Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-04-12
A RACE FOR LIFE.
Saved by the Superior Intelligence
of My Horse, "Jeannie."

The winter of lssc-Si was OF excep-
tional severity as felt in Michigan. 1t
found me occupying the position OF sur
geon to numbering company, and was
stationed at small hamlet on Lake
Huron midway between Saginaw and
Thunder bays. On either side of this
hamlet there was no settlement nearer
than thirty miles away, while at its
back primitive forest OF pine, larch
and hemlock stretched westward nearly
10 Lake Michigan.
4 single highway following the sinu-
osities of the coast connected our settle
ment with the outer world. but this
road was practically impossible in win
ter. In the season OF which write nav
igation closed the second week in No
yenibcr, a month earlier than common.
Phenomenal snow storms followed, and
By yChristmas-ti the ground was hid
den by snow nearly four feet deep
The region was healthful--loggers are
notoriously hardy and robust men-and
my duties consequently were not oner-
Gus or exaeting but ! had not antici-
patcd so severe u season, and 50 had not
made adequate provision for the amuse-
hooks, shooting rendered impossible by
the depth OF the snow and by the in
roads OF wolves that drove the game to
tile fastnesses of the interior forests,
time soon hung heavily with me and my
associates. and an incident that prom
ised 20 relieve the monotony Of our life
was welcomed.
une morning about two months aftel
our shutting in" a fisherman, familiar
ly known as 'rhe Commodore. = enteree
the company's counting room and offeree
for sale magnificent specimen of til,
Mackinae salmon. or Great Amethystin'
trout--tbe Na-md-g0-oes of the Otchip
Yves, whence scientists derive the spe
cific title of HdmayeHsh saiD,0 Bdmaycash
How this huge hSh could have beer
obtained was something OF puzzle Il
me. since Lake Huron was frozen fron
shore to shore. and this great trou
brought in BY the fisherman could onl,
have come from the deep waters Of mid
lake.
Inquiry revealed the fact that the As
had been '.snatched." or caught throug
the ice with s,p1tch. A snatch" is
we'll, imagine sixty or seventy fathom
OF cotton clothes line" of nearly tn
diameter OF ones little finger toggled I
the ringed end of huge hook of hom
manufacture, tho hooks shank en-
hraccd by spindle-shaped lead Of thre
or four pounds weight Behold
Snatch
The four resident representatives {
the company, its Junior" superb
tendent,n ''store-kecper" and doctor,
cne and all. were ardent fishermen. Tn
upshot of the Commodorc's visit wa
that we engaged him 10 initiate us inl
the mysteries of "snatching.' tn
company's warehouse and the skill
the local blacksmith supplied u
necessary ashing-gear.
Fishing through the Ice, whether
.,snatching" or in other ways, Is Fl
from being genial or enhancing pa
time, though Ii is superior TO enR,
When IL comes TO ones spending hol
after hour In the midst of a frozen plai
where the thermometer perslstentiy hui
the wrong side OF zero, exposed
winds that chill The fisherman to q
very marrow; wien the least carele,
ness means .ftgsfbite TO face, hands
feet the situation is any thing but
soft one.
Trout became so plentiful at our tab
That they ceased TO awaken appetite
ns; but this circumstance in no "
modified our enjoyment In fishing
them, and the .snatches" were in pref
constant use throughout the wint'
The fish that we caught in excess
onr Immediate wants were given to |
Commodore, who pickled them to sell
Four or five fish was the usual rewa
OF days fishing. The Commodore n
our indispensa Bile companion, owing
MS SUPER or knowledge and experien
lie ALONE could locate in all this v
lro1en wilderness the huge reef NJ
miles from shore near which large tr,
We're wont TO eonss egate---a reef Il
reared It's jagged walls sixty fatha
above the lake-bed. yet did not 90
within hundred feet Of the surface.
A. may he supposed, our fishing ex
altions we're not unattended with
ventures. Once when out OF sight
iahd we were caught IN a binding snl
sl"rn' aud wandered about until Mig
h1l, when, happily, We made 80