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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
CUBISM
HISTORY MYSTERY: H.L. HUNLEY
E
noch Gray, 19, and his mother, Emily, moved to Astoria in
2005. He graduated from Astoria High School in 2016, and
expects to graduate from Oregon State University in March. But
being a student isn’t his only occupation: He’s a whiz at solving
the Rubik’s Cube and the even more difficult Megaminx puzzle,
which has 50 movable pieces. You can watch him solve a Rubik’s
cube in 18 seconds (!) at http://tinyurl.com/EnochCube.
Enoch competed in the World Rubik’s Cube Championship in
Las Vegas in 2013, and recently participated in the World Cube
Association Northwest Championships in Portland, coming home
with some “cubing” awards: Northwest Champion for solving
both the Rubik’s Cube 4x4x4 Blindfolded (5 minutes, 29 sec-
onds) and the 5x5x5 Blindfolded (11 minutes, 47 seconds). The
numbers refer to the number of squares on each side of the cube.
“He beat his personal record times for each,” his mother said.
“Enoch also currently holds the unofficial world record for
solving a Megaminx blindfolded,” she added, solving it in 9 min-
utes, 8 seconds, which boggles the imagination. “This is an unof-
ficial event because few people do it, and it takes a longer period
of time to compete than most events.”
Enoch started “cubing” in 2011. “My brother found an old
Rubik’s Cube at our grandparent’s house, and he was playing with
it,” he recalled. “I wanted to know how to solve it, so I looked up
a guide and learned the basic method.”
“I enjoy doing it,” he added, “because it gives me a goal to
work towards, whether that’s solving it faster, or solving a more
difficult puzzle, or solving it without looking.”
LEND A HAND
R
ecently Duke University researchers made a big
splash announcing they had figured out what hap-
pened to the crew of the Confederate submarine H.L.
Hunley (http://tinyurl.com/HunleyAnswer), shown in an
1863 painting by Conrad Wise Chapman. If your Civil
War history is a little rusty, the 40-foot Hunley, propelled
by a hand-crank for stealth, attacked and sank the Union’s
USS Housatonic near Charleston, South Carolina.
The sub’s weapon was a torpedo, filled with 135
pounds of black powder and affixed to the end of a
16-foot spar that was attached to its hull (an image of a
similar sub is shown, inset). Consequently, the Hunley
was able to ram the bomb directly into the 1,200-ton war-
ship’s hull below the waterline and blow it up. But then
the little sub vanished.
In 1995, the Hunley was discovered only about 1,000
feet from the Housatonic. It was raised in 2000, still con-
taining the remains of its eight-man crew, skeletons and
hatches intact. But what killed them?
Duke’s three-year study involved setting off blasts
near a scale model of the Hunley, and concluded that the
shock wave from the explosion killed Hunley’s crew,
most likely by means of “immediately fatal lung trauma.”
Not so fast, the Hunley Project says, the Duke study
didn’t have all the facts, and more research is necessary
to state definitively what occurred on the sub (http://
tinyurl.com/DukeNo). “Though a shock wave can cause
life-threatening injuries, this is something we discounted
quite a while back based on the evidence,” Jamie Downs,
former Alabama chief medical examiner, explained.
And the mystery continues.
BACK ON THE BOUNDING MAIN
A
bout a month ago, there was a story in this column about
a wooden cruising sailboat, the Havorn, originally built
in Norway in 1936 as a fishing boat. It was love at first sight
for Rick Knier in the early 1970s, his wife Toni, recalled, but
an opportunity to buy the boat didn’t come along until around
2005.
He lovingly restored the Havorn and brought her to Asto-
ria, where, he said, she could be seen “tacking through the
anchored ships.” Then disaster struck, when the top third of
the main mast, which had become decayed, broke off.
Rick decided to replace both the main and mizzen masts
with larch trees felled in Idaho, which he partially shaped on
the spot in the forest. On Aug. 25, a crane at Tongue Point
hoisted the finished masts into position, and with the help of
Bucky Barnett and Nate Killops, were set into place. The
photo, left, is courtesy of Peter Marshall; at right, courtesy
of Rick Knier.
“It might be mentioned that the gaff rig is somewhat
complicated,” Rick noted. “When the main mast was low-
ered, attached and sometimes dangling were 10 steel stays
and shrouds for supporting the mast, and hundreds of feet of
Dacron line formed into six halyards, employing eight single
and double wooden blocks.” Somewhat complicated? Yikes.
“Motoring by Alderbrook to her big event, the stout ketch
looked incomplete,” Rick added, “but on the return leg, she
was proudly displaying her pretty new spars.”
HONORABLE MENTION
LABOR OF LOVE
‘T
his sweet babe (a common murre jumpling) and many more
like him have washed onto shore and into our hands over the
past few weeks,” the Wildlife Center of the North Coast posted on
its Facebook page, with the photo shown.. “Each starving and in need
of food and critical care. These babies and their parents are struggling
out in the ocean right now, not finding enough small fish to eat, and
need our help. Will you help us care for these precious birds, provide
them with nutritious food, and a second chance at life?”
Want to lend a hand to this organization, which has done so much
to help local wildlife? Mail a check to P.O. Box 1232, Astoria OR
97103, or donate at www.coastwildlife.org
DRONE ON, ICELAND
Scandinavia neighbor beats the U.S. to the punch … this time it’s
Iceland, which has something Amazon.com has been dreaming
about in the U.S.: Drone delivery service, Mashable reports. In this
case, it’s for takeout food (http://tinyurl.com/TakeoutDrone).
