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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2015)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 Chessman was a courageous publisher O bituaries are good reading. Every life story tells us something about the era from which the deceased came. The obituary of Robert Chessman Jr., published here Sept. 9, omitted an important detail. Chessman was the grandson of Merle Chessman — publisher of this newspaper and its predeces- sor for 30 years. He was also the person for whom the Asto- ria-Megler ferry, Steve the M.R. Chess- Forrester man, was named. The de- ceased’s father, Robert Chessman Sr., was also our newspaper’s publisher for 12 years, ending in 1959. Merle Chessman was my grandfa- ther’s business partner and journal- istic colleague. I grew up knowing about the Chessmans, but never meet- ing them. I rode the M.R. Chessman. Being out on the mouth of the Colum- bia River on that vessel was quite a thrill for a kid from Eastern Oregon. The Sept. 9 issue that carried Rob- ert Chessman Jr’s obituary also car- ried a historical item about his aunt, Peggy Chessman Lucas, who was Merle Chessman’s daughter. Ten years ago, Lucas died at the age of 90. She had been the oldest living Regatta queen. Because of the De- pression, the Regatta could not afford a tiara for Peggy, so they did a one- day rental. When Peggy returned for the 1998 Regatta, she was presented with a new tiara from Loop Jacobsen Jewelers. M erle Chessman was a very im- portant figure in Astoria’s pre- World War II life. My appreciation of the man’s dimensions have deep- ened since reading a draft of William Willingham’s history of the Astorian and its sister newspapers and owning families. To get through the worst of the Depression, the Astoria Daily Budget issued its own scrip, called Budget Beaver Pelts. The Portland historian’s chapter on the Great Depression conveys the extreme measures the Pendleton and Astoria papers took when small towns faced a liquidity crisis. “To get around the lack of cash when the banks closed, Merle Chessman adopted a novel approach,” wrote Willingham. “The Astoria Budget issued its own scrip, known as the “Budget Beaver Pelts.” As Chessman explained, ‘It was just a temporary expedient but it worked out very well. We’re getting some bills paid thereby which would be unpaid as yet. We issued 50 per cent of the payroll a week ago in scrip and 25 per cent today and also paid the car- riers 50 per cent. In all we have issued about $650 in scrip and it is returning to us at a lively pace. Practically all of the business houses accepted it at face and numbers of them gave back cash change. We do not expect to continue it.’” (Mar. 18, 1933, EO Archives). Merle Chessman’s brush with his- tory was facing down the Astoria Ku Klux Klan, which ran an anti-Catho- lic campaign in the municipal elec- tion of 1922. The Klan pressured my grandfather in Pendleton to fire When Astoria banks closed during the Great Depression, The Astoria Bud- get issued Budget Beaver Pelts, a scrip that was designed to increase li- quidity in the local economy. Budget employees were paid in the scrip. Local businesses could use the scrip to buy advertising in the Budget. Chessman. He did not accede to the Klan’s appeal. Chessman’s courage was noted in the eulogy delivered by the Rev. Philip B. Lewis, pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Said Lewis: “(Chessman) struck hard at the roots of intolerance and we were knit together as neigh- bors.” The Klan struggle is quite a story. Sandra Haarsager tells it well in Eminent Astorians. In correspondence with Rob- ert Chessman Jr., two years ago I realized he was unaware of that book. I am hoping that his chil- dren have it, so they know of their great grandfather’s legacy. In the early morning hours of Dec. 8, 1922, as the great Astoria fire raged, Chessman sprayed water on the roof of the newspaper’s office in the 1100 block of Exchange Street. At some risk to his life, he stayed up there until ordered out of the fire zone. C hessman was a rare journalist who also served in public office. In 1942, he was appointed to fill a va- cancy in the Oregon Senate. He won re-election. Chessman died unexpectedly at the age of 60 from a brain tumor in Sep- tember 1947. Pastor Lewis said this at Chessman’s funeral: “He endowed us with a monumental spirit in the life of our community.” — S.A.F. Portrait of Merle Chessman, who was editor of the Daily Astorian, and had a ferry named after him. Clatsop County Historical Society/Donated by Steve Forrester Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian This house on the 1100th block of Grand Avenue was Merle Chessman’s home. At debate, Republicans talk the talk issue destroyed Michele Bachmann’s political career" One can only hope. Of course everyone wanted to hear Jeb Bush ur national at- take on the front-runner. tention span is ... Smackdown! Bush got short. his opportunity very