Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-01-26
From the Detroit Free
cry ON THE ICE.

Having he r~ read muc,
the periIous 4dvel rvres ai the fl
men on Sagi 5aE Bsy for the
two winters, your correspondent
a great desire tolsee some of this
pnIar mode of life, and to know /
actual observation whether or no the
stories told were founded on fact.
With this in view visited Bay City,
few days ago, and upon inquiry |
learned that the fishing season had
fairly commenced, and that fishing
parties were daily going out to the
bay with their shanties and fishing
apparatus to commence their win
ter's work.
1 at once applied to the livery sta
bic for conveyance to the curious
city. Here | was informed that ii
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 on the river. Upon
questioning the safety of this kind
of a road was assured that 1t was
perfectly safe, that the ice was at
least eighteen inches in thickness on
the river. but at the same time was
cautioned that when | encountered
the cracks i'm the ice l must drive
square across to avoid getting the
cutter runner in the crevice. The
preliminaries with the livery man
being arranged, | started for the
river, having to wind my way amidst
lumber piles, freight cars, saw mills
and salt blocks for a mile or more
before was able to strike the road
on the river. When this road was
reached, however, l found well
beaten track, as easily followed as
most of our highways. The surface
was somewhat Uneaven, 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,
seeing none of the cracks in the ice
about which l had been cautioned, l
soon gained entire confidence in the
road, and rather enjoyed the ride
between the high tiers of salt bar
rels and lumber that lined the river
bank on either side, and in very
short time found myself in sight of
the mouth OF the river and light
houses, near by.
The first fishing shanty I found
about a mile above the mouth of the
river, and in this neighborhood there
was perhaps a dozen, being all 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 run
ners so as to be easily moved from
place to place as the owner desires.
A small stove and blankets for sleep
ING forms also an important part of
the outfit. The material mostly us
ed in the construction of the shan
ties is thin strips of timber, lined
with thick building paper. Near
the first group of Shanties and on
the high road to the bay, stands a
new rough board building, about
twelve by sixteen feet, built also on
runners, and labeled over the door
saloon" Immediately after pass
ING this group and the saloon, the
road leaves the river channel and
passes for some distance over an
overfowed marsh to the shore of
the bay. Here was low, narrow
ridge of land, and from it could be
seen as far as the eye could reach
outward, fishermen. l could see from
this point what appeared to be quite
a large building, which l judged to
be about a mile distant from the
shore, and thinking this might be
sort of headquarters where l could
get information, started at brisk
pace to reach it. l found the dis
tance to be much greater than it ap-
peared, and was willing to call i,
two miles before l Ireached it. When
once there l found 1t to-be a hotel,
and affords entertainment for man
and stabling and hay for horses.
This house is kept by William Full
ler, a fisherman of long experience
on the bay, and his partner, Richard
Champagne. and is called the Half
way House, or Fisherman's Home.
The sight from this point is truly
astonishing, the shanties dotting the
bav in all directions, so far as l could
see. From Mr.. Fuller 1 learned
that the number of these shanties
now on the bay was about 800, and
that about thirty were arriving and
being put up daily, and that the av-
erage number of occupants in each
shanty was three men or men and
boys, thus making, including the
larger buildings and their occupants,
not less than 1000 persons already
living on the ice. Mr.. Fuller thinks
there will be thrice the number on
the ice by the first of February, and
that they can remain there in safety
until the middle of March. Mr..
Fuller could not give any satisfacto-
ry estimate of the amount of fish
caught or the revenue to be derived
from them, but the fact that teams
are constantly engaged in gathering
together and hauling the fish to Bay
City, whence they are shipped to all
parts of the state, and that all these
people find it sufficiently profitable
to induce them to brave the perlls
and hardships attending this adven-
turous life, is proof that the aggre-
gate revenue Of the business must
be quite large. The people engaged
in it come mostly from Bay City,
Wenona and the other towns on the
Saginaw river and bay. Some come
from Canada, and few this winter
from Buffalo. This mode of fishing
seems to be peculiar to Saginaw
Bay, and was first practiced by the
Indians many years ago, but it has
been but few years since 1t has
grown into such enormous dlmen-
sions. Having gained these items