The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-05
THE TURTLE EATERS.
MOST or THEM ARE JEWELLERS IN
NEW YORK AND LONDON.


Month In Captivity without Food--vi-
taiity In q snsppsrs Head.
IL takes about 5000 turtles n year To
keep New York I'm turtle soup. This city
and London aro the great turtle eaters.
All the rest Of the world together would
not equal either one OF these cities In the
amount of turtle meat consumed, and New
York consumes 1000 more Of tho "big
fish" than London docs. Nearly all tho
turtles received In this city come from Kcy
West.
They are caught on the coral reefs sur
rounding tho Florida keys, and, after be-
Ing taken into Key West, are brought TO
this port by Mallory limo steamer. The
turtles are laid OH their backs in COM
partment below decks. The compartment
is kept warm, and that n all the care the
creatures receive. They are not fed at all.
Strange TO say, In large shipment II In
rare that more than one turtle dies In tho
four days trip up the ooast.
A few turtles arrive here at odd intervals
from Jamaica, but they do not arrive In as
good condition az the Key West turtles and
are not considered such good eating.
Londoners, in spite OF all that has been
said about aldermanio turtle soup, do not
really know what good turtle soup ts.
Their turtles come from Jamaica.
The turtle trade, both In London and
New York, is In the hands Of few men.
T. X. Bells controls nine-tenths of tho
London trade and Eugene Blackford at
least two thirds of the New York trade.
Up above Mr.. Blackford's place In Full
ton market he has room to which the
turtles are hoisted and laid on their backs
In mild temperature as soon az they are
received from the steamer. In summer,
when the market is full of turtles, they arr
placed In pens In the East river, hack OF
the fish market, and fed on chopped cab
bage. In winter, however. they get only
warm room.
Turtles have been known to live for q
month after their arrival without food,
just by being kept warm. In winter the
dealers are careful, as rule, not to order
too many turtles. They order Just about
the number for which they have q de-
mand.
Sometimes, when there came q sudden
and unexpected demand, turtles have been
sent up from Florida by express, but that
makes turtle cost 50 much that IL is only
In emergencies that he travels that way.
For tho New York market the turtles
required arc from 15 to 825 pounds for
Florida turtles. Jamaica turtles are not
good when they weigh moro than 1S0
pounds. Kingston Is the place where most
of the turtle fishing for the London mar
ket is DONE The great sea turtles, with all
their possibilities Of steak and soup, swarm
over the coral reefs north Of Jamaica, and
over 100 men work on from to Is small
schooners catching them.
Strong nets are stretched from rock to
rock Of coral, and against these nets the
"fah, as the turtles are called by their
hunters, swim and cling with their flip
pers. Then the fishermen gather them in,
each schooner carrying back to Kingston
from the reef as its catch from so to
$50 turtles. They are put into Enclosures
filed with sea water, fed on turtle grass
and taken out a. required, either for ex-
port or home consumption.
Nearly 5000 turtles q year are sent to
London, and, in spite Of rumors to the con-
tHary, they are not all consumed by the
lord mayor and the aldermen. Turtles
bound for England get liberal supply OF
sea water, are fed on o diet Of oatmeal and
lettuce, and are comforted with beds OF
warm straw.
Nevertheless the death rate among them
while on the voyage Is large. Those which
survive the voyage sometimes die in the
train from Southampton to London. Out
Of one lot Of 100 shipped to the principal
London dealer some time ago, only 75
were alive when the steamer arrived at
Southampton, and Of those 80 died before
they reached London.
A turtle will stand decapitation better
than cold. A turtle whose head had been
cut of "a hours previously knocked down
q man cook in Newcastle hotel, and 1t is
not infIequently that these "big fish" are
nailed to the decks of q ship to prevent
their swarming all over It, They don't
seem to mind 1t at all.
Yet any temperature below 40 degrees
kills turtle out Of hand.
A turtles head will retain It's vitality
for long time after being severed from
the body. 1t Is well attested fact that
sometimes turtlo's head which has been
of for hours will bite at piece Of wood.
A turtles heart cut out and laid on mar
BILE slab will sometimes 60 on beating for
two hours after 1t has parted company
with the body.
The green turtle, which Is the kind the
Now York market requires almost exclu-
sively, Is patient and peaceful creature,
and there is no danger in handling him.
But his cousin, the swapping TURTLE" u
creature which largely affects the land, ia
Of different temper. In the handling OF
swapping turtles considerable care has to
be exercised, for they cannot only hit stun
ming blows with their fippers, but their
powerful beaks are capable of doing seri.
GUS injury.
A man was once carrying largo turtle
into famous restaurant, when, as he
went to place It on the floor, the creature
snapped his nose clean of. When snap
ping turtle Is sold, piece Of wood ID
placed In his beak and tied there with
strong cords running around his head.
Otherwise he could not be handled with
any sort Of safety. Only about $50 pounds
q month Of swapping turtle are sold In
New York.--New York Press.
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