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