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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2017)
1B THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (503) 325-3211 ext. 257 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME? ince the North Coast is a land of sand castle competitions, the Ear thought it should be noted that the Guinness World Record for the tallest sand castle has just been broken (http:// tinyurl.com/tonsofsand). Again. The 54.72-foot high enterprise is in Germany, and not even on a beach. Pictured in a photo by Lucas Bruggemann, it is the creation of 19 sand artists from around the world who used hand tools for the designs. Consisting of 3,500 tons of compressed sand, the castle shows representations of famous global tourist attractions — it even has a water slide — and took 25 days to complete. An excavator, cranes and wooden scaffolding were needed to get this thing started. The sad news is the record-breaker is only on display until Sept. 29. You’ve got to wonder … what in tarnation will they do with all that sand? S NEVER START STOPPING pen-ocean paddler and National Geographic “Adventurer of the Year,” Freya Hoffmeister (aka the Goddess of Love to the Seas), with little ado and no local fanfare, paddled her kayak across the Columbia River bar on Aug. 23. She is pictured in a photo by Chris Cunningham. The bar passage was part of her 30,000-mile expedition around North America, “Never Start Stopping – Never Stop Starting,” which she is doing in three- to five-month blocks. This 151-day leg of the journey was from Seattle to Kodiak, Alaska, then Seattle to Pacific City, and ended Aug. 27. “I was able to time the crossing of the mighty Columbia River mouth perfectly, and had no big issues,” she noted in a blog post (http://freyahoffmeister.com/posts). “When I was nearing the South Jetty, I knew there was some submerged remainders of an older jetty at the end. A big piece was still visible, where a sea lion colony found a new home. Between that ‘island’ and the new head, here and there I saw a few rocks, but I still dared to cross right over in some lumpy water with strong current. I could avoid the rocks, but also couldn’t take a picture of the sea lions (while) steering carefully. … But I was quickly across, and safe! Yeah!” “I’ll be continuing next March going south first for about three months,” she noted, “the north again for another three months. New inquiries for potential paddling partners are now very welcome!” O I’VE GOT A BRIDGE TO SELL YOU ost folks wouldn’t consider visiting Fukushima — home of the nuclear facility that is still leaking radiation after being damaged during the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami — as a highlight of their bucket list, much less a prime tourist attrac- tion. But a good salesman might change all that. In August, the governor of Fukushima prefecture, Masao Uchibori, met with two Vietnamese companies and wrangled a deal to increase the number of charter flights/tour packages from Ho Chi Minh City to Fukushima Airport between February and April, The Japan Times reports (http://tinyurl.com/visitfuku). He is pictured, courtesy of KYODO/The Japan Times. The governor wants the “Vietnamese people to see Fukushima making its way on reconstruction” and “feel hope for the future.” While visiting, he appeared at a local market offering tastings and selling some Fukushima-grown Japanese pears. Hopefully, they weren’t glowing. M NEWSY NOTES ocal and world news tidbits from The Daily Morn- ing Astorian, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 1884: • Stonewall Jackson’s war horse, a sorrel gelding, once fiery but now with less oxygen in his windpipe, is cared for at the Virginia Military Institute. … The other day a lock of his mane was presented to the Tennessee Historical Society. • In Japan, where cremation is regularly practiced, it is said the most expensive form costs $7 (about $168 now). • Sheriff’s Sale, Tuesday, Sept. 9: Under instructions from W. G. Ross, Sheriff of Clatsop County, I will sell at public auction, at the Point Adams Packing Compa- ny’s Cannery, in Upper Astoria: … 300 feet of lumber; 8 cords of wood; 3,000 labels … 16 oars … B. S. Wors- ley, auctioneer. Note: On Sept. 26, the business sold for $11,000 (about $267,000 now) to Geo. W. Hume, who with his brothers, are said to have brought the cannery business to the Columbia River (on the Washington side) about 20 years earlier (http://tinyurl.com/HumeBros). Then in 1885, G.H. George and W.H. Barker bought the Point Adams Packing Company and ran it as “George & Barker” (http://tinyurl.com/GeoBar). • The gallows during the present year has filled more graves than in any previous year in the history of the U.S. • The U.S. has 143,940 miles of telegraph completed, while the whole world has 550,000 miles. • Seventy-nine fires have been caused in New York City during 12 years by rats and mice nibbling matches. L IN THE TRENCHES he Goonies” fans might want to shake their penny jars for this one: Data’s stunt trench coat, which he wore in sev- eral scenes in the cult classic film, is up for auction by the Prop Store in London, but it ain’t cheap. Bids on the coat begin at noon (British Summer Time) Sept. 26. The starting offer is £7,500 ($9,688), and the double-breasted coat is expected to fetch between £15,000 to £25,000 ($19,381 to $32,302). Yes, they accept call-in bids. Here’s a description of the coat (and two photos are shown) from the Prop Store website (http://tinyurl.com/DataCoat): “The double-breasted trench coat is made of olive green mate- rial and features 24 patches stitched to the front … selected by the costume department from spare patches made for older productions. For example, Data’s “Artanis