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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2017)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2017 COMMUNITY 1B PUTTING WHALES TO WORK THEY’RE WATCHING YOU O LOCAL BREVITIES O regon State University is turning whales into volun- teer marine biologists with a new tracking device, the “Advanced Dive Behavior” (ABU) tag, according to a press release (http://tinyurl.com/tag4whale). One of the tags is pic- tured, courtesy of OSU. This new gizmo stays attached to a whale for up to seven weeks, and can transmit data every second. It monitors body movement, feeding habits, swimming patterns, light levels, water temperature, reactions to large boats and dive depths. For exam- ple, one sperm whale dove to 3,281 feet and stayed there for 75 minutes. When the tag is no longer functional, it politely detaches itself, floats to the surface, and emits LED lights and a GPS sig- nal so it can be retrieved. Even so, scientists compare finding one to “searching for a hamburger floating in thousands of square miles of open ocean.” “We’re learning more about whales,” Bruce Mate, professor and director of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, said, “and the whales are helping us to learn more about our own planet.” SHOW WHALES SOME LOVE L ove whales, and wish there was something you could do to show it? Here’s your shot: The Marine Mammal Insti- tute (MMI) at Oregon State University wants to qualify a new Oregon Gray Whale license plate (pictured) with the Oregon Department of Transportation. To do so, they need a commitment from at least 3,000 vehicle owners to buy the plate. Excited? You can sign up at http://tinyurl.com/plate-whale The whale plate will set you back $40 more than a regular one, but here’s the deal: The MMI will get $35 of that $40 for every plate issued, and the money will be used for “whale research, student training and public education.” Not to mention, it would look pretty cool on your vehicle. “I expect a lot of people will like it,” Bruce Mate of MMI noted (yes, he’s also the whale-tagging guy), “and it’s a way for people to inexpensively support marine mammals.” F rom The Daily Morning Astorian, Sunday, Jan. 13, 1884: • For the first time since they left the Delaware, the steamship Columbia and Tillie E. Starbuck (pictured) met at the new O. R. & N. dock yesterday morning. The Colum- bia gave a little snort as she settled into the dock and the man that was scrubbing aft on the Starbuck scornfully asked the name of “that big black tea kettle.” Note: The Starbuck, built in 1883, was 283 feet long and 42 feet wide and is the “first iron sailing ship built in the U.S.,” according to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (http://tinyurl.com/tilliestar). Not only that, but she set a speed record from New York to Portland in 106 days. She came to a sad end in 1906, losing all three masts in a storm off Cape Horn. Her crew was rescued, but the ship was set afire and abandoned. • In the police court yesterday Officer Beasley was fined $10 (about $234 now) on a charge of abusive language; P. Gorman was fined on two charges, $5 for abusive language, $5 for contempt of court. • The hanging of John Elfus, or Elfers, for the cold- blooded murder of Dan Haggerty, will take place at Walla Walla next Tuesday. The execution, in accordance with the decision of the county commissioners, will be a private one, in a high enclosure 20 feet square, into which none will be admitted except the officers, the medical fraternity and reporters. Note: Elfus said, at his trial, “I would just as soon hang as not,” and had nothing against Haggerty “except for putting me out of the saloon” (http://tinyurl.com/jelfus). • Some of our enterprising Clatsop Plains farmers might institute a profitable trade by sending some A1, yard-wide, 18 carat clams up to Portland. A Portlandite down from there says that some of them have the idea that a clam tastes like a bar of soap rolled in ashes and eaten cold. Send them some clams and disabuse their minds of such dense igno- rance regarding one of the noblest of gifts of the Creator to poor, down-trodden humanity. WHITE WEDDING GOING TO THE GOATS K, cruising fans, sin- gle-use wearable tech- nology is coming to the cruise ship nearest you — at least if it’s part of the Carnival Cruise Line, CNET reports (http:// tinyurl.com/cruise-tag). In the not too distant future, the Ocean Medallion — worn on the wrist, around the neck or wherever — will be sent to cruisers about a month before their scheduled departure. It is pic- tured, courtesy of Carnival. The Medallion’s usefulness starts as you are boarding. Once scanned, it can speed up the process by letting the crew