Warren sheaf., 1900-11-29
LIFE ON SOUTHERN RIVERS.

LIFE ON SOUTHERN RIVERS.
Mode Of Existence That Has Charm
All It's Own.
Perhaps the dreamiest --LATEST, exist:
ence IN America is the life on the.
southern rivers in summer It is at
this season Of the year that thousands
OF peop1emen, women and children.
to be seen catching turtles.
hunting pearls, collecting musseI
shells, fishing on the sand bars, cap-
turing water snakes or drag gging sub
merged walnut logs from the water.
Hundreds Of shanty boats, taking
fish and bart all sorts Of goods
with the natives, ply from one land
ing to another. The river people.
are satisfied with no other mode Of
existence and rarely ever abandonits
seductive charms.
The Tennessee river is the great
est fresh water turtle stream in the
world, says Good Literature, and the
Cumberland is famous for its pro-
life turtle fields. The Tennessee has
it's source in the mountains and cuts
its way through rocky country, rem
dering it perfectly clear at normal
depth. The turtles Of the clear
streams, though smaller, are more
valuable in the markets than the huge
monsters taken from the muddy Mis-
sissippi. There are huge turtle pens
alongthe Tennessee river, where hum
dreds Of them are kept securely after.
being captured. Some turtles have
been taken from the Tennessee and
Mississippi rivers which the natives
swear would weigh from 400 to 600.
pounds. Washington and New Y ork
furnishthe best markets, and many "a
diamond backed Chesapeake terra
pin" of the famous caterers really
came from Tennessee.
Turtle meat is as great favorite
dish with the southerner as 'possum.
The southern negro has proverb
that the turtle feeds on fish, chicken,
eggs, crosses and the choicest, coun-
try delicacies, until his own flesh par
takes Of all their various Ravors. They
positively assert that they can dis
tinguish all their various favors. The
small turtles are captured for food
and, the larger ones for their shells,
Of which many domestic articles are
made. The heaviest hauls are taken
in huge frame traps set in the swift
est channels Of bayou. The negro
locates a turtle sitting in shallow wa
ter and wades in after him with a
forked stick. They tease the turtle
until he becomes mad and pokes out
his head to hiss, then the forked
stick goes over his head and the tur-
|tle is hauled out of the water. The
large ones are killed outright and
boiled in giant pots until the shell
comes off. The shells are then scraped
and polished.
The pearl hunters throng the
river every summer. Thousands Of
them are wading and dredging for
the mussel or fresh-water clam. The
shells Of several varieties are gath
cred by the ton and shipped up the
Mississippi river to the pearl button
factories. There are dozen varieties
Of the mussel, but only twothe
niggerhead and the sand shell are
valuable to the factories. Along the
river are shacks in scores, in which
the families engaged in the hunt find
shelter Outside are long troughs
filled with water. Huge caldrons are
mounted on brick foundations, and
the shells are boiled in these. Punts,
RATS, fatboats and 5skiffs are used in
the catch. a trap made Of heavy
plumbers pipe is placed over each
boat. To the pipe are strung lines
set at six-inch intervals, which run
fore and aft. Fourpronged hooks
made Of old wire are fastened to the
lines. The boat is pushed out from
the bank for work.
The fresh-water clam points his
nose upstream and invariably keeps
his mouth open. He lies on the
river bottom waiting, for something
to come along, when he will greed
ily seize it and never let go. The
trap with the dozens Of hooks is tilted
over the side Of the punt lying up-
stream and the CLAIMS at once lay
violent hold upon it, as many as can
get a grip on prong. The fisher
man hauls them ID until his boat is
filled 5s s {g5