The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-19
DIAMoND-BACk TERRAPfN
Forty Yta,s Ago They Were Fed t'
 Slaves and Hogs

the epicurean world.
 Then they sold for q q barrel and Ia. they must not be compelled to eat ter rapin more than twice week; today a barrel is cheap at $500. and millionaires travel hundreds of miles for chance meals. Of course, this means genuine diamond backs. There are many limitations. Every first-class restaurant m the c., coun- m. try features "Terrapin la Maryland on its menu, but in not one case out Of . hundred Is the real terrapin served. The diner regales himself on what ne ne- iieves to be Maryfands choicest dish; in stead he Is merely eating fresh water turtles 'sliders" or North Carohha goldens." don't serve real diamond-backs because they can't get them. The worlds total terrapin population does not exceed zo,Wu of legal size, and these are connned to the shores of the Chesapeake- Bay, the Baltimore, fPhiiadalphia and New York enjoy a monopoly. These three cities get practically the entire output, but iew ever find their way across the Blue Ridge. The epicure unfortunate enough to De born in Chicago or St. Louis must either come, East or forego the Joys oi terrapin.
 The terrapin season has just opened l in Maryland, and all along the Chesa- peake hunters are seeking the ugly rep | tile with as much eagerness as prospec- | tors follow a vein of gold
 until the last few weeks have there Ibeen reported many catches. But now | the majority of the diamond-backs have begun their long sleep In the mud at | foot below the surface of the marsh. | From Crishefd and along the Little 1 Choptank fairly satisfactory number { are being received in the local markets: Those measuring from nssS seven m to Sv elfn' cIa l stewards at $100 per dozen.
 Philadelphia and New York men are ! securing the Eastern shore, nurchasins l the terrapin in as large duanuties as l their liberal offers can command. These buyers have already begun to raise tne l price, and Samuel H. Lessions the heas. | fest dealer in Baltimore, says that nt looks to see $125 per dozen a standard | price before the winter has fairly begun
 These figures are decidedly interesting | to those who know the history or the | famous bird of the Chesapeake. Il was not forty years ago when the dia' | mond backs were fed to hogs in Mary | land and Delaware: scarcely less thar | that number of years since slave owners | renting out their negroes demanded written contract that the slaves snouic not be asked to eat terrapln oftener thar | twice a week. lest they revolt and com | nit murder or run away.
 1 When the Pennsylvania Railroad was | building it's lines through the Eastern | peninsula of Maryland like contracts were demanded by the Italian and negro la | borers, and thousands of these docu, | mentary evidences of the hatred and scorn in which the reptile was held are | seen at the various county seats.
 The terrapin. less than eighty, years | ago, was found in vast numbers all along | the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida | But they have nearly all disappeared, ex- | cept in the salt marshes that fringe the Chesapeake.
 Stringent laws. rigidly enforeed-a law | l,x.ax taktn1 | a terrapin under five inches across the
 under shell-is still too liberal to prevent | gradual deeimation.
 All efforts to raise" the diamond pach | in captivity have failed. No matter how | strong the pound they escape and
 leave their captors poorer in pocket than | before. Six years ago one pound a,
 Crisfield contained several thousand 9' | the terra pins, but nearly all have grad
 ually made off.
 There Is only one way to prepare ter
 rapin. It is recipe with official sane, | tfon for 1t was awarded the verdict al
 a contest held January 1, 1s93 betweer the most famous of Baltimore and Phil
 adelphia amateur cooks.
 The contest was the outcome of dis
 el ssion between Arthur Paddleford O. | Baltimore and a well-kdown Philajel l phlapy as to the relative merits Of thu two styles of preparing terrapin. On th'
 day named a party ,,f Balcmoreans me number of Philadelphians at loca
 country seat. Maryland's champion
 Frank Hambleton, banker, clubman ant
 epicure, was chosen to demonstrate thu
 while William struthers was the de | monstrator of the Philadelphian style
 The result was an almost unanimous de
 cision that "a Ia Maryyand, was ,I fal | superior to "a la Philadelphia" MT
 Hambleton's recipe is accepted as the
 true and only one. Here 1t is:
 Broil the terrapin until the skin on tht
 claws Is sufficiently soft to rub on al I -Is-- olro
 and remove every particle of entrail'
 and lungs. Place the meat in a chafins
 dish. Add butter pepper and salt. th'
 quantity of each e on t fhe tSe Guas es
 sence and butter reaches the consistency
 of light gravy. Serve hot. If desired
 add a little good sherry while eating
 but not while cooking. Use no spices dressing or other ingredients that car
 detract from the flavor. -
 MT. Struthers prepared dish tha'
 might have been lobster salad, chicker
 salar or sweet breads, so far as appear
 ances went" He added" says tho
 Maryland historian, spices, cream. loul
 and wine, and destroyed the natural fla
 vor. When served 1t was covered witt
 a thick Newberg dressing"
 A return banquet was given at the Bal
 timore Club on February 4, 1SSS A corp:
 of Marylands best amateur cooks sup
 piled the feast. -a <
 Thomas A Bayard of Delaware, wer'
 recognized in Maryland as two of th'
 best judges of the dish in the country
 Both favored the simple cookery cham | pioned by MT. Hambleton.
 l To catch the diamond back. hunters
 search the marshes. armed with only z
 stick about the size of ramrod and hay
 Ing a steel point They watch for de | pressions in the shallow water of tho | marsh and then begin to prod. Int
 steel strikes the back of the terrapiI | and 1t is an easy matter to dig througf
 a foot of soft mud to its resting place | The catch of two seven-inch terrap1n Il
 a lucky weeks hunt. It nets the for
 tunate boy at leastN$12.
 The terrapin lives largely upon crabs | He never eats his food, but bolts 1t His favorite tidbit is the crabs claw
 which he swallows whole with the great
 est relish.
 To select a real diamond back, anna
 teurs should be guided by these dlstln
 gushing and characteristic markings;
 It Is of a ereenish. dark olive color
 sometimes running to spotted gray; vel
 low on the plate which surrounds th'
 shell. and has concentrlc dark stripe'
 along the plate on both shells. The
 sides of the mead are dirty white sprln
 kled with small black spots; the bottoII | shell Is of whitish yellow
 | The males are much smaller than tn' 1 females, and have the concentric streaE' | much better defined. The female has th' | mere delicate ilcsh. The male can b' l distinguished by his toenails. which arr
 much longer than those of the female.