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Updated: May 13, 2025
In the old days every town of any size had its Hell's Half-Mile, or the equivalent. Saginaw boasted of its Catacombs; Muskegon, Alpena, Port Huron, Ludington, had their "Pens," "White Rows," "River Streets," "Kilyubbin," and so forth.
In the center of this whirlpool of iniquity stood the Catacombs as the hub from which lesser spokes in the wheel radiated. Any old logger of the Saginaw Valley can tell you of the Catacombs, just as any old logger of any other valley will tell you of the "Pen," the "White Row," the "Water Streets" of Alpena, Port Huron, Ludington, Muskegon, and a dozen other lumber towns.
For, as we reached Alpena in Michigan, at about noonday, we found the atmosphere completely saturated with smoke, and intermixed with particles of burnt material. The reader can easily imagine that this impure air had a very unpleasant effect upon our eyes, irritating them so as to materially interfere with our comfort.
Among the individual men who gave great financial assistance at this time were James Couzens, Chas. B. Warren, member of the Republican National Committee and William A. Comstock of Alpena, who as treasurer of the Men's Suffrage League, collected the major part of their donations, nearly $9,000.
At Alpena he found an owner who, having read something very convincing in a horse-trainer's book, elaborately strapped the roan's legs according to diagram, and then went into the stall to wreak vengeance with a riding-whip. Blue Blazes accepted one cut, after which he crushed the avenger against the plank partition until three of the man's ribs were broken.
The Alpena man was fished from under the roan's hoofs just in time to save his life. This incident earned Blue Blazes the name of "man-killer," and it stuck. He even figured in the newspaper dispatches. "Blue Blazes, the Michigan Man-Killer," "The Ugliest Horse Alive," "Alpena's Equine Outlaw"; these were some of the head-lines. The Perkins method had borne fruit.
This was the reason why we did not duly appreciate the attractions of Alpena, a town with about 12,500 inhabitants, regularly laid out with nice, broad streets, containing many handsome buildings and large stores. We had an ardent desire to bid farewell to the city as quick as possible; wherefore our captain received the order from Mr.
Not desirous of being rudely tossed by the wanton billows, we weighed anchor and returned to Alpena, the only safe harbor within reach before sunset. Early the next day we continued our voyage on Lake Huron, entering its northern portion, which differs greatly from the nature of its southern shore. The northern and northeastern coasts are mostly composed of sand- and limestones.
In fact, this rainfall was a duplicated blessing, as it not only cleared the atmosphere from its smoky shroud but helped to check the ravages of the extensive forest conflagration, then threatening the city of Alpena with destruction. An awakened breeze, which had freshened since the violent shower, caused our floating home to roll considerably.
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