The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-04-03

KEY WEST, Fla. April "A stencn
| of dead fish that carries mile.& Old
gray rotting wharves surrounded by
! brightly painted yellow sailboats and a
| harbor OF vivid tropical blue, Mexican
Yankee, negro and Italian fishermen
lounging about and gossiping in, their
several tongues That Is the fish ana
| turtle market at Key West.
| One of these old wharves is Of spe-
cial interest Large square holes are
| cut in it's floor, and when you look
| through these holes you are amazed
| to see that the dirty water below is
within the walls of the wharf they
swim about with lazy, easy grace the
| strokes of their great flippers suggest
! ing the wingbeats of eagles. every
| few minutes each of them comes TO
! the surface land discharges his breath
with mighty sigh, then turns and
| begins again the endless restless eNplo-
| ration of his narrow prison
These turtles are just like ordinary
mud turtles, except that they are hun
! dreds of times as large, and that their
| legs and feet are simply, great seal-ii
! flippers, built exclusively for SWIM
| ming The largest OF them are four
feet long and weigh 400 pounds, ana
| they range from that size, down to
| Young ones not much more than foot
! in length. There are three kinds of
| them--the green turtle, of which nearly
everyone has seen an occa 3Onal speci-
, men lying miserably on its back in
! front Of a restaurant as an ad-
| yertisement of the fact that genuine
| green turtle soup may be had there;
! the logger head, which is also ,regu :
! larly sold in the market, though not
so valuable as the green turtle; and the
| hawks bill, which carries on It's back
| the material out Of which all genuine
| hnn articles arc made InpSA
| turtles are responsible for the weird
| looking tortoise rim spectacles when
! are so much effected by Young ladies'
| who wish to apuear intelleCtual-eX-
cept when the said specAGies are made
| Of Celluloid.
This old wharf is one OF the most
important turtle MAarkets in the coun-
try. The turtles ore for th&gnost part
caIJelred far at sea in trap-nets which
are set over the great submarine pas
lures where the turtles feed. Some of
them come from far down along the
coast Of Mexico The boats bring them
Z in every three or four days: and they
are dumped into these little prisons,
locally known as the turtle crawls,
to await their fate. Some of them are
slaughtered here. Part of their flesh Is
| eaten fresh in local hotels and restau-
rants and part Of 1t is made INTO soup
| and canned, for Key West boasts the
only turtle soup cannery IN the conn-
| to the great Northern cities, tNere to
| be cooked for the wealthy epicures who
| can afford them.
The sea turtle has perhaps as hard a
| lot as any creature who contributes to
| the perfection Of our civilization, Being
able TO 90 a long time without food.
he d very seldom fed after his capture.
although this Is occasionally, done.
| When he is to be shipped, he fs fished
out og the crawl, laid on his back, and
Shence handled like aay other piece of
baegaRe No lies On bis back for days
&C, = gsG- d7scn q q NsoilNs sun on
q station platVbruf or in frS'.S ~ She
hostelry where he is soon to be eaten.
II Is necessary to keep MIN on ms
back not only to prevent him from
crawling away, but also because his
nlastron. or undershell, is so soft that
( II he Is kept right side up on hard land
the pressure on his vital organs quickly
kills him. He is n strictly marine ami
NAL, and can be kept In comfort only
in a great tank OF sea water.
These great reptiles, which are the
largest Of that family except the ALI e
| gators and CroCodiles, spend their whole
| lives at sea except for the brlet Tine
occupied In LAYING their eggs, The
loggerheads, which lay their eggs along
the Florida coast are often captured in
the, act. The great female turtle is
almost helpless on land She draws
herself slowly up the sand to a point
above the high tide mark. scoons out Il
great hole. lays the eggs in IT, and then
buries them. Instinct or cunning i'm
pels her to travel such an crratic
course 10 and FROM the water that the
eggs cannot possibly be found by trail
ing her. They are often discovered by
hunters who thrust long sticks into
the sand. probing for the stores Of hid
den dainties For turtle eggs are very
good to eat. and there are hundreds or
them in each nest
Often the great turtle is captured on
| the sands, when she is quite helplessA
| but defiant none the loss Cn'h'"
wore than mile an
hour, she makes no effort to run away.
! hut blows OUT her breath with deep
roaring sound and II a stick comes
within her reach snaps Il In two with
her great mandihes. while her beady.
snake-like eyes watch every move of
| her enemies. hut all her courage and
| alertness are useless for she liz easily
| turned on her beck with crow bars and
| is then utterly helpless.
II the eggs are undisturbed they
hatch In about two months. The young
turtles crawl into the shallow inlets
where they live until they are large
enough to shift for themselves in the
open sea. A large percentage Of each