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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2017
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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