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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018
CONTACT US
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
WEIGHTY MATTERS
hile many have been mired in the political goings-on of
late, the really exciting news slipped right on by: the fat-
test bear contest in Katmai National Park & Preserve in
Alaska, as reported by Vox.com (bit.ly/ursafat).
The competition is based on how much weight the park’s
brown bears gain over the summer after gorging on salmon
for months. If you go to the Vox.com website, there are stun-
ning before and after photos. Some of those bears really took this
event seriously.
The contest winds up with Fat Bear Week, and the public had
a chance to vote for the plumpest of the plump. The park insists
“there’s no fat shaming here” — the fatter the bears get before
hibernation, the better off they’ll be in the spring, since they lose
a third of their body weight while sleeping.
It was a tough competition, and some think Chunk got robbed,
but 409 Beadnose (pictured, courtesy of Katmai National Park &
Preserve) won by a lardslide.
W
‘AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE’
n a city full of Scandinavians, there must be a passel of Nor-
wegians, and this one’s for you: Chicago’s O’Connor Casting
Company is casting for Season 10 of “Alt For Norge,” Nor-
way’s Emmy award-winning reality TV show.
Twelve Norwegian-American contestants are flown to Nor-
way to “experience culture shock as they chase down their ances-
tral roots trying to win $50,000 and the chance to meet their long-
lost Norwegian relatives.”
No, you do not have to speak Norwegian. Contestants must
be Americans with Norwegian ancestry (even a little bit counts)
who are age 18-plus, and have not traveled to Norway after the
age of 15.
Portlander Tom Tørresdal was a contestant in 2011. “I’ve
loved every single second that I’ve been here,” he said at the end
of filming. He loved it so much, in fact, that he moved to Norway
for a while to work in a brewery. Now he’s a brewer himself, at
Pyramid Brewing.
You can find out how to apply at oconnorcasting.tv/norway10,
and see clips from the show at bit.ly/nordclips. The application
deadline is Dec. 2. Lykke til!
A HAPPY DAY
ever, ever give up,” Maria Nagy director of the
Tillamook Animal Shelter posted Monday on the
shelter’s Facebook page. “Especially if you are missing
your pet.”
“Today I got a call from Nehalem Animal Healing
about a dog, in pretty rough condition,” she explained, “…
When they described the dog, I thought back to Bella, who
was reported missing, from Spruce Run Campground in
August.” Yes, it was, indeed, Bella.
Bella’s owner, Andrea Hulin of Rainier, posted the
original lost dog notice on Facebook. And herein lies the
beauty of social media: Her post was shared by concerned
dog lovers all over the North Coast, including the Tilla-
mook Animal Shelter’s Facebook page, where Maria ini-
tially spotted it.
It was Angela Hanke who found Bella on a rock in the
Nehalem River last weekend, several miles from where she
went missing, and took her home. “But we knew at some
point, someone loved her, because she was such a well-be-
haved and trained dog,” she noted in a Facebook post.
Angela reported finding Bella to Nehalem Animal Healing
when they opened on Monday, and Bella’s journey home
began. “A happy day for everyone,” Maria noted.
“It’s really amazing to me when dogs that have been
lost a long time get found,” she observed. “We had another
some years back that had been lost six months, and sud-
denly appeared. … Dogs are tough survivors.”
Bella went home with her grandmom later Monday
after a tearful and joyful reunion, but that’s not the end of
her story. “Bella has two mammary tumors along with the
cherry eye,” Maria recalled, but the quote the family got
from a Portland vet was unaffordable. Dr. Matt Didlake
offered them a price they could afford, and a day trip back
to Nehalem is planned to attend to her medical needs.
“She should recover just fine,” Maria added. “So, it’s an
even happier ending than I already posted.”
‘N
I
CALL 911. OR NOT
fter much sobbing and panicked hyperventilating, a woman
on a boat out in Puget Sound called the cops to turn in some
frisky whales, The Oregonian reports (bit.ly/911whale).
“Yeah, I’m out in Puget Sound,” the distraught woman told
911, “and there’s three gray whales right underneath our boat.
I’m afraid we might get flipped over. I’m really scared.” Screen-
shots from Darren Lucianna’s video are shown.
“Stupid whales!” another passenger wailed. “They’re going
to kill us!”
The one voice of reason in the mayhem — who aptly noted,
“Look at this guys, you’ll never see this again!” — was com-
pletely ignored. Eventually, someone thought to turn on the
motor and scoot out of there.
So what were those “stupid whales” doing swimming around
in Puget Sound like that, anyway? Just as if they belonged there,
or something. What a colossal nerve, right?
A
A CASE OF SMALLPOX
rom the Thursday, Oct. 12, 1899 edition of The Morning
Astorian:
• There is a case of smallpox in Astoria. A man walked into
Dr. Bishop’s office Tuesday night and asked to be examined,
saying he was not feeling well. The doctor convinced him that
his visitor had a modified form of smallpox, and told him to go
home and isolate himself.
The patient was Mr. Sloop. … After a careful examination,
Dr. Hastings concurred in Dr. Bishop’s opinion, and pronounced
the disease to be varioloid. Dr. Bishop immediately noticed the
police department, and … strict quarantine is maintained, and no
fears of further cases are entertained.
Note: Mr. Sloop was lucky. Merriam-Webster.com says the
varioloid version is “a modified mild form of smallpox occurring
in persons who have been vaccinated or who have had smallpox.”
