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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2017
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
DAISY’S WHEELS
aisy the Labrador retriever’s story, which the Ear first read
about in The Daily News of Longview, Washington, (http://
tinyurl.com/TDNdaisy), is a cautionary tale: Don’t let dogs ride
in the back of your truck.
Daisy’s original owner did just that, and Daisy fell out. Then
she was run over. He didn’t bring her in for treatment, and Daisy
lost the use of her front legs. But wait, it gets worse. Then he
couldn’t deal with Daisy’s medical issues, so he dropped her off
at a vet’s office to be euthanized.
So here’s where the good news starts. The vet called Shelly
Westby, co-founder of Rescued Paws of Longview (www.face-
book.com/rescued.paws), who immediately agreed to be Daisy’s
foster mom. Shelly figured maybe a wheelchair was the answer
for Daisy, so she tried to raise the money for one (they run about
$600).
When she found out about Gunnar’s Wheels in Wisconsin
(http://tinyurl.com/GunnarsWheels), a foundation that provides
free wheelchairs for dogs in need, she appealed to them via Face-
book. Jason Parker, founder of the nonprofit, contacted Shelly
quickly, and a new wheelchair arrived within a week. “He was
happy to help, and I am beyond thrilled,” Shelly said.
One problem: The wheelchair arrived in what seemed like
a zillion pieces. Shelly’s husband, Ted, took a crack at it, but
then Shelly came up with the idea of asking a bicycle shop to
assemble it. That’s when she turned to Bob’s Sporting Goods in
Longview, who readily offered to help.
So, Daisy now has her new wheelchair, but it’s going to take
some getting used to. “I was really hoping she would take off,”
Shelly said, “but there’s a learning curve.”
But Shelly is a believer, and thinks Daisy will get the hang of
it. “She’s just an amazing dog.”
D
LOST AND FOUND
JEREMIAH’S NOTE
BABY TEA RULES THE ROOST
T
his is a little late for the anniversary of the Titanic
sinking on April 15, but the Ear just found this little
nugget: Did you know there was a message in a bottle sent
from the Titanic? No, it wasn’t from John Jacob Astor’s
namesake, John Jacob Astor IV, who died in the disaster.
It was sent by 19-year-old Jeremiah Burke (pictured)
of Glanmore, County Cork, Ireland, the youngest of seven
children, who was being sent to join two of his sisters,
who were living in the U.S., according to IrishCentral.com
(http://tinyurl.com/BurkeNote).
Strangely enough, even though the Titanic sank off the
coast of Newfoundland, around 3,000 miles west of Ire-
land, Jeremiah’s note came ashore a few miles from his
family home about a year later. The message was short but
sweet: “From Titanic, goodbye all, Burke of Glanmire,
Cork.”
A relative, Mary Woods, told the Belfast Telegraph that
a few days after the bottle was found, “a person came up
to (Jeremiah’s mother) and said ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’
It was only then that she found out what had happened.”
There was no doubt the note was from young Jeremiah,
as once his mother saw it, she recognized his handwrit-
ing. And, the bottle it arrived in originally contained holy
water, and she had given it to her son when she saw him
off. He used one of his shoelaces to tie up the note before
tossing the bottle into the ocean.
“(His mother) died of a broken heart within the year,”
Mary observed. The note and bottle stayed in the family
until 2011, when they were donated to the Cobh Heritage
Centre in County Cork.
tiny Golden Polish chick in Naselle, Washington, named
Baby Tea, who was raised by Christy Fetzer, has earned a
big title: Purina Poultry’s 2017 Cutest Chick in America.
The contest was conducted on Purina Poultry’s Facebook
page, which Christy follows, and she and her son, Jacob,
couldn’t resist entering the photo shown of the adorable Baby
Tea, who was victorious over more than 1,100 other chicks vying
for the title.
The newly minted celebrity is a member of Christy’s backyard
flock, affectionately known as The Breakfast Club, so the win-
ner’s prize will come in handy: A year’s supply of Purina organic
poultry feed.
“I obviously love my chickens, I have 37 of them!” Christy
confessed. “It’s an honor to have the Cutest Chick in America liv-
ing in my backyard coop. And since the girls love to eat, they are
happy with the grand prize of 14 bags of organic feed!”
A
BREAD, MILK AND A LIFEBOAT
THE WRECK OF THE ALASKAN
t’s not often one would associate corporations with caring,
but convenience store Seven-Eleven Japan Co. is equipping
three of its stores with unsinkable lifeboats for the safety of
their employees and customers, according to The Asahi Shim-
bun (http://tinyurl.com/711boats). The outlets chosen, which are
in high tsunami risk zones, and have no evacuation sites nearby,
will have the lifeboats installed in their parking lots.
The capsule-shaped boats are about 28 feet long, 11 feet wide,
are made of fiber-reinforced plastic, and can right themselves if
flipped. One is pictured, courtesy of Shigi Shipbuilding Co. Each
boat can carry up to 25 passengers, who are strapped in with thee-
point seat belts, fastened at both shoulders and waist. A week’s
supply of food and water can be stored under the floor.
Better yet, if the lifeboat gets sucked out to sea by a tsunami,
there’s also an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon on
board, so the Japanese Coast Guard can hopefully find it and
bring it back.
For forward out-of-the-box (store) thinking: Kudos to Sev-
en-Eleven Japan.
I
L
ast week there was a story about Sarah Martin in Australia
looking for Jeanne Lake (Miller), who visited Australia as
an exchange student from Astoria in 1972, and stayed with Sar-
ah’s grandparents. Sarah’s parents, Phillip and Jackie Donkin
had lost touch with Jeanne, and hoped to find her. The couple is
pictured, with Jeanne (at right).
