Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-10
Source Of Turtle Soup
By Frederic J. Hsskin

| gossipine in their several tongues That
is the fish and turtle market at Key West
One Of these old wharves il Of special
| interest. Large square holes are cut in its
floor, and when you look through these
holes, you are amazed to see that the dirty
water below is filled with giant turtles.
Imprisoned within the walls Of the wharf,
they swim about with lazy, easy grace,
the strokes Of their great fippers suggest
ing the wingbeats Of eagles. Every few
minutes each Of them comes to the surface
and discharges his breath with mighty
sigh, then turns and begins aRnin the
endless restless exploration Of his narrow
| prison.
| These turtles are just like ordinary mud
| turtles, except that they are n hundred
| times as large, and that their Kegs and feet
are simply great seal-like fippers, built
| exclusively for swimming The largest Of
| them are four feet long and weigh 400
pounds, and they range from that sire
down to young ones not much more than a
| foot in length. There are three kinds Of
| them-the green turtle, Of which nearly
| everyone has seen an occasional specimen
| lying miserably on it's back in front Of a
restaurant as On advertisement of the fact
that genuine green turtle soup may be had
there; the logger head, which is also regtt-
larly sold in the market, though not so
valuable as the green turtle; and the
hawks bill, which carries on ats back the
material out If which all genuine tortoise
shell articles are made. These turtles are
responsible for the wierd-iooking tortoise
rim spectaclcs which are so much effected
by young ladies who wish to appear in
tellecttial-except when the said spec
tacles are made Of celluioid.
This old wharf is one Of the most I'M
portant turtle markets in the country.
The turtles are for the most part captured
far at sea in trap-nets which are set over
the great submarine pastures where the
turtles feed. Some of them come from
far down along the coast Of Mexico. The
boats bring them 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 liz eaten fresh in local hotels and
restaurants, and part of it is made into
soup and canned, for Key West boasts the
only turtle soup cannery in the country.
Many Of them are shipped alive TO the
great northern cities, there 70 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 go a long time without food, he IS
very seldom fed after his capture, al
though this is occasionally done. When he
is TO be shipped, he is fshed out of the
crawl, laid on his back, and thence handled
like any other piece Of baggage. He lies on
his tack for days at q time, often IN
broiling sun on station platform or in
front OF the hostelry where he Is soon to be
eaten. It is necessary to keep him on his
back, not only to prevent him from crawl
ing away, but also because his plastron, or
undcrshell, is 80 soft that If ne is kept right
side up on hard land the pressure on his
vital organs quickly kills HIM He is a
strictly marine animal. and can be Kept IN
comfort only IN great tank Of sea water.
These great reptiles, which are the
largest Of that family except the alllgators
and crocodiles, spent their whole lives at
sea except for the brief time occupied In
laying their eggs. The lopgerheads, which
lay their eggs along the Florida coast, are
often captured in the act. The great fe-
male turtle is almost helpless on land. she
draws herself slowly up the sand 20 point
above the high tide mark, scoops out
great hole, lays the eggs In it, and then
buries them. Instinct or cunning impels
her 10 travel such an erratie course 70 and
from the water that the eggs cannot pos
sihly be found by trailing her. They are
often discovered by hunters who thrust
long sticks into the sand, probing for the
stores of hidden dainties. For turtle eggs
are very good to eat, and there arc hun
dreds of them in each nest.
Often the great turtle is captured on the
sands, when she is quite helpless, but de-
fiant none the less. Unable TO travel on
land more than mile an hour, she makes
no effort 10 run away, but blows out her
treath with a deep, roaring sound, and if a
stick comes within her reach, snaps it in
two with her great man dibles, while her
beady, snake-hke eyes watch every move
of her enemies. But all her courage and
alertness are useless, for she is easily turn
ed on her back with crow-bars and is then
utterly helpless.
If 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 brood is killed by
sharks and other natural enemies before
maturity.
1t is generally believed that these great
turtles are veritable cattle of the sea, liv-
ing exclusively by browsing upon sea-
weed and other aquatic vegetation. But,
according TO Raymond l.. Ditmars,
leading American authority on reptiles Of
all kinds, some that he kept in captivity
eagerly ate fish. lie thinks it is doubtful
whether they could catch many fish in
wild state, however, and believes they
must be largely vegetarian.
The green turtle gets its name from the
fact that its fat has a greenish tinge Ii
gets to be over three feet long and weighs
as much as 400 pounds, but those seen in
the turtle market here are mostly from
so pounds to $50 One of these turtles is
now worth great deal of money, the de
mand considerably exceeding the supply.
The shell of the green turtle is very pretty,
being notified with brown, olive or yellow,
and often highly polished in old turtles,
These shells, however, are worth nothing
except 10 the turtles themselves.
The hawk bill turtle is the most valu
able of them all because of the nature OF its
shell. 1t is also the smallest, being seldom
more than two and half feet long, while
most of them are much smaller. Its upper
is long and hooked, and gives 1t
its name. Its shell is beautifully marbled
or notified in black and yellow or rich
brown and yellow, but il is the structure OF
the shell rather than its color which makes
it valuable. The carapace, as the upper
shell is called, is made of large scales
which overlap each other like shingles
When this she'll is heated, the scales can be