know if all the required paperwork has been filled out or not. And, it has proximity sensors, so you can open the cabin door just by grab- bing the handle. Inside the cabin, touch displays communicate with the Medallion, offering customized suggestions and updates. Want a drink? If you order from your deck chair, but get antsy and move on, never fear — your waiter can track you down by your Medallion. You can also use the Medallion to pay for things. Just don’t pass out when you get the bill later. There is a bit of a creep factor about this innovation. The ship needs to be outfitted with “7,000 sensors and a cloud network combined with artificial intelligence software that’s constantly gathering and processing data about each passenger.” Upside: They save the data, so they know repeat customers’ preferences. Downside: They might also use all that information for targeted advertising. Caveat cruiser. NO FRIGGATRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA HERE T hat’s fear of Friday the 13th, a day of doom and gloom for some. Why not be like Capt. William Fowler (1827-1897), who is pictured, instead? He celebrated the number 13, according to a New York Historical Society Museum & Library blog post (http://tinyurl.com/fowler13). For example, he attended Public School No. 13, graduating at 13. He built 13 New York structures. On April 13, 1861, he headed off to fight in the Civil War, fought 13 battles, and resigned his com- mission on Aug. 13, 1863. A month later, on Sept. 13, he bought a bar in New York, the Knickerbocker Cottage, also pictured, which he sold April 13, 1883. He was the 13th member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, one of the 13 organizations he belonged to. To honor his favorite number, he formed the Thirteen Club. Accordingly, at 8:13 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13, 1882, in Room 13 of Knickerbocker Cottage, the captain and 12 cohorts — it took him a whole year to round up a dozen brave spirits — gathered for a symbolic dinner. Everyone had to walk under a ladder bearing a banner saying “Morituri te Salutamus” (“Those of us who are about to die salute you”) just to get to the meal. There were 13 candles on the table, and 13 courses, including platters of coffin-shaped lobster salad molds. Salt was spilled all over the table, but no one was allowed to toss a pinch of it over their left shoulder. Even though four former presidents were honorary members of the club (Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Har- rison and Theodore Roosevelt, who spent time in Oceanside as a young man), the club faded away sometime in the 1920s. Capt. Fowler died suddenly the morning of July 6, 1897, of “apoplexy” (a stroke) after being deemed in “splendid health” the previous evening, according to The New York Times (http://tinyurl.com/ fowler13nyt), leaving a legacy of being a man of “good fellow- ship, a big heart and simple unostentatious charity,” who also hap- pened to love the number 13. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ‘M O regon is now nationally — and even internationally — known as being the home of goat yoga (www.goatyoga. net). People are going gaga for yoga with Albany resident Lainey Morse’s goats, who wander around, nibble on yoga mats, and act, well, goatish. Stories about goat yoga have appeared in The New York Times, Huffington Post, People Magazine, Vogue, on BBC and ABC, and who knows where else. CNN claims she has a waiting list of over 1,200 (http://tinyurl.com/yoggoat). Photos, such as the one shown, and updates, are available on her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/goatyoga In a 60 Second Docs video — which, by the way, has 5.5 million views — she summed up the secret of her success: “It’s really hard to be in pain and sad when there’s baby goats jumping around you.” Indeed. y new husband, Christian, and I got married on Jan. 7, 2017,” Jessica Iiams of Redmond wrote. “We had to travel in the snow from Central Oregon, with his parents (Bill and Holly Iiams, cutest couple and role models for us, married 50 years), to Astoria, just to be mar- ried on the water in the snow! “My mom came from Kelso, Washington, and my sister and niece from Lake Stevens, Washington. I love that our family traveled just to stand on a balcony over the water, by the sailboats at the Riverwalk Inn, while it snowed during our vows. Brrrrrrrrrrr! “The officiant, Christina Irvine, bless her heart, stood out in the cold as we said our vows. Several days later, once the sun and rainbow came out, we finally headed back over Mount Hood to make it back home. … Now we are packing and moving to Astoria as a newlywed couple, and can’t wait to be a part of the wonderful community