Salt Lake Tribune | 1904-05-14 | Page 1 | Thrust Finger in Turtle's Beak

Thrust Finger in We's Beak Big Snapper Would Not Let Go, and Beak Was Piled Off to He-lease He-lease Boy. WILKESBARRE, PiU, May 13. The agonizing scream of 10-year-old "William Lusch attracted a crowd from a radhiH of several blocks today to tho front of a local restaurant, where the lad had foolishly thrust his finger Into the beak of a big snapping turtle. An old Inhabitant solemnly sol-emnly adjured the boy to be, patient, for the turtle would never let go till It thundered. thun-dered. The, lad's screams wero immediately redoubled-, but tho turtle held on. Finally Fin-ally a blacksmith, who was in tho crowd, declared he could deal with tho situation. If the boy and the turtle would wait a few minute.?. Going to his shop, which was near by, he got two pairo of tongs and a heavy file. Two men caught tho turtle's head with tho tongs, while the smith proceeded to file off the top of the reptile's beak. The boy was taken to a doctor's office, whero his lacerated finder was amputated.