, 1888-05-10
AN ODD MICHIGAN VILLAGE.
The EIshnrmnn,a Ia

Tho Fishermnn's hethods-
1.-THE oldest settlement, I guess, that
can be found anywhere in this Country"
said William Cotter, of East Saginaw,
lis Fish City, on Saginaw DAY. When 1
say it is on Saginaw bay, l don't mean
that it is on the bay in the sense that
Chicago is on Like Michigan, or that
Albany is on the Hudson river, but that
1t is, In winter time, literally on the bay,
and aXten.s for several miles out over its
surface. 1t is a city on the ice, conse-
queEtly is not founded on a rock, and
Eaturally its existence is not permanent.
During the season just past there were
1000 houses in Fish City.
"This queer town is not laid out with
any idea of regularity, and it is not likely
that the ordinary regulations for finding
a given location in a city would avail
there. The buildings in this interesting
town are neither large nor imposing, as
the biggest one among them is not more
than eight feet high or more than six
feet square. They are built of common
boards, and cover the frozen surface of
the bay almostly as thickly as the bur-
rows of a prairie dog village cover the
prairie. They are the huts of men who
do the winter fishing for pike, pickerel,
lake trout and white fish, and MS soon as
the ice forms on the bay their construc-
ton is begun. The fishermen live in
their huts from the time they are built
until the breaking up of the ice in the
spring forces them to come ashore. The
furniture of these huts consists of a
sheet iron cylinder stove n little over a
foot high, with a hole in the top, a stool
and a shelf eighteen inches wide, on
which the fisherman sleeps. There is n
floor in each hut, and in the floor a trap
door twenty inches square. When this
is raised a hole of the same size through
the ice is discovered. At the side of this
the fisherman sits all day and n great
part of the night watching for his game,
which he captures in a novel manner.
ITO decoy the fish to the hole in the
ice he takes n herring, which he catches
with a hook and line rs he needs one,
Grams n piece of lead four inches long
down its throat TO make it sink, ties a
long string to it by n slip moose rover its
head, fastens the other end Of the string
to the ceiling of his hut and lowers the
herring TO the water. The decoy fish
will live an amazing length of time, not
w~ithstanding its stomach and throat are
filled with lead, and the ballast makes its
efforts ut swimming so peculiar that the
game fish are quickly attracted to the
decoy. When the herring dies the fisher
man manipulates the string with one
hand while he holds his spear in the
other. The water over which these huts
are built is from ten To fifteen feet deep,
but it IS so cleat that the bottom is easily
seen. To the end of this spear handle
the fisherman has n strong string securely
fastened, and the string is tied to a nail
in II side of the hut, so there is no
danger Of the weapon being lost in tho
water i'll case Of accident. A dccoy
herring will not DO long in the water be-
fore up will dash some alligator iawed
pike, or n big, graceful lake
trout, or a glistening whitefish.
Like a flash the spear shoots down
through the hole in the ice. aud it rarely
misses its mark. The skill with which
these Saginaw bay fishermen throw their
spear is equaled only 10y the Indian spear
throwers of the Sault Ste. Marie. The
fish run i'll schools, and the favorite times
for fishing are early in the morning and
from niEhtfall until midnight. After
dark IA lamp with n strong reflector is
used TO light up the hole in the ice and
the water beneath, and then the fishing
IL inc nNelleSb ana Mt ITS best. Some
times n fisherman's wife and two or
three children occupy his hut with him
all winter long, and seem to suffer no
Inconvenience from the cramped and not
altogether cheerful quarters. From
1000, 600 to ., 800, 900 pounds of choice
fish are taken in this way every season
at Saginaw bay.
''ln the spring, when the ice begins to
threaten a break up, the prudent inhabit-
ants of this queer city lose no time in
taking down their houses and seeking tho
shore with them. There are always n
great many among them, however, who
brave the inevitable break up until the
last moment, and every spring, in spite
of past experiences, some of these arc
sure to be carried on into the lake by
the shifting ice. Tugs are always dis
patched by some one to rescue these
reckless fishermen, but their sufTerines
are intense, and it sometimes happens
that lives among them are lost before the
rescuing parties locate and reach them"
New York Mail and Express.