Well, they found her, although Jeanne’s no longer in Astoria
— she lives in Salem and Enterprise. Her former husband called
and told her about the story, so she contacted the Ear, and the rest
is history. “The Donkins were absolutely wonderful people,” she
said. “Sent (Sarah) a long email summarizing the past 45 years!”
“Looking forward to receiving a reply and reuniting with a
wonderful family I knew a lifetime ago,” Jeanne added. “It’s kind
of like Christmas.”
WHAT IS THAT?
e just found one of
our crab pots!” Kari
Petersen posted on Facebook.
“It is like finding a needle in a
haystack. Big ocean.” The crab
pot is pictured. “What in the
world is on this crab pot?” she
asked. “That crab pot has been
in the ocean for years … It is all
over the rope and pot.”
The Ear sent out a few que-
ries. “The consensus of the
researchers here at Point Adams is that this anemone is of the
genus Metridium farcimen, otherwise known as the Gigantic
Anemone,” Michelle Rub, a fisheries biologist at NOAA Fish-
eries in Hammond wrote. But, she cautioned, “it’s hard to say
definitively without seeing the plumes.”
Kelsey Adkisson of the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife, Marine Resources Program, also replied. “Our biol-
ogists said they are a type of anemone called pile or plumose
anemones. Scientifically, they are in a genus collectively referred
to as ‘Metridium.’” she wrote.
So, there you have it: Anemone, genus Metridium; exact spe-
cies — hard to say, under the circumstances.
‘W
F
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, May 19, 1889:
“That was a touching sight when the ten-year-old son
of Jas. Stephens went trembling to the dock at Portland,
asking for news of his papa, who with many other hap-
less souls went tossing on the water from the wreck of the
Alaskan.”
According to Wikipedia, the 276-foot long Alaskan
(pictured) was an iron-hulled side-wheel steamboat whose
regular route was the Columbia River and Puget Sound
(http://tinyurl.com/AlaskanSank). With 34 on board, but
no freight or passengers, it crossed the Columbia River
bar on Saturday morning, May 11, 1889, heading for some
underwater work and hull maintenance at a shipyard in
San Francisco.
By Sunday afternoon, about 18 miles off Port Orford,
the waves were large and rolling, and the Alaskan, which
was not designed for heavy seas, was in trouble. The side-
wheels kept being pulled out of the water by the waves, so
forward progress became almost impossible.
Soon the aftercabin came loose, the wooden upper
works were being torn away, and the ship was taking on
water. Around 6 p.m. Sunday, the port paddle box tore off,
leaving holes in the hull, and the water came in faster than
it could be pumped out. By midnight, the only power the
Alaskan had left was an emergency sail.
Several abandoned ship on three lifeboats, which were
then tied to the Alaskan on a line. The captain and four
other crewman stayed aboard and launched distress rock-
ets. By 1 a.m., the captain had to cut the line to the boats,
and those left on board the Alaskan were stranded.
Fortunately, the tug Vigilant saw the distress signal, and
arrived Monday evening. Three crew members were res-
cued from the pilot house, one from a raft, one boatload
was picked up, and the captain was found hanging onto a
deck fragment after 33 hours in the water. The second boat
made it to shore, but the third disappeared with all hands.
In all, 21 of the 34 perished, and Jas. Stephens was proba-
bly one of them.
UNEXPECTED CARGO
rom Clatsop Current News (http://clatsopcurrentnews.com):
“In the early morning of Friday, May 5, a concerned citizen
called in to the Astoria Dispatch team to report a suspicious cir-
cumstance. They had happened to find a dead dolphin in the bed
of (a) truck.
“The police determined that the vehicle was property of the
Seaside Aquarium and the driver was authorized to transport such
marine mammals. That solves the who and the what, but we’re all
still wondering why!”
“It was a five-foot male, white sided dolphin,” Tiffany
Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium explained. “It washed in near
the South Jetty, and had been dead for a while before washing in.
We retrieved the animal from the beach, which was transferred
to Portland State University, where Dr. Debbie Duffield will per-
form the necropsy.”
And now you know.
F
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Meet with Tom Brownson — 9 a.m., 3
Cups of Coffee, 279 W. Marine Drive. Meet
with Astoria City Councilman Tom Brown-
son.
Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m., Sixth
Street parking lot. Cape Falcon Road south
to Short Sands hike. For information, call
Jan Coughlin at 503-791-3521.
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Home-
spun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knit-
ting, crochet or other needlework projects to
this community stitching time. All skill levels
welcome.
Columbia Northwestern Model Rail-
roading 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
Cannon Beach American Legion
Women’s Auxiliary Breakfast — 9 to
11:30 a.m., American Legion, 1216 S. Hem-
lock St., Cannon Beach.
Angora Hiking Club — 2 p.m., Spring
Potluck and Meeting, Seaside Hostel, 930
N. Hollady Drive, Seaside. For information,
call Nguyen Trung, club president, at 503-
739-0243.
Bingo & Dessert Auction — 1 to 4
p.m., Astoria Moose Lodge, 420 17th St.
Games begin at 1 p.m., desserts auctioned
between games. Bingo packets $10 for 10
games; extra games $1 per sheet. Fund-
raiser for Astoria Moose Trekkers Relay for
Life team, all proceeds donated to Relay for
Life — American Cancer Society.
National Alliance on Mental Illness
(NAMI) Support Group — 2 to 3:30 p.m.,
Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway.
Family to Family Support Group, for anyone
with friend or loved one suffering from a
serious brain (mental) illness. For informa-
tion, contact Myra Kero at 503-738-6165, or
k7erowood@q.com, or go to www.nami.org
Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m.,
Seaside American Legion, 1315 Broad-
way. 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 Ex-
change St. For information, call 503-325-
3231.
See NOTES, Page 2B