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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2017)
1B THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2017 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (503) 325-3211 ext. 257 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON FLASHY CASH hanks to Peter Marsh, local maritime writer, for this tip, timely for the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival this week- end: Norway has released new banknotes, and they have a mari- time theme, according to TheLocal (http://tinyurl.com/norsebucks). The new notes feature fish and a Viking ship on the backside to highlight the country’s maritime heritage. They replace, for the first time, the famous Norwegians the central bank has always used in the past on the currency. There’s even a video to promote and introduce the new cash, which is getting international attention. It features “DJ Codfa- ther” rapping in Norwegian and three fishermen in bright yellow Sou’westers, swinging codfish (when they’re not singing to them). Some screen shots from the ad — which can be seen at http:// tinyurl.com/norsebucks2 — are shown. Despite all the fun and games behind these eye-appealing banknotes, there’s a more serious reason for the change: Upping the security by adding visible filaments and invisible marks to make the notes more difficult to counterfeit, and, the bank chief says, “safer than ever before.” T SAILORS NEED NOT APPLY olls Royce made the first moves toward the oceangoing unmanned auton- omous container ship concept, but according to The Straits Times, it looks like two Norwegian com- panies, a maritime technology firm and a fertilizer manufacturer, have partnered to beat them to the punch, at least on a small local level (http://tinyurl.com/autoshipNorsk). The 229-foot-long Yara Birkeland, electric powered with zero emissions, will be launched next year to transport fertilizer from one port to another port nearby, replacing 40,000 truck ship- ments a year. The ship will be manned at first, but in 2020, the Birkeland will be fully autonomous. It is pictured, courtesy of www.km.kongsberg.com Autonomous ships would reshape the shipping industry. One consultant estimated using a crew amounts to 44 percent of a ship’s costs. And, a great deal of a ship’s space is dedicated to crews and their needs. No crew equals significant savings, and a lot more cargo space. A win-win all the way around for the ship- ping companies. For sailors, not so much. R A THORNY DEMISE une 15 and 16 mark the 206th anniversary of when John Jacob Astor’s ship, the Tonquin, which brought settlers to establish Fort Astoria in March 1811, met her doom. In an account on HeritageHistory.com (http://tinyurl. com/tonquindone), here’s what happened, according to a Chehalis Indian named Lamanse, the Tonquin’s translator, who wandered into Astoria to tell the tale: After leaving Astoria, the Tonquin headed north to buy furs for trade. Eventually they anchored off a large Nootka Indian village, known to be hostile. A previous American ship’s captain had insulted a native chieftain, and the ship was attacked and burned. The only two survivors were enslaved. After that, ships entering their harbor traded with care. Then a second American ship’s captain took 12 Nootka hunters, saying he’d bring them back. He abandoned them on a barren island, instead. The Nootkas swore revenge on the next ship to come in — the Tonquin. It didn’t help that the Tonquin’s captain, Jonathan Thorn, was, to put it bluntly, a nitwit. Things started off well with the Nootkas, but then Thorn thought the chief wanted too much money for his furs. Thorn insulted the chief, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and booted him off the ship. The next day, dozens of seemingly unarmed Nootkas boarded the Tonquin with furs to trade, wanting hunting and butcher knives in exchange. Thorne’s greed overcame his common sense, and soon the newly armed Nootkas — plus several who had hidden war clubs and tomahawks in the furs — were swarming the ship and killing everyone in sight. Including Thorn. Lamanse dove overboard and escaped. Five sailors, up in the rigging during the melee, came down and drove off the attackers with guns; four left in a boat, and were later captured and killed. The one sailor left, mortally wounded, stayed aboard the Tonquin and enticed the Nootkas to return and take whatever they wanted. When they did, he blew them, himself and the ship to smithereens. And so the Tonquin’s story ends with a bang. Literally. J AROUND TOWN SALTY TALK rom the Sunday, June 17, 1888 edition of The Daily Morning Astorian: • The wreck of the Julia Foard at Karluk, Alaska, bought by C. T. Thomes for $51 (about $1,270 now), is reported to have been a lucky speculation on the part of the purchaser, who has saved $16,000 worth of the cargo (almost $400,000 now). Note: According to AlaskaShipwreck.com, the Julia Foard, a 136-foot-long American wooden barque, ran aground in the Karluk River on April 27 after leaving Asto- ria April 12 with a crew of 12, 25 Chinese cannery workers and 450 tons of general merchandise for the salmon cannery. At the time she ran aground, 17 were aboard, but all escaped. The vessel was worth $12,000 and the cargo $30,000. For $51, Mr. Thomes got quite a sweet deal. • Henry (Harry) Hendrickson, who was reported drowned, turned up all right yesterday. He says that he would have stayed down where he was engaged in clearing his net, but hearing the report he was drowned, came up to town. Note: The day before, Saturday, June 16, 1888, was a mournful day on the coast, as one headline read “Drowned from their boats. Sad tidings from the mouth of the river.” Rough weather