Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-03-14
A RACE FOR LIFE.
Saved by the Superior Intelligence
of My Horse, JEANNE"

coved by the Superior lntelngence
of My Horse, JEANNE"
Tho winter of 1861 was of excep-
,,onal severity as felt in Michigan. 1t
1und me occupying the position OF sur
reOu to a numbering company, and was
Stationed at a small hamlet on Lake
Huron midway between Saginaw and
thunder bays. On either side OF this
hamlet there was no settlement nearer
han thirty miles away, while at its
hacl primitive forest of pine, larch
and handbook stretched westward nearly
to Lake Michigan.
single highway following the sinu-
osities of the coast connected our settle
meut with the outer world, but this
road was practically impossible in win
te, In the season Of which l write nav
isation closed the second week in No
vsmber. month earlier than common.
Phenomenal snow storms followed, and
nv Christmas time the ground was hid
den by snow nearly four feet deep.
The region was healthful-loggers are
VIGOROUSLY hardy and robust men-and
nv duties consequently were not oner-
Gus or exacting, but l had not antici-
pated so severe season, and so had not
made adequate provision for the amuse-
mcnt Of my idle moments. Deprived Of
books, shooting rendered impossible By
the depth of the snow and by the in
roads Of wolves that drove the game to
the Businesses of the interior forests,
time soon hung heavily with me and my
associates, and an incident that prom
ised to relieve the monotony of our life
was welcomed.
One morning about two months after
our shutting in" fisherman, familiar
ly known as THE Commodore, entered
the eompany's counting room and offered
for sale magnificent specimen of the
Mackinac salmon, or Great Amethystint
,rout--the Na-ma-go-0es Of the Otchip
ives, whence scientists derive the spe
cifc title of namaycush, salmo namdycush
How this huge fish could have been
obtained was something of puzzle t.
me, since Lake Huron was frozen from
shore to shore, and this great trou
brought in by the fisherman could only
have come from the deep waters of mid
lake
Inquiry revealed the fact that the fisl
had been ''snatched," or caught through
the ice with snatch. A snatch is
we'll imagine sixty or seventy fathom
election clothes line" OF nearly tn
diameter of ones little finger toggled t
the hinged end of huge hook of hom
manufacture, the hooks shank EN-
sraced by spindle-shaped lead of thre
or four pounds weight. Behold
snatch"
The four resident representatives c
the company, its Junior" ''superin
@ndent' "store-keeper' and doctor,
one and all, were ardent fishermen. Tn
upshot of the Commodore's visit wa
mat we engaged him to initiate US int
me mysteries of scratching Tn
companys warehouse and the skill c
'ne local blacksmith supplied tn
Ho0esSdry nShlng-gear
FISHING through the ice, whether
Shatching' or in other ways, is ia
from being genial or enhancing pa.
ume though it is superior to emu
nnen 1t comes to ones spending hou
2lIer hour in the midst of a frozen plaiI
"nefe the thermometer persistently hug
we wrong side of zero, exposed
"iius That chill the fisherman to tn
very marrow; when the least careless
aess means troStbite to face, hands {
~e. .he situation is any thing but
soft one.
trout became so plentiful at our tab
.N"V 'hey ceased to awaken appetite
No. out this circumstance in no wa
m0ained our enjoyment in fishing f(
'Hem' and the 'snatches" were in prett
svhstant use throughout the winte
Ane hsh that we caught in excess
Sur immediate wants were given to til
'oniihodore, who picked them to sell.
. rour or five fish was the usual rewal
quay fishing. The Commodore WI
". at ihdispensa BILE companion, owing
Us rs superior knowledge and experienc
ne alone could locate in all this va
wen wilderness the huge reef nil
-e' from shore near which large tro'
.o won't to con eSegate-a reef Thu
.S Its jagged walls sixty fathon
r; .'e the lake-bed, ye. did not con
,nih hundred feet of the surface.
Az, nS may be supposed, our fishing exp
ra were not unattended with a
e",ures. Once when out of sight
Au we were caught in binding sno
t TIN and wandered about until nigh
whcn' happily, We made Sou
.uint' where there was the shanty OF
H. ~ "sherman," who enacted the part
M oooo samaritan, drying us, feediI
'Hu sending us on our way rejoicin
mOa uce' on turning line of ice-hul
ABOUT seven miles from shore, y
vol. met lace to face by five gauut or;
MAJ evidently just over from h
Avs ''y dominion. At the sight of
wiz 'hey scnrried, going down lal,
mad pooies fairly hugging the ice
vs,. anxiety to annihilate space. Tn
ne ~ ioiiowed by chorus of yells fro
sti, mat served the double purpose
Of raaIlhg them to greater efforts al
"ii'hg the forgotten courage til