Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2017)
1B THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (503) 325-3211 ext. 257 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON A MILLION HOURS emember the Costa Concordia? It’s the cruise ship that ran into some rocks and toppled over off the coast of Italy in 2012. More than 4,000 passengers and crew were aboard, and 32 died, gCaptain reports (http://tinyurl.com/costagone). The captain — who, in a series of mind-boggling maneuvers, sailed too close to shore to show off the ship to the locals, then abandoned ship when it started sinking — has been dealt with, and will spend 16 years in prison. But what about the ship? The wreck was an environmental nightmare (rotting food, hazardous waste, etc.), and had to be removed, but the nearest recycling place that could handle scrapping such an enormous project was many miles away. So how would they move it? A consortium of ship recyclers came up with a novel solu- tion: Salvage by parbuckling. The operation involved sinking portions of the ship deeper, then rotating the ship into an upright position on an underwater platform using anchor blocks, cement bags, caissons, strand jacks and, of course, giant cranes. Once the ship was upright, it was later refloated and towed to Genoa to be scrapped in 2014. It is pictured at the dock, courtesy of the Ship Recycling Consortium. Since then, it’s taken 350 men about 1 million hours to dis- mantle the ship and recycle approximately 53,000 tons of mate- rial. At last, what is considered the largest salvage job in maritime history — and undoubtedly the most expensive, at around $1.5 billion (http://tinyurl.com/costagone1) — is finished. BABY MAMA DRAMA R DRACO MALFOY MEETS COSMOPOLIS osmopolis, Washington, a small town (population about 1,600) on the way to Aberdeen, isn’t exactly the sort of place you’d expect to run into a movie star, much less one from the Harry Pot- ter movies. But sure enough, Tom Felton, who played villain Draco Mal- foy (and is now a regular on the TV series “The Flash”), popped in to the Maxi Mini Mart there earlier this month to get some gas, The Daily World of Aberdeen reports (http://tinyurl.com/tomfelt). And the cashier, Kelly Carney, took a selfie to prove it, shown courtesy of The Daily World. Why was he in Cosmopolis? He felt like going on a road trip, and was traveling from Canada to California. “He was really, really nice and friendly — very easy to talk to and strike up a conversa- tion with,” Kelly told the newspaper. “It was very awesome to be able to meet him. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.” he Ear has been remiss in not recognizing John Jacob Astor’s birthday. He was born July 17, 1763, in Walldorf, Germany, and died the wealthiest man in the country March 29, 1848, in New York, leaving seven children behind, according to Biography.com (http://tinyurl.com/bioastor). His was a long, successful and eventful life, but the Sunday, July 23, 1882 edition of The Daily Astorian offered a rather pithy synopsis of his time on Earth that the Ear could not resist shar- ing: “Long biographies of Astor are published in eastern papers. Boiled down, they condense thusly: John Jacob Astor came from Germany to New York with six flutes: sold them; invested in furs; kept on some more. Sent men to Oregon, invented Astoria, grew rich, died; exit Astor.” T hanks to Astoria writer/photographer Peter Marsh (http:// sea-to-summit.net) for this little nugget: Finland has bro- ken the world’s record for the largest number of naked peo- ple swimming at the same time, according to Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company (http://tinyurl.com/finndip). The fun took place at the The Ilosaarirock music festi- val, where the organizers of the event hoped they’d have 1,000 skinny dippers. They didn’t get that many, but there were 798, three more than the previous record, set by Australia’s Fig Group on March 8, 2015. A couple of the dippers are pictured, courtesy of Nelli Kallinen/Yle. People came from all over the country to jump in, Yle reports, hoping to help Finland break the record this time, after two pre- vious attempts by organizations to get enough naked swimmers together failed. To win, the swimmers had to stay in the water for five min- utes. When there were only 30 seconds left, the group “sponta- neously broke into song,” and sang the Finnish national anthem to celebrate Finland’s centennial this year. Onnittelut, Suomi! T s many probably already know, there was a dust-up between an irate mama elk and a bicyclist near 10th Street in Gearhart on Monday. It is calving season, after all, and getting too close to a calf is a major no-no — even if it’s unintentional. Gearhart residents Jim Furnish and author Stew- art Schultz (http://tinyurl.com/SSchultz) were on the scene. “We saw an obviously distressed cow elk stag- gering around on the dune,” Jim said. “Witnesses said the animal was attacking cars. The Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife was on hand, and we watched them put a couple tranquilizer darts in her, but she just wouldn’t go down and stay down.” “It was a tense situation,” Jim noted. Finally, “the state secured the cow and hauled her off under heavy sedation — then they put out a call for volunteers to help search for her calf in the thickets and tall beach grass. “Stewart and I saddled up and headed for the search area. We aimed right for the place mama was making her stand, and in less than a minute, Stew found it — a very young calf, hidden very well by the tall grass. The calf got scared and tried to bolt, but I was able to