Drone company Flytrex partnered with ecommerce company
AHA in the city of Reykjavik to provide the service. Drones, which
can carry a load of up to 6 pounds, can take a direct route “as the
crow flies” and deliver a package in four minutes. A truck would
take 25 minutes to get to the same location because of the way the
city is laid out. A drone in action is shown in a screen shot, courtesy
of Flytrex.
There’s no direct to door service just yet; someone has to load the
drone and send it to a delivery person, who then unloads the package
and drives it to the customer. It’s not all that expensive for this perk,
at 80 cents a mile.
So far, there’s only one route, but plans to add more, as well as
delivering directly to the consumer (via a drop-down wire) are in
the works.
A
ince Saturday, June 4, 1887, was the first official Labor Day
in Oregon, the Ear decided to check out what was going on
that day in The Daily Morning Astorian. The simple answer is:
Not much.
On Page 1, the featured story takes place in a Native Ameri-
can village outside Juneau, Alaska; the reporter attended a double
cremation ceremony. The only other story, amongst all the ads
(e.g. “C.H. Stockton, Pioneer Painter and Paper Hanger”), was a
short rant about the price of hay.
On Page 2, the prominent story is whether or not the Star of
Bethlehem would be visible during the Christmas season. Of
lesser importance, “The Joy of Planked Shad.”
Page 4 offers a short column of “Shipping Intelligence,” and
the rest is ads, many touting local saloons.
But hey, what about mentioning the first state holiday honor-
ing the working man? It’s on Page 3, where the local tidbits and
“Latest Telegraphic News” items are. Look just under the mast-
head for two words in small type, and there it is: “Labor day.”
S
S
ince Monday is Labor Day, a little history lesson is
in order, right from the source, the U.S. Department
of Labor (http://tinyurl.com/5Sep1882).
Although there had been many parades, picnics, etc.
supporting labor in the 1800s, there was no specific day
devoted to the working man. However, at a meeting of
the Central Labor Union in New York in May 1882,
someone — no mention of who, exactly — proposed
a “monster labor festival” for September. A committee
was duly formed, the date set, a park was chosen and a
resolution was passed declaring “that the 5th of Septem-
ber be proclaimed a general holiday for the workingmen
in this city.”
Unfortunately, employers weren’t exactly on board
with this idea, and anyone participating in the event
would lose a day’s pay. But that didn’t seem to throw a
wet blanket on the festivities, as the various local unions
puffed up their coffers by managing to sell 20,000 tick-
ets to the event.
Sept. 5, 1882 started out with grim prospects, as
only a few showed up at the beginning of the parade.
Gradually groups of union members and labor support-
ers showed up, however, and an estimated 10,000 peo-
ple wound up in the parade by the time it arrived at the
park for the celebration. An illustration of the crowd is
shown.
The event was a decided hit, and gradually other
areas started having festivals honoring workers, too.
In fact, Oregon was the first state declaring Labor Day
a state holiday in 1887, making it the first Saturday in
June, strangely enough (http://tinyurl.com/OreLD).
Eventually, bowing to public pressure, in 1894, Con-
gress declared an annual Labor Day to be celebrated the
first Monday in September, as it has been ever since.
And there you have it. Enjoy the day!
IS THAT YOU, ASTORIA?
T
he Ear audi-
bly hooted in
disbelief at Sunset
Magazine’s review
of Astoria, which
came in at No. 2 in
“Top 14 Unsung
Beach Towns”
(http://tinyurl.com/
AstoriaOcean):
“Yellow-slickered fishermen mix with just a sprinkling of iPad-tot-
ing tourists in this small riverfront town with San Francisco–steep
streets. Particularly fine stretches of sand with towering dunes and
uninterrupted ocean views make Astoria a dreamy spot … ”
Cannon Beach got a nod, too, as did Depoe Bay, Newport, Port
Orford, Bandon and Westport, Washington, but there’s no mention
of Hammond, where the photo of “Astoria” used for the story was
taken by Jake Stangel.
The Ear only has only one question: Would someone please point
out Astoria’s “towering dunes and uninterrupted ocean views”?
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
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.
Detachment 1228 Marine
Corps League — noon, El Compa-
dre, 119 Main Ave., Warrenton. For
information, contact Lou Neubecker
at 503-717-0153.
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
Seaside American Legion, 1315
Broadway. For information, call
503-738-5111. No cost; suggested
$5 tip to the instructor.
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.
SUNDAY
Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m.,
MONDAY — LABOR DAY
Senior Lunch (Seaside) — No
lunch served today.
Columbia Senior Diners (As-
toria) — No lunch served today.
Warrenton Senior Lunch Pro-
gram — No lunch served today.
Depression and Bipolar
Support Alliance — 7 to 9 p.m.,
Room A, Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital, 2111 Exchange St. Open to all
those diagnosed with a mood dis-
order, or have a family member or
friend diagnosed, or who think they
might have depression or bipolar
disorder. For information, contact
Patricia Fessler at 503-325-8930.
TUESDAY
World War II Warbirds — 8
a.m., Labor Temple Diner, 934
Duane St.
All are welcome. Donations
of material always appreciat-
ed. 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.
Stewardship Quilting Group
— 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., First
Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m.,
Lutheran Church, 725 33rd St.
See NOTES, Page 2B