Productions” (Sinatra spelled back- wards) was believed to be made for the 1965 film “None But the Brave.” … The jacket shows a small cut at the back for the stunt harness wires. Inside the coat is a wardrobe label that reads ‘Dou- ble Data #1 Stunt,’ indicating the piece was likely used by stunt per- former Laura Dash. It is signed on the interior by Ke Huy Quan in dark blue ink. The piece shows some wear due to production use and age … (but) the costume remains in very fine overall condition.” ‘T CHICKEN ON A BIKE THE DEMISE OF THE USS SHARK storian Dave Nelson came into the newspaper office this week. “I saw a little girl carrying a chicken on her bike the other day,” he told the Ear. He was still laughing. His photo is on the right. Eleven-year-old Carly Schurman, who attends Astoria Mid- dle School, is the daughter of Dave’s neighbors, Henry (Hank) and Velva Schurman, who sent in the photo at left. So why does she carry a chicken around on her bike? “Because it’s her pet since it was a baby chick,” Velva explained. “By the way,” she added, “her name is Nugget. She (gets on the bike) every day. Nugget stays in her own cage, and is spoiled rotten. She even hugs Carly by putting her head on Carly’s shoul- der. We get a huge kick out of it!” A he schooner USS Shark — which had battled piracy and the slave trade on the open oceans — met its fate 171 years ago, Sept. 10, 1846, on the Columbia River bar. The vessel is pictured courtesy of the Naval Histor- ical Center. How it happened is a tale of unlucky circumstance at almost every turn, according to a National Parks Service publication (http://tinyurl.com/shark1846). For example: No experienced river pilot was available to guide the cap- tain, Lt. Neil M. Howison (pictured, inset), across; his map was inaccurate, and the sands had shifted; he entered the bar on the wrong tide; and, he was exhausted from an elk hunt. It didn’t help that he felt pressured to proceed because he was 10 days behind schedule, either. The crossing went badly from the start, when the tide forced him toward the breakers, despite trying to tack away from them several times. To avert the impending peril, Howison dropped anchor, but the rope snapped. He tried tacking again, and was still losing ground when he rammed into a sandbar and got stuck. Permanently. Howison ordered the doctor, the purser and those who were sick into one of the small boats, along with the Shark’s papers, captain’s logs and an iron box hold- ing $4,000 in gold. The boat was almost immediately swamped and sank in the heavy seas. Luckily, there was a rope dangling from the Shark, and everyone was saved and hauled back aboard. The gold, papers and logs were lost. Trapped for hours on the Shark, with waves rolling over its sides, the men were tied to the vessel for safety. At last, the tide changed, the waves calmed, and Howison sent the remaining boats to shore. He and 24 crew mem- bers stayed aboard for an ugly, wet night aboard the ves- sel, which had taken on a great deal of water by then. The only refuge was provided by the bowsprit and two quar- terdeck houses. At sunrise, the crew was overjoyed to see the boats return to retrieve everyone left on the ship. The bad news — that the Shark was a total loss — was far outweighed by the good news: All hands made it safely to shore. Next week: Sharkville. T LEAPIN’ LABELS ince the Pacific Northwest is famous for its craft beers, and there are so many breweries to choose products from, Sno- qualmie Falls Brewing in Washington took the battle for con- sumers’ attention up several notches: Their new product, Sno Falls American Pale Ale, comes with what’s called an “aug- mented technology” label featuring an image of a waterfall, GeekWire reports (http://tinyurl.com/YikesLabel). The side of the bottle encourages you to download a spe- cial app to your smartphone that will allow you to “watch this label come to life!” And so it does. The water falls, crows fly and squawk, salmon jump, and a brewer goes over the falls in a barrel with a splash. The screen shots shown are courtesy of GeekWire. “When you’re staring at crowded shelves full of great offer- ings, you can’t taste the beer like you can in a pub, so the design is really all you have to attract that hand toward the bottle neck,” brewery manager Dave Eiffert said. “Once they try it, we know they’ll be hooked. … We’re getting more and more adventurous in this regard, with ways to differentiate the beers.” S 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. Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m., Sixth Street parking lot. Circle Creek Dock hike. For information, call Roger Westerman at 213-448- 9441. 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. Clatsop County Genealogical Society — noon, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 350 Ni- agara Ave. Park in rear of church. Group has joined forces with the LDS Family History Center. All are welcome. For questions, call Carol Wamsher at 503-298-8917. Pug Socializing Club — 1 p.m., Carruthers Park, Warrenton. For pugs and their owners. For information, call Dave Kinney at 415-827-5190. Join online at http:// tinyurl.com/socialpugs 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 18 Blacksmith Shop, 42362 U.S. Highway 26, Seaside. Participants welcome to bring their own forge and anvil setup. Metal available to experiment with; coal is provided. No charge, but donations to the Camp 18 Loggers Memorial Muse- um welcome. For information, con- tact Mark Standley at 503-434-0148 or Herman Doty at 971-306-1043 or ringinganvildesign@gmail.com SUNDAY Blacksmith Enthusiasts Meet — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Camp 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 See NOTES, Page 2B