, has n
fancy for living curiosities and he proposes
to keep this one for the benefit OF the pub
lie.
1t Is his intention to make the turtle a
feature of the babies parade on the board
walk. He will place the monster on q
float decorated in the national colors. Upon
the back OF the turtle will be a little girl
dressed as mermaid, holding ribbon reins
extending from the turtles mouth.
The turtle was somewhat bruised while
being brought to Asbury Park In a farm
wagon and unloaded at the pier, but as the
powers of endurance possessed by the spe-
cies Is known to be great there Is little fear
that it will die. When the season Is over,
Senator Bradley proposes to hire his turtle
out to some museum for the winter and
bring 1t back to Asbury Park next sum
mer.
There have been many conjectures as TO
the age Of this turtle Senator Bradley
thinks IL was no small baby when Column
bus discovered America. 1t Is known that
sea turtles live to great age. This speci-
men Ia believed to be akin to the species Of
gigantic land tortoises which formerly in
habited the Mascarene and Galapagos is
lands in great abundance, but which have
become almost extinct by reason OF being
eaten by the crews Of vessels.
A large male specimen which was i'm
ported into London some years ago was
known to be more than 30 years old and
was still growing at the time Of It's death.
Its weight was $40 pounds, and II was
therefore about the Size of the Bradley tur-
tie.
New impetus was added to the turtle ex-
element by tho capture of another speci-
men Of exactly the same species In the fish
ing nets at Bradley Beach. This one
weighs 600 pounds and has been bought by
Senator Bradley and placed In the tank
with the larger one. 1t Is much more live
ly than the big fellow, not having been in
jured. Old Captain Potter Of Seabright
who has angled and seined in Jersey wa
ters for SO years, Gays he has never seen u
turtle like these and has never seen any
kind of turtle as large as the first one
,caught.-New York Sun.