The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-01-11
FISHERMEN ON
SUPERIOR TO
BE PROTECTED
Special Coast Guard Detach-
ment of Seven Men Sta
toned at Little Marais

Duluth, Mimi, Jan. ll.-OP) North
shore fishermen who brave sub-zero
temperatures and treacherous gales
to provide trout, whitefish and her
ring for north and middewest and
some eastern markets. have coast
guard protection this winter for the
first time.
Pursuing their hazardous occupa-
ton until late winter. the men quit
only when shifting ice floes drive
them ashore until spring. They now
are watched over by special coast
guard detachment of seven men sta
toned at Little Maras. 81 miles up
the shore from Duluth.
The guards were ordered out
from lower Lake Superior stations
when several fishermen had narrow
~ escaped death after a sudden
change in the wind from n mild
northeast blow" to brisk north
west gale.
Caught several hundred yards off
shore in their frail row boats, the
fishermen barely held their own for
several hours and call had been
sent for help from the Duluth guard
station when hull permitted the
doughty fisher folk to reach safety.
Many Tragedies Recorded
Scarcelr week elapses this time
of the year without one or more such
occurrences and not a few tragedies
have resulted. Four years ago this
month a fisherman and his wife were
tending nets quarter mile offshore
when y northwest gale suddenly arose.
For long and tortuous hours they
q L. n -,
a vain effort to make shore. The
boat was driven Is miles across the
lake to the Wisconsin shore while the
temperature dropped to Us below
zero. The woman persisted and the
man, his feet and arms frozen, bare
~ was able to reach south shore
fiserman's shack the next day.
The guardsmcn, sent to avert a re-
currencc Of this and other tragedies.
came from Eagle Harbor, Marquette
and Portage Canal stations, now clos
cd until intcr-lake navigation opens
newt spring. They have beached
their power surf boat at Little Marais
and are quartered at a settlers home,
The detachment is in charge OF
Thomas G.. Deegan. boatswain's mate
Sheet Iron Protects Boat
Before leaving Duluth, the crew
placed coating Of sheet iron around
their boat to protect it from the ice
The Little Marais unit will cooperate
with the Duluth boat guard station
which has large sea-going boats fol
emergency use. The Duluth station
has difficulty in functioning during
the winter, however, as the harbol
and harbor entrance usually is clog
ged with ice while the north shor.
beach is kept free of ice by the force
Of the waves.
A system such as the one just es
tablished was unavailable in the pas
because not even telephones connect
. ed settlements along the isolated
north shore country and it was no
so many months back that telephon
connections between Grand Marai:
largest northshore town, and Duluth
12O miles away was virtually impos
sible. Being snow-bound two an
three months during the winter wa
not uncommon, either.
But this has all been corrected
improvements to the north shor
highway permit truck travel virtual
ly the year round, insuring anon
other conveniences, a ready marke
for the fish. And adequate telephon
service has been established at mos
Of the settlements, as well as at man
fishermans cabins, SO when an emei
gency arises, the distress signals ma
be flashed along the bleak shor
country.