The National tribune., 1907-10-17
A DREADFUL POSSIBILITY.

->~~~S -----
a DREADFUL
tie as a refined woman's, he is one OF
the last persons that one would think
of rushing into the rugged environment
which the President has selected foI
his fortnight of recreation. Much has
been said of the fierceness of the Ten
sas country bears, wolves and bobcats
On the other hand, persons who claim
to know say that these are really stunt
ed, unenterprising and unfearsome
members of their species. They seemed
subdued by their malarious' environ
ment until they have nothing Of the
vigor and dangerous predacity of their
congeners of the plains and mountains.
It is country where feral life degen-
crates and reptile life becomes more
fearsome. and this brings us to the real
iigator turtle, the swapping turtle, or,
as the negros there call him, the ''ceot-
err All naturalsts agree that the
swapping turtle is the fiercest, the most
aggressive and, in proportion to his
size, far the strongest Of the reptile
kingdom and probably of all known
animals AS one goes southward the
swapping turtle rapidly increases in
size Up in the Ohio country snap
per two feet long and weighing 40 or
80 pounds is abnormal, but as one goes
down the Mississippi and approaches
2 +I,a noctf ba ri III o.
auently there are individuals found
more than four feet in length and
weighing as much as 40 pounds. In
spite of their apparent clumsiress these
have much quickness in seiZing their
prey They lie in wait with great cum
ming, and may be readily mistaken for
Il chunk of rotten wood or a hummock
Of clay. When its prey comes within
reach it rises upon its clumsy legs with
lightning-like quickness, and its vicious
Jaws snap like a steel trap upon its
victim. So powerful are its jaws that
they will cut large fish or q mans hand
or foot in two as cleanly and quickly
rs a knife slices a carrot When its
Jaws fasten upon anything that it can
not bite thru it holds on with a tenaci-
ty that can only be compared TO that
Of death upon a deceased African, and
most boys have amused themselves in
lifting snapper far above the ground
by the hold its jaws would take upon
a stick.
Swapping turtles abound in the Ten
sas region. The sluggish bayous and
ponds are full of them, for they feed
fat upon the wild ducks. fish, snakes
and other denizens.
1t is the most probable thing in the
world that from the moment that Mr.
Latta entered the swamps and took up
his residence in tent that he was a
marked man by the more ambitious
and enterprsing of the swapping tur-
ties which make their homes in that
region. His fresh color, his sweet
wholesomeness We're marked by their
great green eyes, and their reptilian
mouths watered for a piece of the
Presidents Secretary precisely as the
President and his party INDUCED ir
luscious anticipation of snapper
told them by the Louisianians. If q
snapper was such a captivating dish
for the President and his Secretary
| why would not a Secretary in the fail
springtime of life be an appetizine
dish for a snapper?
This u not an imaginary possibility
| it is a direful probability. Snapper:
are just as likely to get tired of the
monotony of diet of fish, snakes ant
ducks as Presidents and their Secre.
taries are of roast beef and potatoes
Be it good for the President to &c
down to Lake Providence to feast .upoI
the snapper for change. why should
not the snappers relish young Secre
tary as a variation of their diet? From
all the stories that are current amOnt
the negros and poor whites of tina
miasmatic region as to the supernat
ural cunning of the swapping turtl,
we can contemplate as a possibilit,
some leading member of that sauriar
community, anxious to distinguish him
self among his fellows, lying in wal
for Mr.. Latta at some convenient plac'
between his Office and the President
tent. It may happen that at som'
most inauspicious moment, some tim'
when the Secretary has received al