The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-10-03
A MARINE TALLYHo.
BY c. F. HOLDEN.

| Some time ago wrote ar account OF
| the Florida boys who drove a shark to
harness. This incident suggested to the
youngsters the employment of other
sJeeds, and one morning thu same party
! might hava been seen lowering two
| long planks into a big moat. The lat
| ter was about half mile long. 100 feet
! wide and seven or eight feet deep. Here
were kept the green and loggarhead
turtles that were eaten by the workmen
IS beef is used in the north. The
| turtles were huge, harmless creatures
| that spent much of their time sleeping
! ON the bottom, ocea sionally rising to
the surface to breathe.
The boys finally launched the planks.
| which were nailed together with pieces
of board, and placing three empty NOR
tar barrels upon them for seats, had a
raft which, though narrow, was buoy
ant enough to bear them all. Their in
tention was to capture and harness a
| turtle to the raft and enjoy a ride at
the expense of the animal which they
argued. slept too much in confinement
| a theory which an old colored man, the
! chef. did not share With them. The
/ leader of the trio was delegated to
catch the fiery unframed steed. and
there was certainly no eXaggerdtion in
this description, as the turtles, while
| fnoffensive, if one avoided the mouth
| were extremely powerful and capable
of stout resistance.
The raft was cautiously poled in the
direction of a sleeping turtle, and when
about ten feet away one of the boys
| dropped overheard. dived down and
| seized the animal by the she'll just back
| of its head The moment the turtle felt
| the touch it swung its ponderous flip
| pers down, striking the bottom several
| blows that sent it to the surface. where,
! after breathing quickly, it dived again
I What the turtle Thought had grasped
| him no one knows. but that he made
every attempt to rid himself of the tor
| nlenter need not be said. The water
was not deep enough for a long dive,
| but the plan of the turtle was to re
| main down as long as possible and
! force the rider to release his grasp, a
movement which was almost success
| full, but by raising and resting his
| knees upon its smooth back and allow
! ing his chest to resist the water, the
| rider soon forced the flying animal to
| the surface, where both caught breath
before diving again. Several times up
and down the meat the vigorous animal
tOWed its rider, beating tia water with
its powerful fippers and making re
markable speed notwithstanding its
! burden. Finally its movements became
slower, and the boys on the raft threw
over the harness, which was a loop
| made to fit over the head and fore flip
pers of the animal. BY running the
turtle on little beach in shoal water
this was Placed in position, and the one
long trace of rope fastened to the raft.
Another loop was placed about it's bull
let-sha ped head as a rein, and all be-
ing ready, each boy, or turtle tanner,
took his seat triumpGnantly upon the
barrel the steed was released, and they
moved slowly but proudly away.
This strange steed succumbed so
quickly that it was at once very dociIe.
towing the raft about in a very digni-
fed way, which tempted the riders to
| essay various gymrasti feats, such as
standing ON the barrels. Here was the
turtles opportunity. as it suddenly
turned, possibly alarmed by tine three
figures, jerking the raft so quickly to
one side that the three barrels toppled
and the riders fell into the mimic
waves shouts and laughter. only to re-
new the sport until without doubt the
patience of the poor turtle was COM
pletely exhausted.
Several years ago a curious steed
was seen ON little lake, a branch of
thu Hudson river. BY accident several
large surgeons had strayed in, and
the owner of'the lake built little dam
to prevent their escape. Here the fish
remained and increased in size until
one was between seven and eight feet
in length. On the lake foated a light
boat, and it occurred to the owner one
day to harness the sturgeon. So a rope
harness was made that would fit over
the animals head, from which two
traces extended. After some difficulty
the big fish was, caught in the shallow
water and fastened to the boat and
when released swan away, dragging
it swiftly, the owner sitNngIn the stern
enjoying the novel sensation of a irde
behind a fish. Small whales have some