early. The Republican presi- Where would he go" Im- dential primary debate on migration" Taxes" Foreign affairs" Wednesday was ... long. Bush accused Trump of Really, if you throw in giving him campaign dona- the earlier loser debate, it tions in order to get casino was the longest ever. gambling in Florida. Gail The Lincoln-Douglas “Totally false,” said Collins debates would go on for Trump. “I promise if I want- three hours. But that was ed it, I would have gotten back when in many towns, the most it.” exciting public activity of the year was Do you think that’s what Bush pole-raising. was practicing over the last couple of Are people going to remember the weeks" There were six or seven peo- shallow, sassy Donald Trump from the ple on the stage who sounded more ¿ rst half-hour" (“I wrote The Art of the forceful than he did. A recent poll in Deal. I say not in a braggadocio’s way Florida suggested that only 52 percent I’ve made billions and billions of dol- of Florida Republicans want their for- lars.”) mer governor to continue running for Or the middle-section Trump who president. At times on Wednesday, that clearly didn’t have a clue about how seemed like overenthusiasm. to critique President Barack Obama’s Bush perked up a little in the mid- Syrian policy" (“Somehow he just dle, when he volunteered that he’d doesn’t have courage. There’s some- smoked marijuana in his youth. Then thing missing from our president.”) at the end, when he was asked what And then there was the completely, woman he’d like to see on the $10 bill, unbelievably irresponsible Trump of he said ... Margaret Thatcher. the ¿ nale who claimed he knew peo- Nobody wanted to deal with the ple whose daughter got autism from a global warming issue. Virtually every- vaccine shot. (This happened, he said, body made up a Planned Parenthood to “people that work for me just the scenario that never existed. Ah, Re- other day.”) publicans. Remember when the vaccination And in other activities, Carly Fiori- By GAIL COLLINS New York Times News Service O na managed to yet again drop the name “my good friend ... Bibi Netanyahu.” Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin repeated his previous debate trick of vanishing entirely into the scenery. Walker’s poll numbers are vanishing, too, and it appears his only playing card is to remind people that he fought against public-employee unions. Late- ly he’s been desperately upping the anti-union ante so much that his next step would have to be demanding that federal employees be prohibited from talking with one another outside of work. Marco Rubio — remember Marco Rubio" The senator who vanished all summer except the time he hit the kid in the head with a football" He de¿ - nitely looked rested. Ben Carson, at one point, appeared to be accusing Trump of socialism. Chris Christie did pretty well. Too bad he’s such a terrible governor. New Jersey would rather have another traf¿ c crisis at the George Washing- ton Bridge than vote again for Chris Christie. What do you think it is about gov- ernors in this race" Florida is deeply unenthusiastic about Jeb Bush, Wis- consin seems to hate Scott Walker, and if Louisiana had a chance to get its hands on Bobby Jindal, God knows what would happen. The debate went on for so long it was a wonder no one fainted. And think about the viewers who made it all the way from the ¿ rst segment — the one where the CNN preview featured Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump, left, and Jeb Bush slap hands near the finish of the CNN Republican presi- dential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Wednesday in Simi Valley, Calif. The debate went on for so long it was a wonder no one fainted. a zipper at the bottom of the screen announcing, “PATAKI ARRIVES AT DEBATE HALL.” “The ¿ rst four questions are about Donald Trump!” former Gov. George Pataki complained. Sen. Lindsey Gra- ham repeatedly slid in the fact that his parents ran a bar and a poolroom. Gra- ham insists he’s really enjoying him- self, although when someone keeps saying “I’m running because I think the world is falling apart,” it’s sort of a downer. Former Sen. Rick Santorum and Jindal tried so hard to break through the barrier of national indifference they sounded like rabid otters. Yes, some political junkies watched Republicans debating for almost ¿ ve hours Wednesday. This should be a message to the Demo- crats. Right now the party is engaged in a ¿ ght about whether its schedule of three debates in 2015 is too puny. There are a number of democratic nations in the world where you could easily overcome this argument by pointing out that the election is not until 2016. But the American people are ¿ ne with more debates. Honest, there can be one every night as long as the American people are not actually forced to watch them. It could be a kind of endurance contest. Last person standing gets the nomination. STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Founded in 1873