Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-05
TURNING TURTLES
A Night With Conch in the Gulf of
Mexico.
RARE AND EXCITING KIND OF SPORT
Riding the Green Fellows and
Pegging Loggerheads.
DOWN FL1PPERS

Frm the New York Post
Dye see that old wreck over yandere-
said the Coach, pointing 10 some timber.
which were visible In the moonlight,
That's a curious thing now: there's the
hull of a big ship in water so shoal that
yo kin walk round it In dead low tide
They tell curious story how old John
a pilot back yander-tried TO take her
through the five-foot channel an missed It.
Some say he wracked her on purpose; any.
how, there was doggIned curious things
about It. T.
The Conch stopped In his recital as
though paralyzed: then. grasping my arm,
he pulled me down fiat upon the sand and
whispered the mysterious word ''Tlrkle,''
We lay quiet, not moving a hand, hardly
breathing. a few moments, then peered over
a little ridge OF sano. Directly In the
pathway of the moon. as II Joined the
sands, was a round object. which glistened
In the light-the head of a turtle
The animal had come in almost opposite
to us. and was resting its fore fiippers on
the sand. and, with its head above water,
accommodating, its long. deep signing hiss
had at once caught the ear OF the Conch.
The turtle rested In this way for five min
utes, then, satisfied that the coast was
clear, 1t clambered heavily and clumsily
cut OF the water and moved slowly I'D the
sard, occasionally stopping and raising its
ouilet-shaped head, then letting II drop
Upon the sand The higher IL crawled the
more cautious IL became its huge black
shape peins easily seen en- the sand. IL
hhaily matted on a line with our position
about ten feet from the bushes, which tho
sea never reached except in the heaviest
ga.es, anc where the cand was soft ami
covered with sponges sea-fans and other
Te1eCtdmentA OF the ha ,rTla
tegan to dig. evidently using its hind flip
pers in throwing out the sand.
The Rush.
When the digging ceased the Conch
whispered. She's layin', now's our time"
and he began to wriggle upon his hands
and knees toward the water and babe me
DO as he did. We had moved perhaps hals
way down to the water. when ne sprang
TO his Get, and We both rushed at the tur-
tie. Being between 1t and the water. II
caught sight OF MS on the instant, and evil
oehuy hsd not begun TO lay. as Ii turned
and made so vigorous a fiapping 10 reach
me water that fell completely over IL In
my esgerness and lack Of skill.
This side, this sidei Quick, Now then
All together. cried the Conch
He MAD seized the side OF the shell and
recovering my feet, almost blinded by inc
sane which the animal scattered with her
upper, L grasped the edge of the shell aud
lifted. 1t easier said than done as
being Eext TO the head d location which /
learned later was given TO green hands 4
received telling blow over the neck the
moment the enimal WAS lifted, which threw
me against the Conch. who in turn, lost
bis hold and went dc wn. The turtle lost
no time, but kept her powerful fore fiippers
pounding the sand at terrific rate and
when touched turned her head in my direc-
ton in a way that did not encourage any
undue familiarity. Again We rushed to the
ettack. and again the flying fore nipper.
that went through the air like the arm Of
Dutch windmill, drove me from the posi-
ton
''Yo' mus hoP on, sahr cried Buddy.
breathing hard and settling back on the
sand. with both hands grasping hind
Upper. ''Yo' mus hor on, or she'll tote us
right over yander."
Pounded and Hammered.
In point Of fact, the turtle had been tow
ing us from the first, and every moment
she was diminishing the distance between
us and the water. I had never realized that
there is so much sport and variety in turtle
turning. and had always imagined 1t q
prosaic work. This engagement had been
short. but had already been pounded and
hammered In a manner which suggested
the rounds of a prize fight from the stand
point OF the second-best man.
The turtle was SO heavy that she would
have been good weight under the most
IaVoraoie circumstances, and L was becorn-
ing discouraged when the Conch suddenly
let go and seized plank lying in the drift
wood. which he thrust beneath the crawling
animal. While held back. with a power
full effort, he lifted her on edge and we
literally bowled her over upon her back,
where she beat her breast and ground hef
fippers into the sand in her rage.
She was scrter heavy and lively" re-
marked Buddy, wiping his face on his sleeve
and shaking the sand from his ears. I
quite agreed with him: and. In all the varf-
Gus turns and experiences had since then
/ never went through a harder battle.
Half an hour later a movement to the
north suggested that the party were max
ing turn. ard in the course of an hour
Buddy and i had another experimenting
time with a big loggerbead. which bit tina
plank and snapped at us viciously as We
rushed to the attack. In all, five turtles
were turned that night. Their fiippers were
slit at once and tied together with rope
yarn, and the following day they were TAX
en- to Garden Key and released in big
crawl"
Here they had swimming pen of a
quarter of a mile In length, and whenever
II became necessary to catch one. a scene
was enacted that, for excitement, defes
adequate description. The turtles spent
most of their time lying on the sandy bot
tom, asleep. occasionally rising to the sur
face to utter a long sigh or inhalation, and
it was at this time that they were captured.