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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEbRuARY 22, 2019
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
LOOSE CANNON
IN GRATITUDE …
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY
Y
et another good Samaritan story has come out of
the community effort to help members of the Coast
Guard during the federal shutdown.
Boy Scout Troop 211 was helping,” Mac Burns, the
troop’s assistant scoutmaster wrote, “mostly unloading
food donations, helping carry out food to people’s cars,
and moving boxes here and there.
“One man pulled up with a station wagon full of prob-
ably 10 boxes of donations. As the scouts were unloading,
I got to chatting with the guy. It turned out he drove from
Portland because the ‘Coast Guard saved my life.’
“He told me the story of being a commercial fisherman
in the Gulf of Mexico during a storm. Thirty-foot waves,
he was by himself, convinced he was going down. A Coast
Guard helicopter flew over, circled a few times, told him
they were on a rescue mission elsewhere, but would check
in on him. They gave him information on the storm, and
directed which way was best for him.
“They came back two more times to check on him, let
him know they were there, and kept pointing him in the
right direction. He is convinced he would not have made it
without their help.
“He asked what else was needed, and was told fresh
meat. He asked where our closest supermarket was. He
came back an hour later with $100 to $200 worth of meat
from Safeway.
“I introduced him to one of the Coast Guard helicop-
ter guys,” Mac added. “After a short chat, where they both
thanked each other, he got in his car and drove back to
Portland.”
TALES OF THE TOWN
O
n Feb. 7, on the Astoria Police Department Face-
book page, there was an interesting tidbit: “I’m
often asked what police departments do with
unclaimed property that still holds value,” Chief Geoff
Spalding wrote.
“By law we cannot donate or simply give away prop-
erty from our property/evidence division, but we are autho-
rized to sell items via auction. We use a third party auction
site to manage the sales for items that are eligible to be
auctioned. You can simply go to: govdeals.com and enter
‘Astoria’ in the search box to see what items are being sold
in this area.” As of Tuesday, the pickin’s were pretty slim
for Astoria itself, but keep checking. Or, under “Searches,”
if you pick “Search Location,” enter 97103, and look for
auctions within 100 miles, and you’ll find fairly interest-
ing things up for bid (some thumbnails of various items
are shown). Happy hunting!
UNSINKABLE. REALLY.
T
he full-size Titanic replica being built in China —
known as “the Titanic that will never sink” (only
because it will never sail) — is expected to open
in 2020, Global Times reports (bit.ly/titandisea). The proj-
ect started in 2014, and is part of the Romandisea theme
park on a river in Sichuan Province. The build in progress
is shown in a still shot, courtesy of a Yahoo Finance video
at bit.ly/yahootitan
The “ship” is supposed to be a true replica, and will
contain all of the features of the original. The anticipated
ticket price (not set in stone yet) would be about $30; a
night’s stay could cost as much as $445.
So far, it has cost $148 million, and has generated a
good deal of doubt that it would ever be finished, par-
tially because of the bad luck problem, i.e. being associ-
ated with a ship that sank. Naysayers aside, the project is
moving forward. At least this time around, icebergs are not
an issue.
nother update on trying to find the missing town
of Columbiaville, once in Columbia County: So
far, those in the know in Columbia County have
never heard of it, so don’t know where it was, nor does
the Oregon Historical Society. There has been no reply
as yet from the Oregon Archives. Onward to the national
level. The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum hasn’t
heard of Columbiaville, either, but recommended contact-
ing the National Archives, who have not yet responded to
the inquiry.
It sure seems as though an entire town with an official
post office, and a postmaster, has literally vanished.
A
W
hen it comes to authenticity, some theater direc-
tors go all out,” former The Daily Astorian
editor Patrick Webb observed. “When Rita
Smith was putting together the latest Peninsula Players
production of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta ‘HMS Pin-
afore,’ she wanted the stage at the River City Playhouse in
Ilwaco, Washington, to resemble a sailing ship.
“Stage manager and set designer Andy Tauber obliged
with a wheel and bowsprit and pretend cannon balls. For
an added touch, she turned to history enthusiast Tucker
Wachsmuth of Oysterville, Washington, who loaned the
troupe several items, including this cannon (shown, in a
photo by Patrick Webb), which was part of his grandfa-
ther Louis’ collection, and had been displayed at Dan and
Louis’ Oyster Bar in Portland.”
“The cannon is thought to be from an Italian ship called
the ‘Cavour’ that wrecked Dec. 8, 1903, in the Columbia
River two miles south of the Cape Disappointment light-
house,” he said.
“Theater enthusiasts can enjoy the show,” Patrick added,
“which opens March 29 and runs for three weekends.”
THE TOWN THAT WASN’T?
‘WE ARE CONTENT’
I
n 2016, Astorian Pam Allen bought an Oregon Mega-
bucks ticket at Fred Meyer in Warrenton that turned
out to be a $7.8 million winner. KGW8’s Kyle Iboshi
decided to follow up on 149 lottery winners, and Pam was
one of the “Instant Millionaires” interviewed about the
fallout (bit.ly/Allenswin).