OregonEncyclopedia.org (bit.ly/LCpox) notes that Lewis and
Clark’s journals mention pockmarked Native Americans along
the Lower Columbia River in the early 1800s.
The earliest Oregon smallpox epidemic was around 1781, 10
years before Robert Gray visited the Lower Columbia, as evi-
denced from the Clatsop tribe’s oral tradition. Several smallpox
epidemics followed, but the outbreak in 1853, in particular, tar-
geted the Lower Columbia area, and is believed to have killed
one-half of the Chinook community. Sadly, smallpox vaccine was
available in Oregon by 1853, but did not reach Native Americans.
F
CLEAN ’EM UP
HE WAS PUZZLED
his column first mentioned Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat
(pictured, inset) in 2013, when he was an aerospace engi-
neering student with an ambitious idea and design to clean up the
Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch: the Ocean Cleanup Array.
After several concept trials, the final design, System 001, con-
sists of a 6.5-foot skirt hanging from a 1,900-foot long boom to
capture garbage for future pickup and recycling. A screen shot is
shown courtesy of The Ocean Cleanup (theoceancleanup.com).
A two-week trial in the open ocean off San Francisco was
deemed a success, with only minor problems, so the array is
being towed 800 nautical miles to the Garbage Patch to begin the
actual cleanup process. Stay tuned.
T
ews from Astoria of the demise of the 818-ton iron
ship Fernglen on Clatsop Spit on Oct. 16, 1881, made
it all the way to The Evening Post in New Zealand — even
though it took a month. The ship is shown, courtesy of the
State Library of Victoria.
In Capt. F. Budd’s account of the wreck, he really
wasn’t up to speed on the area. “I was puzzled with the
lights,” he wrote. “I knew nothing of a light being on Til-
lamook rock, or the change of light at Point Adams. I saw
a red light where I expected to find a red and white flash.”
Guessing he was just outside the Columbia River bar (he
wasn’t), he stayed where he was to wait for a bar pilot.
At 6 a.m., the ship ran aground hard in a strong tide.
All of the sails were put up, but it didn’t matter; she
wouldn’t budge. The ship “lay easy,” so the captain wasn’t
too alarmed at first, but when they were still stuck the fol-
lowing morning, he fired up the steam engine and start-
ing tossing ballast overboard. They kept at it for hours, in
vain, only to discover the ship was leaking. By 7 p.m., the
wind was whipping up, and the Fernglen steadily taking on
water. Needless to say, they had a very rough night.
The next morning, in heavy seas, Capt. Budd decided
to launch the starboard lifeboat and abandon ship. The life-
boat had other ideas, and was smashed when it washed
back aboard. By 9 a.m. the Fernglen started to heel over,
then the remaining ballast shifted, and the masts rolled
over into the water. By noon, the ship was in two pieces,
and the anticipated bar pilot boat still hadn’t arrived.
The captain and crew, desperate to save themselves,
with great difficulty managed to board the ship’s other
lifeboat. “We pulled for the shore with the whole of the
ship’s crew (of 20) in the boat,” Capt. Budd recalled. “We
had but two oars, and it kept four men busy bailing the
boat sufficiently to keep her afloat.” Luckily, they were
picked up by the crew of the tug Columbia. All hands were
saved, but the Fernglen was a total loss. Not surprisingly,
Budd was blamed for the debacle; his certificate was sus-
pended for four months. (http://bit.ly/fernglen1, http://bit.
ly/fernglen2)
N
NOT A BAD GIG
ince Astoria has so many fine artists, Scott McClaine came in
to mention an artistic opportunity he’d found: The U.S. Mint
has issued a call for artists to create U.S. coin and medal designs
for the Mint Artistic Infusion Program.
And, it’s not a bad gig. Artists are paid a set fee per assignment
and earn a bonus fee of $5,000 per design selected for minting,
lots of recognition, and best yet, you can work from your own
studio. The full details are at http://bit.ly/artmint, and the dead-
line to apply is Oct. 29.
Astoria has already been represented once, if you will recall.
Photographer Andrew E. Cier’s photograph was the basis for
artist Joe Fitzgerald’s image on the reverse of the 2005 Ocean in
View nickel, which is pictured (bit.ly/ciernickel). That nickel is
worth a buck now, by the way.
S
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Lower Columbia R/C Society
— 8:30 a.m., Jim’s Roadhouse Grill,
1605 E. Harbor St., Warrenton. Lo-
cal Academy of Model Aeronautics
(AMA) chartered radio control model
aircraft club meets for breakfast and
business. All model aircraft enthusi-
asts are welcome. For information,
call 503-458-5196 or 503-325-0608.
Chinook Indian Nation Coun-
cil Meeting — 11 a.m., Netul Room,
Fort Clatsop, 92345 Fort Clatsop
Road. Meeting is open to all tribal
members; attendees are reminded
to arrive on time and bring a potluck
item. For question, call the Tribal
Office at 360-875-6670.
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.
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
Military Officers Association
of America, Lower Columbia
River Chapter — 5 p.m., Dooger’s
Seafood & Grill, 103 U.S. Highway
101, Warrenton. Quarterly meeting
and dinner. Bruce Jones, Astoria
City Councilman, discusses local
elections. All U.S. military officers
and former officers; active duty,
See NOTES, Page 4B