The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-12-14
A CRUEL OPERATIONS
THE PROCESS BY WHICH TORTOISE
SHELL is PROCURED.

Fires Set on the Living Turtle to sepa-
rate the Bony Layers of the House In
Which He Lives "A Business That
Struck an Observer as Heartless.
There are many articles of daily and
hourly use constantly passing before
our eyes and through our hands about
the production of which we know COM
paratively little or nothing. An inter-
esting example of this is tortoise shell,
from which combs and hSIrpins are
made, besides a multitude Of trinkets
for the dressing table, the desk and
the pocket. Fierce crusades have been
instituted in recent years against the
slaughter of birds for the procurement
of their plumage for hat trimmings,
and yet l venture to say that the proc
ess of procuring tortoise shell is a cru
city to animal life which far exceeds
that to which birds are subjected.
In the eighties 1 happened to be down
in Bluefelds, on that awful Mosquito
coast, and at the invitation of one
Manuel Latona, who was the owner and
OAPId1A I'll q Gl14fl44 OC1lOOlC1, WCAO WALL
him to the cay Ell Roncador for tortoise
shell. This cay gets its name (Which in
English would be the Snorer) from the
exceedingly angry surf, which can be
heard for a long distance breaking over
the reefs. This is the cay ON which a
couple of years back the historic old
ship Kearsarge was wrecked and bat
tered to pieces. Ell Roncador is nothing
more or less than a typical coral is
land, such as is found throughout the
southern seas, three-quarters of a mile
long, perhaps, and not more than a
quarter of a mile across its widest part.
Surrounding the island is a reef, inside
of which the water is smooth and rath-
er shallow, and at the bottom of this
shallow water there grows a peculiar
kind of sea grass which is a dainty
food for the turtle tribes. There is also
found on the top of the water inside the
reef a sort of small blubber fish, called
in Spanish dedalcs, or thimble fish,
which is perhaps the greatest delicacy
of the entire turtle menu.
The turtle whose shell is valued in
commerce is a small species known as
the hawk bill. There are other varie-
ties which come to Ell Roncador to
spawn, but they are not molested. Dur
ing the night the turtles crawl up on
the shore to lay their eggs, each female
depositing on an average about 70. To
do this they dig holes in the sand about
two feet deep and after laying the eggs
cover them over SO deftly that it is al
most impossible for a novice to find
them. These eggs are really delicious
when roasted, but the turtle fishers are
careful not to destroy those they do not
take for food, SO as to promote as much
as possible the increase of this valuable
sea reptile. At night the fishers conceal
themselves along the shore as we'll as
possible, and when the turtles come up
out of the water ON the beach they rush
forth and turn them over ON their backs
with iron hooks, leaving them secure in
this position until morning.
The tortoise shell of commerce is not,
as is generally believed, the horny cover
ing or shell proper of the turtle; it is
the scales which cover the shield. These
scales are - i'll number, 8 Of them be-
ing fiat and the other s somewhat curved.
-Four of those that are fiat are quite
large, sometimes being as much as ID
inches long and Z inches broad, nearly
transparent and beautifully v~ariegated
in color with red, yellow, white and
dark brown clouds, which give the eff
fects SO fully brought out when the shell
is properly polished. A turtle of aver
400 civo will fT7rpich ohA1k 0frvHk -o.,l.
of these lamin9, or scales, each piece
being from an eighth to a quarter of an
inch in thickness.
1t is the method by which these scales
are loosened which is the repulsive part
of the business. The turtles are not
killed, as that would lead to their ex-
termination in a very few years. After
capturing them the fishers wait for day
light to complete the work. The turtles
are turned over again in their natural
position and fastened firmly to the
ground by means of pegs. Then a bunch
OF dried leaves or sea grass is spread
evenly over the back Of the turtle and
set afire. The heat is not great enough
to injure the shell, merely causing it to
separate the joints. A large blade, very
similar in shape to a chemists spatula,
is then inserted horizontally between
the lamin@, which are gently pried
from the back. Great care must be tax
en- not to injure the shell by too much
heat, and yet it is not forced off until it
is fully prepared for separation by a
sufficient amount of warmth.
The operation, as one may readily
imagine, is the extreme of cruelty, and
many turtles do not survive it. Most of
them do live, however, and thrive, and
in time grow a new covering, just as
a man will grow a new finger nail in
place of one he might lose. The pecul-
iarity of the second growth of she'll,
though, is that instead of reproducing
the original number of 10 segments it is
restored in one solid piece.
To see the operation of taking the
shell from the living turtle once is
about all a man of northern breeding
wants of it, and if the helpless reptiles
had the power of voicing their suffer-
ings under it their cries would tell of
as heartless a business as man has yet
engaged in.-New York Post.