1B
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2018
CONTACT US
ewilson@dailyastorian.com
(503) 325-3211 ext. 257
COMMUNITY
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorian
IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
MAKE A DAY OF IT
T
he Ear is giving you plenty of warning so you can be ready
for Tuesday, which is Cow Appreciation Day, Don’t Step
on a Bee Day and Teddy Bear Picnic Day. Fortunately, it’s also
Piña Colada Day, which you will probably need after an inter-
lude spent appreciating bovines, dodging bees (and cow flops)
and communing with teddy bears. Carry on.
A NEW STANDARD
T
he largest container ship ever built in the U.S., the MV
Daniel K. Inouye, was christened June 30 at Philly Shipyard
in Philadelphia, where it was built for Honolulu-based shipping
company Matson Inc., gCaptain reports (tinyurl.com/mvinouye).
The ship is pictured, courtesy of gCaptain.com
The 850-foot long, 3,600 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent
Unit) capacity vessel has a top speed of almost 24 knots, and uses
“environmentally friendly technology,” including a “fuel effi-
cient hull design.” While it is dwarfed by the new 20,000 TEU
ships being built for the Asian market, it is important in its own
right.
“This new vessel, designed specifically to serve Hawaii and
built with LNG-compatible engines, is the next generation of
vessel,” Matt Cox, Matson’s chairman and CEO, said, “and sets
a new standard for cargo transportation in Hawaii.”
‘IT’S ME!’
A TYPICAL LITTLE BOY
H
eather Jenson wrote that her uncle, Ken Swanson
of Knappa — who served in the 129th Assault Heli-
copter Company — went to the Vietnam Helicopter Crew
Members Association reunion in Sparks, Nevada, June 14
to 16, and got the surprise of his life.
The jaunt did not have an auspicious beginning, when
he collapsed on the first day and wound up in the hospi-
tal, but things improved dramatically from there. Ken was
going through some vendor booths once he got back to the
convention, and happened upon author John Brennan,
who was there with his book, “Vietnam War Army Heli-
copter Nose Art.”
Ken picked up the book, which was open to page 95,
and he was utterly shocked to see his photo on the page,
standing next to a helicopter with “Windy City” nose art.
He was listed as “unknown door gunner.”
“‘It’s me, it’s me!’ I screamed,” Ken recalled. “They
must have heard me all over the Nugget.” And he immedi-
ately showed the author his tattoo, which matches the one
in the photo. “I never saw a guy react that way,” the writer
confessed.
“It blew me away,” Ken said. “It’s a picture that was
totally unknown to me. I had no idea this picture even
existed.” It turns out the photo was taken by a pal, Bill
Whelan, who submitted it for the book, but forgot to
include Ken’s name. The photos shown are courtesy of
John Brennan and Samantha Swanson (more at tinyurl.
com/KenSwanson).
“I was beside myself,” Ken added. “I still am. Being
published in a book like that. Who’d think, after 50 years,
at the end of my life, I’d see my picture in a book.”
F
he Astoria fire of July 2, 1883, racked up damages
of around $250,000 (about $6 million now), but it
was the lawsuit of ne’er-do-well John Boyle, who sued
the city for $25,000 (about $600,000 now) that provided
an interesting footnote to Astoria’s history.
At the time of the fire, the city was described by
reporter A.L. Bancroft, as “ … full of people, more or less
transient and doubtful in their character, connected with
the fisheries, and the riot and dissipation which seems to
be incident to that season (tinyurl.com/boylesuit).”
The opportunities provided by the fire excited the
rabble, who looted the burning buildings with impunity
— well aware that there were only six exhausted regu-
lar policemen. The roadway connecting upper and lower
town was partially destroyed in the blaze, complicating
things further. Consequently, a vigilante committee was
formed to restore order and drive out the troublemakers,
and Mr. Boyle just happened to be one of them.
Boyle’s lawsuit claimed he was unlawfully arrested
and jailed, endured a mock trial, and sentenced to 25
lashes. The vigilantes then blindfolded and gagged him,
took him from jail at night and threatened him with hang-
ing and 200 lashes.
Actually, he was given 25 lashes with a cat-o’-nine-
tails, put on his knees, sworn to secrecy, and brought
back to jail. In a “good riddance” move, the next morn-
ing he was taken in irons to a steamboat and shipped to
Portland.
The court agreed that the vigilantes were at fault in
Boyle’s lawsuit. The problem lay in how much Boyle
should be paid. There were no medical bills, so what
compensatory damages should there be when the per-
son suing is, at the very least, of highly questionable
character?
Boyle didn’t get $25,000, according to the 1903
Oregon Historical Quarterly Volume 4 (tinyurl.com/
fire1883), but the jury did award him a little vindication
in the amount of $1,000 (about $23,000 now), which was
“raised by general subscription, $20 being the usual indi-
vidual contribution.”
T
e has joined the majority” The Daily Morning Astorian
headline read on July 4, 1893, referring to the death of one
of Astoria’s most illustrious citizens, Capt. George Flavel, who
died at home the night of July 3, 1893, after a long illness, at the
age of 69.
Capt. Flavel is believed to have received the first Columbia
River pilot’s license issued by Oregon Territory, and he used it
to start a lucrative piloting business, creating a monopoly. He
invested in saw mills, coastal trading, an Australian coal mine,
and large chunks of Astoria real estate, and also owned a lucra-
tive wharf and towing business. Capt. Flavel’s estate was esti-
mated at around $2 million (about $53 million now).
Several years after he died, in an interview, his wife, Mary
Christina, said, “One of the reasons why my husband made a
success as a pilot on the Columbia River bar was that he was not
only an able navigator, but he was fearless and was willing to put
out in any sort of weather to assist vessels in need of help.”
