Wilhelm: Mail carriers faced life- challenging perils on Lake Erie ice
As winter approaches the Lake Erie islands, many readers can recall massive ice jams along the lake and in its tributaries such as the Sandusky and Portage rivers.
There are times when even avid ice fishermen and women prefer to stay off of the dangerous ice.
But the book “Sketches and Stories of the Lake Erie Islands” written by Lydia Ryall and published by the American Publishing Company in 1913, tells some hair-raising tales of some who didn’t have a choice.
“In accordance with existing postal regulations, the Put-in-Bay Mails cross the lake twice daily — going and coming — between the island and peninsula.”
Mail carriers faces challenges on the ice
"The individual who fills the position of mail carrier must be possessed of agility and alertness, unflinching courage and physical endurance.”
“Probably one of the most hazardous experiences ever endured on the island mail route … was during the winter of ’97 and ’98 by the Hitchcock brothers — U.S. mail representatives. Caught in a storm and running ice, they were carried down the lake by the resistless force of a drift in which they became wedged. The boys were given up for lost by the excited islanders who at various points thronged the shores. A cablegram wired to Kelleys Island read: ‘Look out for the carriers; they are fast in the ice and drifting that way.’
“Howbeit, to the intense relief of all, the carriers succeeded in escaping from the drift, and after a desperate struggle reached shore. They were in an exhausted condition and so completely covered and weighed down with ice as to be perfectly helpless. Their caps were frozen fast to their heads and their garments so loaded with ice from the showering spray that the wearers were unable to bend. On arrival at home their friends were obliged to cut and tear from them their ice-armored clothing..”
And, veteran mail carrier Henry Elfers shared this about the trip from Kelleys to Marblehead: “I have sailed those four miles over smooth ice in 20 minutes. I have covered the same distance in eight hours.”
He told this tale: “In the winter of 1896, I started back from Marblehead, with my son, and we got to within half a mile of the island when we were caught in a blizzard … I could not see my son at the other end of the 16-foot boat. … We battled the blizzard for four hours before we succeeded in reaching Marblehead.”
Running ice on the lake created safety concerns
He added, “At 8 o’clock one night I had almost reached the island when I found I could not land on account of running ice. I turned toward Marblehead, but lost my way in a fog and did not reach there until 3 o’clock the next morning.”
Even though, he said, “often I have to traverse alternating sheets of clear water and fields of ice” and he had to be helped to shore twice by “life-savers,” he announced. “I don’t care for ordinary sailing, but battling with the ice has a fascination for me. As soon as ice begins to form, I feel eager to get out one of the ironclads and fight my way across.”
Roy Wilhelm started a 40-year career at The News-Messenger in 1965 as a reporter. Now retired, he writes a column for both The News-Messenger and News Herald.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Wilhelm: In the late 1800s, getting mail to the islands was perilous