The win certainly couldn’t have come at a better time
for Pam. She and her husband, Curt, had just taken a
mortgage out on their house, and she figures they each
had about $5 in their bank accounts. “It happened,” she
recalled of the surprise bonanza, “right there when we
needed it the most.” They are pictured in a KGW photo.
One month later, Pam was diagnosed with cancer. “To
go from such a high,” she told Iboshi, “to then you go to
this low, where you’re thinking am I going to get to enjoy
this money, or what’s going to happen.”
Before she would agree to treatment, they bought a new
house, and a new truck (the old one was 16 years old),
went on a cruise, and Pam went hunting with her grandson.
The Allens haven’t let the money go to their heads, and
even now, still mow their own lawn. “I don’t know if you
ever really fully understand you’re a millionaire,” Curt
noted. “You still live the way you did before. It’s just the
way you grew up.“We were content with our life when we
didn’t have the money,” he added. “We are content now.”
PAN’S ELBOW
F
rom the Friday, Feb. 22, 1889 edition of The Daily
Morning Astorian:
• There are 500 steel rails on the dock at Kalama
for the Ilwaco rail road extension. … The rails when laid
will form part of a railroad that will pay $400 a day carry-
ing passengers to the beach. It is correctly reported that we
have a beach over at Clatsop. But we have no railroad, so
the people go elsewhere.
Note: Snarky remark aside, the rails were for Lewis
Alfred Loomis’ popular Clamshell Railroad, which
expanded in 1889 from 3.5 miles of track on to 13.5 miles,
from Ilwaco to Nahcotta, Washington, creating a tourist
mecca of the Long Beach Peninsula. (clamshellrailroad.
org)
• Portland figures now on a population of 48,000.
Note: According to Google, as of 2017, the number is
647,805.
• Mrs. Marian Trenchard says that when she came
here there were but three children in Astoria. That was
many and many a year ago.
Note: In 1890, the population of Astoria was 6,184, but
in 1880, it was 2,803, and in 1870 it was only 639. If she
was a very old woman in 1889, she was probably not kid-
ding. (bit.ly/Astorpop)
• A determined effort was put forth to introduce young
white fish into Cullaby Lake that involved several peo-
ple, missed communications, and arranging a railroad
“fish car” to ship them from Coeur d’Alene Lake in
Idaho to Portland.
“Lovers of the art piscatorial,” the newspaper noted,
“owe a vote of thanks to the gentlemen who have so suc-
cessfully interested themselves in this matter.”
There was no mention if the fish were still alive on
arrival.
• A California paper gives a revolver as a premium to
every new subscriber. The revolver is found very handy
when the man comes round to ask for a renewal of the
subscription.
W
alking along the main promenade in Athens, I
noticed an unusual piece of stone at the base of
the Hill of Muses,” Portland artist Aaron Vor-
onoff Trotter posted on his Facebook page. He, and the
stone, are shown.
Trotter makes hand-drawn decks of playing cards from
all around the world. He even visited Astoria a few years
ago, and created a colorful deck that features 52 origi-
nal drawings of landmarks and spots around town (bit.ly/
AVTastoria). Interestingly enough, considering his recent
find, he’s also been an archaeology field technician.
Back to Greece: “(The piece of stone) probably rolled
down the hill after the storm,” he explained. “I was on the
main pedestrian thoroughfare. Picking it up, I realized it
was a fragment of a marble statue. I carried it up to the
Acropolis entrance. A lady made a quick phone call, and
an archaeologist hurried me through security to an office,
where I could explain in detail where I found the artifact.”
“Most likely I discovered a piece of (Greek god) Pan’s
elbow,” Trotter concluded, “which waited 25 centuries for
me to find. They’re going to send me more details in the
next few weeks. But I’m proud to say,” he added, “I’m still
an archaeologist.”
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.
Columbia Northwest-
ern Model Railroading
Club — 1 p.m., in Ham-
mond. Group runs trains
on HO-scale layout. For
information, call Don Car-
ter at 503-325-0757.
Spinning Circle — 1 to
3 p.m., Astoria Fiber Arts
Studio, 1296 Duane St.
Bring a spinning wheel. For
information, call 503-325-
5598 or go to astoriafiber-
arts.org
Karaoke — 7 to 8 p.m.,
Seaside Lodge and Inter-
national Hostel, 930 N. Hol-
laday Drive, Seaside. Free
session, all ages, for those
who love to sing kara-
oke. Refreshments served.
For information, call
503-738-7911.
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. Break-
fasts are open to the pub-
lic. Proceeds after expenses
help support local and
other charities.
National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI)
Support Group — 2 to
3:30 p.m., Seaside Pub-
lic Library, 1131 Broad-
way. Family to Family Sup-
port 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 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.
MONDAY
Chair Exercises for
Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m.,
Astoria Senior Center, 1111
Exchange St. For informa-
tion, call 503-325-3231.
See Notes, Page b4