Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 February 1879 — Terrible Experience. [ARTICLE]

Terrible Experience.

Two men, Joseph Smith and Paul Le Blau, were eleven days and nights on floating ice in Lake Michigan and the straits. They left Beaver Harbor, Dec. 23, in a fish-boat, with the mail, bound for Mackinaw, and arrived the same day. They left Mackinaw, on their return, Dec. 28; arrived at Saint Waugoshance at 10 p. m.; left next morning for St. Helena, arriving at Ba. m.; left St. Helena Jan. 1, had to put back and haul out the boat; left again Jan. 5, on foot, with a dog and hand-sled; crossed on the ice to Gros Cap, went up the north shore to Poufetts, arriving at 10 a. m., Jan. 6; went out on the ice JaUVIO, with two dogs, but had to return; started again Jan. 11, making for Hat island, but when half a mile from shore were obliged to turn back on account of water; camped that night on the ice; next morning the wind blew a gale from the southwest, drifting them toward Point Shane; snow so thick that they could not see any distance, the handsled broke down, and they had to abandon the mail on Sunday, the 19th, after carrying it for some time on their backs; the ice was so broken up that they had hard work to keep afloat; drifted from Waugoshance, abreast of Scott’s point, and were buffeted by the winds till the 22d, when they got on shore on Hog island, after being on the ice eleven days and nights, without fire, subsisting on two loaves of bread and about four pounds of boiled pork. They remained over night on Hog island, and landed on Garden island, Jan. 23, at 10:30 a. m.. where they stayed until noon of Jan. 23, when they went over home to Beaver island in a skiff. On Jan. 11 Paul broke in, and they ferried over a crack on a cake of ice, using a piece of board for a paddle. On Jan. 22 Paul broke in twice, the second time about 3 p. m., in water up to his shoulders. The dog went in too, and tried to get on Paul’s back. Smith hauled Paul out both times with a piece of rope. They made camps nights out of cakes of ice; had no fire or bed-clothes of any kind. Their clothing would be frozen to the ice after lying down a short time, which made it a tough job to get up again. The letter giving this account is; from the teacher of an Indian school on Garden island, in Lake Michigan. This island is about fifteen or twenty miles west of the main land of the Lower Peninsula, and fortyfive miles from Mackinaw, and the entire population consists of Indians and halfbreeds. This is the first mail received since November.— Chicago Inter Ocean.