Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-01-25
A CITY ON THE ICE.

"A way OF GaIning a LfveIi-
Living on the Bay. ..s ~&a.l = nd4
,s from the Detroit Free Press. s.r.t4
Having heard and read much of the
perilous adventures of the fishermen
on Saginaw Bay for the past two win
tiers, your correspondent had a great
desire to see some of this singular
mode of life, and TO know by actual
observation whether or not the stories
told were founded on fact. With this
in view I visited Bay City, q few days
ago, and upon inquiry I learned that
the fishing season had fairly CON-
menced, and that fishing parties were
daily going out to the bay with their
shanties and fishing apparatus to COM
mence their winters work sar.a ...
I at once applied to a livery-stable for
conveyance to the curious city. Here
/ was informed that it was some six or
seven miles to the fishing grounds, and
that the only road by which l could
reach them was on the ice in the river.
Upon questioning the safety of this
kind of road / was assured that it was
perfectly safe, that the ice was at least
Is inches in thickness on the river, but
at the same time was cautioned that
when l encountered the cracks in the
ice [ must drive square across to avoid
getting the cutter runne in the crevice.
The preliminaries with the livery-man
being arranged, l started for the river,
having to wind my way amidst lumber
piles, freight cars, saw-mills and salt
blocks for a mile or o before l was
able to strike the road on the river.
When this road was reached, however,
[ found a well beaten track, as easily
followed as most of our highways. The
surface was somewhat uneven, caused
by the motion of the water when the
ice was forming. The road was not
rough enough, however. to prevent a
good round gait of the horse, and, see-
ing none of the cracks in the ice about
which l had been cautioned, [ soon
gained entire confidence in the road,
and rather enjoyed the ride between
the high tiers of salt-barrels and lum-
Der that lined the river bank on either
side, and in q very short time found my
self in sight of the mouth of the river
and lighthouses neal by. ~
The first fishing shanty [ found about
a mile above the mouth of the river,
and in this neighborhood there was
perhaps a dozen, being all OF about the
same make and size, being about six
feet square, high enough for a man to
stand up in, covered with a regular
house roof, and built on runners, SO as
to be easily moved from place to place
as the owner desires. A small stove
and blankets for sleeping, form also
an important part of the outfit. The
material mostly used in the construc-
tion of the shanties is thin strips of
timber, lined with thick building pa
per. Near the first group Of shanties
and on the high road to the bay, stands
anew rough board building, about II
by 16 feet, built also On runners, and
labelled over the door, "Saloon."
immediately after passing this group
and the saloon, the road leaves the riv-
er channel and passes for some distance
over an overlooked marsh to the shore
of the bay. Here was a low, narrow
ridge of land, and from it could be
seen, as far a. the eye could reach out
ward toward the lakes, these small
abodes of the fishermen. I could see
from this point what appeared to be
quite a large building, which [ judged
70 be about 8 mile distant from the
shore, and thinking this might be a sort
OF headquarters where | could get in
formation, l started at a brisk pace to
reach it. I found the distance to be
much greater than it appeared, and
was willing to call it two miles before
reached it. When once there I found
it to be Il hotel, and affords entertain
ment for mar and stabling and hay fol-
horses.
This house is kept by VIM. Fuller, 6
fisherman of long experience on the
bay, and his partner, Richard Cham
paigne, and is called the Halfway
House, or Fisherman's Home. The
sight from this point is truly astonish
ing, the shanties dotting the surface o
the bay in all directions, S 70 far rs
could see. From Mr.. Fuller | learned
that the number of these shanties now
on the bay was about 800, and tina
about 80 were arriving and being pu
up daily, and that the average numbe,
of occupants in each shanty was tire,
men Or men and boys, thus making, in
Guiding the larger buildings and theil
occupants, not less than 1000 persons
already living on the ice. Mr.. Fune
thinks there will be thrice the numbe
on the ice by the first of February, ant
that they can remain there in safety un
til the middle of March. Mr.. Fulle
could not give any satisfactor,,
estimate of the amount of fisl
caught or the revenue to be derives
from them, but the fact that teams ar
constantly engaged in gathering togeth
er and hauling the fish to Bay City
whence they are shipped to all parts O
the State, and that all these people fin
it sufficiently profitable to INDUCE thel
to brave the perils and hardships a
tending this adventurous life is proc
that the aggregate revenue OF the bus
ness must De quite large. The peopl
engaged in it come mostly from Ba
City, Wenona and the other towns o
the Saginaw River and Bay. Som
come from Canada, and a few this wiz
ter from Buffalo. This mode of fishin
seems to be peculiar to Saginaw Ba,
and was first p%racticed by the Indian
-. L.. ~ooa I-+