where we will be setting down our roots. “Thank you to everyone for making this a wonderful Astoria memory for our wedding day, even in the snow storm of 2017!” ow that the strike is over, fishermen are out on the water catching as much Dungeness crab as they can. Ever wonder where they are fishing, exactly? Wonder no more. You can track the ones who have Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders aboard via the MarineTraffic.com map at http://tinyurl.com/where-boat. The larger icons on the map are the container ships, etc., that ply our waters. The fishing boats are the small orange icons. Just hover over one of them, and it will tell you the boat’s name; click on it, and a few details are available. Too bad it can’t tell you how much crab they’ve caught. N COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Lower Columbia R/C Society — 8:30 a.m., back room at Uptown Cafe, 1639 S.E. Ensign Lane, War- renton. Local Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) chartered radio control model aircraft club meets for breakfast and business. All model aircraft enthusiasts are welcome. For information, call 503-458-5196 or 503-325-0608. Columbia Northwestern Mod- el Railroading Club — 1 p.m., in Hammond. Group runs trains on HO-scale layout. For information, call Don Carter at 503-325-0757. Spinning Circle — 1 to 3 p.m., Astoria Fiber Arts Academy, 1296 Duane St. Bring a spinning wheel. For information, call 503-325-5598 or go to http://astoriafiberarts.com SUNDAY Chinook Indian Nation — 11 a.m. council meeting, Chinook Trib- al Office, 3 Park St., Bay Center, Washington. Meeting is open to all tribal members. Attendees are re- minded to bring a potluck item. Cannon Beach American Le- gion Women’s Auxiliary Break- fast — 9 to 11:30 a.m., American Legion, 1216 S. Hemlock St., Can- non Beach. Sit and Stitch Group — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Custom Threads, 1282 Commercial St. Knitting, cro- cheting and needle work. For infor- mation, call 503-325-7780. Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m., Seaside American Legion, 1315 Broadway. For information, call 503-738-5111. No cost; suggested $5 tip to the instructor. MONDAY Chair Exercises for Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in- formation, call 503-325-3231. Scandinavian Workshop — 10 a.m., First Lutheran Church, 725 33rd St. Needlework, hardanger, knitting, crocheting, embroidery and quilting. All are welcome. For information, call 503-325-1364 or 503-325-7960. Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m., Bob Chisholm Senior Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Suggested do- nation $3 for those older than 60; $6.75 for those younger than 60. For information, call Michelle Lew- is at 503-861-4200. Columbia Senior Diners — 11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange St. Cost is $6. For information, or to have a meal delivered, call 503-325-9693. ers 55 and older, but all ages are welcome. Warrenton Senior Lunch Pro- gram — noon, Warrenton Commu- nity Center, 170 S.W. Third St. Sug- gested donation of $5 for seniors and $7 for those younger than 60. For information, or to volunteer, call 503-861-3502 Monday or Thursday. Mahjong for Experienced Players — 1 p.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in- formation, call 503-325-3231. Astoria Rotary Club — noon, second floor of the Astoria Elks Lodge, 453 11th St. Guests always welcome. For information, go to www.AstoriaRotary.org Knochlers Pinochle Group — 1 p.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Cost is $1 per regular session per person. Players with highest and second highest scores split the prize. Game is designed for play- Astoria Alzheimer’s & Other Dementia Family Support Group — 2 to 3:30 p.m., first-floor conference room, Clatsop Care Center, 646 16th St. Open to all family members of people with de- mentias. For information, call Ro- setta Hurley at 503-325-0313, ext. 222, or email support@clatsopcare. org Line Dancing for Seniors — 3 to 4:30 p.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. Not for begin- ners. For information, call 503-325- 3231. Astoria Toastmasters — 6:30 p.m., Hotel Elliot confer- ence room, 357 12th St. Visitors welcome. For information, go to www.toastmasters.org or call Christa Svensson at 206-790- 2869. TUESDAY Stewardship Quilting Group — 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., First Lutheran Church, 725 33rd St. All are welcome. Donations of material always appre- ciated. For information, call Janet Kemp at 503-325-4268. Do Nothing Club — 10 a.m. to noon, 24002 U St., Ocean Park, Wash. Men’s group. For informa- tion, call Jack McBride at 360-665- 2721. See NOTES, Page 2B