gen- tly tackle and hold it in my arms, then handed it off to Stew.” Jim’s photo of Stewart holding the calf is shown. “Yeah, it was great finding her,” Stewart said. “Mom will be happy to see her.” But no one seemed to know if the calf really had ultimately joined her mother, so a call to Herman Biederbeck, a wildlife biologist with ODFW, was in order. And yes, there’s a happy ending. Mama and calf were both taken to a remote wildlife area, God’s Valley, and were reunited there, he reported. Last seen, the pair were walking together through a field, headed for the tree line of the forest. A TELEPHONE RACE C HB2U VICTORY — JUST BARELY LAMBORGHINI LINE-UP any saw the line of bright-colored sports cars whizzing through the Astoria area last weekend, but few knew what they were, or why they were here. Well, the Ear is about to enlighten you. It was Automobili Lamborghini America’s annual Giro adventure. Thirty Lamborghini owners gathered to “share their cars with the world and navigate some of the most iconic roads, while enjoying regional culture, stunning attractions and beauti- ful landscapes along the way,” the Ear was told in a press release. A Giro photo is shown, courtesy of Extension PR. Since the Pacific Northwest was chosen for this year’s event, the trip started July 14 in Seattle, then headed south through Astoria and wound up in Portland. And now you know. M YOU SAW WHAT? n the Saturday, July 21, 1888 Daily Morning Asto- rian, the following letter appeared: “There has been so much said about the (sidewheeler T.J.) Potter and the (sternwheeler) Telephone racing, that I feel called upon to deny that there has been any race, as we are running for regular business. But if the managers of the Potter are anxious to satisfy the public which is the fastest boat, I am willing to make a run for time … — Capt. U.B. Scott” Capt. Uriah Bonsor Scott was the owner of the Tele- phone, which set the speed record for the Portland/Asto- ria route (http://tinyurl.com/scott-tele). It was also one of the first vessels to have a bucket-design sternwheel, which increased speed and saved on fuel, and the first to carry a piano on the Columbia River. At the time of Scott’s challenge, the Telephone had just been rebuilt after a devastating fire in November 1887 near Tongue Point. When the fire broke out, Scott sped the ves- sel up to 20 mph and beached it within three minutes of the fire’s start, staying aboard until he had to escape through the wheelhouse window at the very last minute. There was only one fatality, an inebriated man who died of his burns. All that was left of the vessel was the hull, but that was all Scott needed. The Telephone was relaunched in April 1888, wider and longer that the original model, with more cabins and cargo space, and the wise addition of additional fire valves and hoses. As for Scott’s challenge to the Potter, the race didn’t actually occur until several years later, on June 17, 1895 — after the Telephone had been through a sinking, sev- eral collisions and a recent overhaul that included a new, more powerful engine. Both boats left Portland at the same time, but the Telephone, which made all its scheduled stops (unlike the Potter) made it to Astoria an hour and a quarter before the Potter. There was no mention of whether or not Scott had bet any money on the race, but one can only hope so. I ast Thursday, John Weldon posted a photo (inset) on the Long Beach Peninsula Friends of Facebook page, along with the comment, “I actually spotted a camel in Long Beach, Wash- ington!” He must be joking, the Ear thought, although the critter in his photo sure did look like one. Yes, it’s a real camel, named Albert Haug, who is pictured. Of course, Albert has his own Facebook page, where he says his job is “Bein’ cute at Back Country Horse Adventures” in Long Beach. So what’s the deal? “Well my husband, Josh, and I own the horse rides in town, and some family friends of mine had Albert, but not enough time for him, so I bought him,” Stephanie Haug explained. “He is a 2-year-old. And you couldn’t touch him at all when we got him. It hasn’t taken us long to get him used to people, and he is doing really well, and now is very friendly.” No, Albert is not ready for his close-up just yet. But soon he’ll be out and about to view, feed and take photos with at Back Country Horse Adventures. “Albert is pretty amazing!” Stephanie declared. “The smartest animal I have ever worked with, and the coolest pet I have ever had! I love him so much!” L COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m., Sixth Street parking lot. Four County Point Train/Steam Donkey Trail hike. For informa- tion, call Bob Westerberg at 503- 325-4315. 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 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 information, 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 Broadway. For information, call 503-738-5111. No cost; suggested $5 tip to the instructor. formation, call 503-325-3231. Seekers Group — 6 to 7:30 p.m., Pioneer Presbyterian Church, 33324 Patriot Way, Warrenton. Group discusses issues facing re- ligious faith in the modern secular world. All are welcome. For informa- tion, call 503-861-2421. 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. MONDAY Mothers of Preschoolers — 10 to 11:30 a.m., Crossroads Com- munity Church, 40618 Old Highway 30, Svensen. MOPS group is a time Chair Exercises for Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in- for moms to relax and enjoy each others’ company. For information, call Tracy Wilson at 727-514-1611. 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. See NOTES, Page 2B