Case in point: For rescuing passengers and crew on the Gen-
eral Warren, which wrecked at the mouth of the Columbia in
1852, he received a medal from the citizens of Portland. On the
back was the image of a whaleboat leaving a sinking ship and the
words, “If I live I will return.”
“Captain Flavel was noted as an energetic, shrewd business
man, and always popular with those he employed,” The Daily
Morning Astorian eulogized. “He was very frank, strong in his
likes and dislikes, a faithful friend and lavish in his generosity to
those who enjoyed his confidence and friendship.” His funeral
procession was said to be one of the largest ever seen in Astoria.
(tinyurl.com/GFla1, tinyurl.com/GFla2, tinyurl.com/GFlav3,
tinyurl.com/GFlav4)
TOO MUCH
FIERY FOOTNOTE
‘HE HAS JOINED THE MAJORITY’
‘H
yder Ford is 12 years old. He is sweet and funny,” fam-
ily friend Drea Frost wrote. “Ryder is in 4-H and proudly
shows his chickens and pigs. He loves reading books, building
models and dioramas. He loves fishing with his uncle and step-
dad. … He is your typical little boy.”
For the past year, Ryder has been very ill. He was experienc-
ing pain, nausea and weakness, and he lost a lot of weight. His
parents, Jeff Jackson and Shara Ford of Seaside, kept taking
him in for testing, but no one could figure out what was wrong
until he went to a specialist in Portland.
He spent more than a month in the hospital; a spinal tap, four
MRIs and a biopsy — “a lot for a kid to go through!” Drea noted
— finally revealed that Ryder’s symptoms were caused by an
astrocytoma glioma, an inoperable brain tumor.
The treatment is a low, steady dose of chemotherapy through a
port put under Ryder’s skin — which means his family will have to
travel to Portland once a week, for 48 weeks, for Ryder’s treatments.
He’ll also be scanned every three months to monitor the tumor.
“Nobody can plan for this unwelcome event … not emotion-
ally, and not financially,” Drea said. “This has taken a toll on the
family, and they have a long road ahead.” A fundraiser to help
with medical bills has been set up at tinyurl.com/HelpRyder
“We thank you so much for your love and support,” she added.
“Thank you for any amount you can spare at this time. From the
bottom of our hearts, we are very grateful!”
‘R
rom the Thursday, July 6, 1882 edition of The Daily
Astorian:
• Geo. M. Rowe is in the city. The government has finally
accepted his resignation, and he says he doesn’t want to see or
hear of Tillamook any more. The sad sea waves are all very well
for a while, but to be out on a basalt crag away from all sight or
sound of life for months at a time, is too much.
Note: George Rowe was the second head keeper at Tilla-
mook Rock Lighthouse (pictured in an 1891 Library of Congress
photo), and he only lasted a year (1881-1882). In May 1881, he
was spotted on the rock wearing “a pair of breeches with a seat to
them that looked as though he had sat down on a buzz saw.” His
situation had clearly not improved by 1882.
‘SKYSCRAPER’ AND THE PLASTIC PERIL
ome do more than just worry and wring their hands about that
ocean full of plastic out there. StudioKCA of Brooklyn, New
York, constructed an almost four-story tall sculpture that appears
to leap out of a Belgian canal — “Skyscraper (The Bruges
Whale)” — out of five tons of plastic ocean debris for the 2018
Bruges Triennial. The whale is pictured, courtesy of Alejandro
Duran, Mathias Desmet and Chuck Choi of StudioKCA.
The sculpture is a “reminder of the 150 million tons of plastic
waste still swimming in our waters,” StudioKCA says, and weighs
several tons, is 38 feet high, 38 feet wide from fin tip to fin tip, and 12
feet in diameter. It contains 4,000 square feet of plastic, including toi-
let seats, kids’ toys, hangers and car bumpers. The design firm part-
nered with the Hawaii Wildlife Fund and the Surfrider Foundation
Kaui Chapter to collect the beach debris, which took four months.
“Skyscraper is a physical example,” Lesley Chang of Studio-
KCA said, “of why we need to change how we use and dispose of
plastic in the world today.” (tinyurl.com/plastiwhale)
S
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m.,
Sixth Street parking lot. Willapa
Bay Nature Trail/Teal Slough hike.
Membership is not required to par-
ticipate. For information, call Arlene
LaMear at 503-338-6883 or go to
angorahikingclub.org
Seniors Breakfast — 9 a.m.
to noon, Astoria Moose Lodge, 420
17th St. Cooked to order from
menu, includes coffee. Cost is $5
for seniors 62 and older, $7.50 for
those younger than 62. Breakfasts
are open to the public. Proceeds af-
ter expenses help support local and
other charities.
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St.
Bring knitting, crochet or other nee-
dlework 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 astoriafiberarts.com
SUNDAY
Seniors Breakfast — 9 a.m.
to noon, Astoria Moose Lodge, 420
17th St. Cooked to order from
menu, includes coffee. Cost is $5
for seniors 62 and older, $7.50 for
those younger than 62. Breakfasts
are open to the public. Proceeds af-
ter expenses help support local and
other charities.
Blacksmith Enthusiasts Meet
— 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Camp 18 Black-
smith Shop, 42362 U.S. Highway
26, Seaside. Participants can bring
own forge and anvil setup. Metal
available to experiment with; coal
provided. No charge; donations to
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
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 suffer-
ing from a serious brain (mental)
illness. For information, contact
Myra Kero at 503-738-6165, or k7e-
rowood@q.com, or go to 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.
See NOTES, Page 4B