caused several accidents among the canner- ies’ fishing fleets, with several capsizes, overturned boats and there were several rescued, missing and drowned fisher- men up and down the river, from Astoria to the bar. “Experienced fisherman say it was one of the suddenest and severest squalls they ever experienced. With the excep- tion of Johns Johanson, who was drowned in Baker’s Bay, it does not seem that any foresight or care could have pre- vented the terrible series of fatal accidents near the mouth of the river during the past two or three days.” Happily, Harry Hendrickson was not one of them. THE MOTHER OF FATHER’S DAY n 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd (pictured) of Spokane, Washing- ton, wondered why fathers didn’t have an official day honoring them. She especially wanted to recognize her own father, William Smart (also pictured), a Civil War veteran and widower, who raised six children all by himself (www.fathersdaycelebration.com). She drummed up support for the idea around the state to cel- ebrate Father’s Day on June 5, her father’s birthday. Timing issues ruled that date out, so the first statewide Father’s Day was held June 19, 1910. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson officially recognized Father’s Day; in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge encouraged all of the states to observe the day; and President Lyndon John- son signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day in 1966. But it wasn’t until 1972 that President Richard Nixon pro- claimed the day honoring fathers a permanent national holiday. Happily, Sonora lived long enough to see her dream come true, and to become officially recognized herself, as the “Mother of Father’s Day.” I HEARTBREAKER he night of Wednesday, June 7, Coast Guard Station Tilla- mook Bay received a distress call from a 40-foot sailboat, El Corazon out of Portland. They were about 15 miles off Cannon Beach, and limping on one engine to Coos Bay. The captain was sick, and the first mate was inexperienced. When the Corazon’s other engine died, and the vessel was totally disabled, the Coast Guard went out early Thursday morn- ing to tow them in. But the sailboat was taking on water and had become unsafe, so the order was given to abandon ship. The mar- iners were rescued, and the tow line was cut. Later Thursday morning, El Corazon came ashore at Cannon Beach. As you can see from Angi Wildt’s photo, as of this Wednes- day afternoon, almost a week later, El Corazon was still lying on the beach. It’s a heartbreaker for the owner, but a prime subject for local photographers. T WANTED: TUNA FISHERMEN F PB’s Oregon Field Guide did an intense and informative episode about the Columbia River Bar Pilots that aired last year. The 16-minute film features lots of white-knuckle footage of bar pilots doing their job, plus interviews with them about their work. And now, the Northwest Chapter of the Academy of Tele- vision Arts and Sciences has shown the episode some love, and awarded it a well-deserved Emmy. You can watch the show at http://tinyurl.com/OPBbar. When you do, you’ll likely notice that retired bar pilot Capt. Donald Nelson (pictured, in a screen shot), who died recently at the age of 88, steals the show. In case you didn’t know it, he holds the record for the most bar crossings — 50,000 plus — in his 39 years with the Colum- bia River Bar Pilots. He operated the Pilot Boat Peacock, now on display outside the Columbia River Maritime Museum, for 21 of those years. During his interview, Capt. Nelson talked about his experi- ences out on the water, including a harrowing time he was lost at sea, and dispensed a few wry bon mots in the process. The Ear’s favorite? “A lot of people told me, ‘Well you must know where every rock is on that bar,’” he recalled. “I say, ‘No, I don’t, but I know where they ain’t.’” O his one’s for you, tuna fishermen: “A major TV network is now looking for hard-working commercial crews in Ore- gon and Washington to appear in a brand new documentary TV series during the 2017 tuna season,” a recent press release from Pilgrim Studios (www.pilgrimstudios.com) says. The TV series will spotlight the men and women in the Pacific Northwest’s albacore fishery. Please note: Pilgrim Studios pro- duces shows for the Discovery and History channels, Syfy, Life- time, OWN, Animal Planet, WE tv and the National Geographic Channel. Sound interesting? If you plan to be anywhere between New- port and Westport, Washington, go ahead and contact them at TunaCrewCasting@gmail.com with your name, the boat’s name, your phone number, a recent photo of yourself and a brief expla- nation of why your crew should be on the show. You can read all the rules and apply online at http://tinyurl.com/tunacast If you get picked to be on the program, you’ve got to be avail- able for first-season taping in the Ilwaco, Washington area, from about Aug. 9 to Oct. 2, and for possible future seasons. T COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Chinook Indian Nation Annual Council Meeting — Registration at 9:30 a.m., meeting at 11 a.m., South Bend High School cafeteria, 500 E. First St., South Bend, Washington. Meeting is open to all tribal members. Attendees are reminded to bring a potluck item. For questions, call the Tribal Office at 360-875-6670. Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knitting, crochet or other needlework projects to this community stitching time. All skill levels welcome. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. Astoria Rotary Club — noon, second floor of the Astoria Elks Lodge, 453 11th St. Guests always welcome. For information, go to www.AstoriaRotary.org Warrenton Senior Lunch Pro- See NOTES, Page 2B