The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-07-28

'ut food, persist In getting fat and fatter
until the chill blasts of winter usher
IN the market time. 1t is no nonsense TO
be sent down into dark cellar to mp-
ture fugitive terrapin that may at any
moment adhere to your legs or fingers
with more than bulldog tenacity. Still.
the work Of capturing the creatures is
easy to man who understands it.
With lantern hung where its yellow
chickering's will partly Danish the dark
ness, man with sort of alpeDstock in
his hand hunts the terrapin in cut-of-
tlie-way places. With a crooked staff
he deity tumhles them over on their
backs, and places them in a crate that
will hold six or eight heavy-weights.
When the terrapin is on his back he is
disarmed, for his fat prevents his turn
ing his head back far enough to catch
hold of his oaptor. His legs, too. are
80 short that he can't get his feet on the
ground to enable him to turn over.
When the crate is well filled it IS covered
and expressed to the purchaser.
Diamond-backs in season are worth
from two to three dollars each, accord
ing to weight. When the stock in the
cellar is shipped the sluTnberiDg terra
pin in the mud at the cove's bottom are
rudely awakened. Men go in boats. and,
armed with long CROOKS, prod into tho
mud to locate the turtles. When the
crook strikes shell" the work gets
exciting. A terrapin, no matter how
torpid, instantly regains his usual &C
tirity when an iron strikes his she'll.
and begins plodding away through the
mud as fast as he can. The fisherman
then tries to catch him under the
"fuke" or shell with the crook and SO
raise tho struggling terrapin into the
boat The man with the crook soon
gets the hang Of the business, and but
few terrapin ever escape him when once
they are located on the bottom
When landed In the boat the savage
creatures are laid on their backs In Q
locker. and there they pass the time
away, foaming at the mouth, until they
are consigned to tho crate. These fish
ermen handle fierce turtles with won
derful skill. Tho tails are regarded
Is natural handles. and to, grasp them
Is the first thing necessary in complete
Ing their capture. Should the fisher
man be clumsy the chances are that
the terrapin will chew his fingers. To
monkey" with terTapin Is even more
dangerous than to shake hands with q
lobster OF to tickle crab under his
efin. for when the terrapin gets grip
on anything it holds so that the jaws
have to be pried apart before release
com be effected. Then often there will
be left but remnant of a finger, for
this turtles head is nearly all mouth
1t is, in fact, a yawning chasm with
swinging walls, the hinges of which
are as strong as iron, and the stranger
who fools around the terrapin's front
door is sure to be taken in.
The average marketable teTapin
weighs from eight TO twelve pounds.
After two or three years growth they
increase in size slowly, but get heavier
rapidly. With age the fish becomes
more and more firm and solid, and it
frequently happens that two terrapins
Of the sa1ne size VIII vary two or three
pounds in weight. The diamond-backed
terrnpin seldom grow very large and in
size can be readily discounted by the
fresh water "loggerhead."
When terrapin attains great size its
flesh becomes very tough and is only
available in the kitchen for making
SOUPS. Natnralists say that the dia-
mond-backed terrapin never lives more
than IS or 30 years. while his relative,
the land tortoise. hes been known to be
ras young as e-er" at 100 years. Some
men along the Chesapeake claim that
they can accurately tell a terrapin'sage
by certain lines upon its shell that in
aicate the growth of the ar1nor year by
year. The men who raise them in New
Jersey scout this idea, but none Of them,
SD far as known, have ever tested the
matter.
Terrapin farming, If successfully con-
Quoted, is money-mal1ing business,
and pays all the way from 300 to 500 per
cent. per annum on the investment.
Once in awhile, however, bad luck
romes, the terrapin freeze or the
waters become impregnatcd with pois-
bnous matter. and, in consequence,
there is an upturning of terrapln toes.
However, the few men eneaged inthe
novel business in New Jersey seem we'll
eatis6ed with their investments.-Phil.
1lo