The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1897-12-10
A CRUEL OPERATION.
THE PROCESS BY WHICH TORTOISE
Still 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 hairpins are
made, besides 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 / 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 happened to be down
in Bluefelds, on that awful Mosquito
coast, and at the invitation of one
Manuel Latona, who was the owner and
captain Of a small schooner, went with
him to the cay Ell Roncador for tortoise
she'll This cay gets its name (Which in
English would be the Snorer) from the
exceedingly angry surf, which can be
heard for long distance breaking over
the reefs. This is the cay ON which
couple of years back the historic old
ship KeaEsarge was wrecked and bat
tered to pieces. FL Roncador is nothing
more or less than a typical coral is
land, such as is found throughout the
southern seas, three-quarters of mile
long, perhaps, and not more than a
quarter of mile across its widest part
Surrounding the island is 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 yarie-
ties which come to FL 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 20. To
do this they dig holes III the sand about
two feet deep and after laying the eggs
cover them over so deity 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 well as
possible, and when the turtles come NJ
ont of the water ON the beach they
forth and turn them over c.
9Th iron hook E > the,r sec1,,... ~
Gsss-r yss55AszvzUE9 u1tff 7f1ofning.
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 10 in number, s of them be-
ing fat and the other somewhat curved
-Four Of those that are fat are quite
large, sometimes being as much as IL
inches long and inches broad, nearly
transparent and beautifully variegated
in color with red, yellow, white and
dark brown clouds, which give the eff
fects SO fully brC ught out VIXEN the shell
is properly polished A turtle of aver
of these lamin@, or scales, each piece
being from an eighth to quarter of an
inch in THE
1t is the method by which these scales
are looscLed which is the repulsive part
of the business. The turtles are not
killed, us 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 bunch
of dried leaves or sea grass is spread
evenly over the back of the turtle and
set afre. The heat is not great enough
to injure the shell, merely causing it to
separate the joints. A large blade, very
similar III shape to chemists spatula,
is then inserted horizontally between
the lamina, 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
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 new covering, just as
man will grow new finger nail in
place of one he might lose The pecu1-
iarity Of the second growth of shell,
though, is that instead of reproducing
the original number of IS segments it is
restored in one solid piece.
To see the operation of taking the
shell from the living turtle once is
about all 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