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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2019)
B1 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, ApRIL 12, 2019 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 A PLACE OF HONOR pril 15 is not just tax day, it’s National Tax Day. To commemorate that dreaded day, the Boston Tea Party is pictured. It should also be noted that — perhaps not coinciden- tally — Monday is also National Rubber Eraser Day, National Take A Wild Guess Day and National Titanic Remembrance Day. If you get hungry, it’s also National Glazed Spiral Ham Day. If you’re wondering how tax day became April 15, it didn’t actually happen until 1955. For years before that, it was March 1. The date was moved to supposedly make things easier for taxpayers — and give them more time to wring their hands — since the tax laws had become increasingly arcane and convoluted. How thoughtful. (bit. ly/taxmax1, bit.ly/maxtax2) recently read with interest news articles about the memorial service for Gordon Huggins (pictured, inset, by Lee LaFollette), retired Coast Guard member and sole survivor of the Triumph disaster,” Ron Spahman of Kelso, Washington, wrote. “I remember that stormy night long ago, Jan. 12, 1961. I was a young boy living in a beach house in Seaview, Washington. My mother and I were leaning out an upstairs window looking out at the ocean in the darkness. The wind was howling through the trees, and military planes were flying out over the ocean dropping ominous red aerial flares. We knew something serious was happening (and) the next morning we sadly heard of all the men and boats lost that night.” The lifeboat Triumph (pictured), sent out to rescue the fishing vessel Mermaid on the Columbia River bar, cap- sized, killing five of the six aboard. Two were lost from the Mermaid. “Later that morning, I went down to the ocean. On the beach, just south of the Seaview beach approach, floating in a crab hole, was a long wood boat pike pole. The boat pole, which had one end snapped off, had intricate naval rope work on it. I knew it was off one of the Coast Guard boats. I took it home and it was in my garage for over 35 years. “One day a friend of mine said he knew a Clark County deputy, Gordon Huggins … of the Triumph. I told my friend the story of finding the boat pole on the beach, and he conveyed that story to Gordon. “I met Gordon the next week, and when I opened the trunk of my car and he looked at the pole, he had a look of amazement on his face. He said, ‘That is the boat pole off my boat!’ He said he knew the man who did the rope work on it … and I gave it to him. “Years later, while visiting the Columbia River Mar- itime Museum, I saw the pole hanging on the wall at the Triumph exhibit. It’s fitting it’s in a place of honor.” A A BETTER CHANCE ust in time for the 107th anniversary of the sink- ing of the Titanic on April 15, auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son in England have announced the sale of a silver brandy flask that belonged to one of the ship’s American first-class passengers, Helen Churchill Can- dee, an author and women’s right pioneer. The flask was a family heirloom, and is engraved with the Churchill coat of arms. When the Titanic was going down, she handed the flask to her friend, Edward Kent, another first-class passenger, and said, “You stand a better chance of living than I.” Not true, as it turned out, as she survived the sinking, and was rescued. When Kent’s body was recovered and returned to his wife, the flask and a miniature portrait of Candee were with it. About a month after the ship went down, his sis- ter, Charlotte, sent the miniature and flask (which had been badly dented in the disaster) back to the author. “I am so glad you are to have them both again,” Charlotte wrote. Both items are shown, courtesy of Henry Aldridge & Son. The auction takes place on April 27. The lot — which includes the flask, letter and miniature portrait — is expected to fetch from $66,000 to $105,000. J FINDERS KEEPERS n browsing through the Long Beach Peninsula Friends of Facebook page recently, it seemed as though there were an unusual number of glass fishing floats turning up. But where did they come from? An article in the weekly South Beach Bulletin in West- port, Washington, explains it all (bit.ly/floatsgone). As part of the 57th annual Grayland Driftwood Show, which was April 6 and 7, 450 glass floats with numbers etched in them, initially collected after the tsunami, were set loose along the coast in late March/early April. Famed oceanog- rapher Curt Ebbesmeyer (flotsametrics.com) even helped plan the timing and release strategy. If, by chance, you find one, please report where and when you found it to the Westport Maritime Museum, as they’d like to know. Don’t worry, though, it’s still finders keepers. I ‘I TITANIC HEADLINES he front page of The Morning Oregonian on April 16, 1912, was full of stories about the demise of the “unsinkable” Titanic the day before, after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic on her maiden voy- age. (You can read the articles at bit.ly/TMOtitan). One headline, “Wireless flashes tragedy to world,” brings up an interesting point. If it were not for the ship’s telegraph operator reaching out with a CQD distress call, it’s likely no one would ever have known what happened to the Titanic. It would have just disappeared. Fortunately, by an act of Congress in 1910, all ocean-going vessels with more than 50 passengers aboard were required to have wireless transmission. Too bad they didn’t enact rules about the number of lifeboats required at the same time. Another headline pondered all of the wealthy world travelers, mostly men, who boarded the Titanic: “Seven on ship have wealth $420 millions.” The richest by far was Col. John Jacob Astor IV, great-grandson of Asto- ria’s founder, who was estimated to be worth $150 million (actually, he was worth $87 million, but who’s counting). All seven millionaires perished. As a historical footnote, one article, “Portland peo- ple on doomed boat,” mentions there were believed to be five passengers from the City of Roses aboard the Titanic, among them Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Warren. Actually, they were the only first class passengers from Oregon on board. She survived; he did not. You can read her harrowing tale at bit.ly/AnnaWarren T ‘A JOURNEY IN OTHER WORLDS’ WHO, ME? RETIRE? t’s well known that uber-wealthy John Jacob Astor IV went down with the Titanic in 1912. What is less known is, aside from being a businessman and inven- tor (he had several patents), he was also the author of a science fiction book, “A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future” (bit.ly/JJA4book), published in 1894. PublicDomainReview.org says the book takes place in the year 2000, where Astor speculates there will be a worldwide telephone network, solar power and air travel. Less on the mark is his description of Jupiter’s vast arc- tic wasteland as a tropical bedlam crawling with cannibal plants, vampire bats, huge snakes, etc. On a rather contem- porary note, the planet is also loaded with scads of natu- ral resources that are being exploited by (surprise!) greedy Americans. The book must have made some impression at the time — even though you can read it for free online, several book sellers offer it in both hardcover and softcover even now, 125 years later. I L ocal artist Bill W. Dodge, who just turned 86, is definitely retirement age — but what’s he doing instead? “I’m making my first ever Second Saturday Art Walk appearance this weekend at Luminari Arts, at 1133 Com- mercial St.,” he said, “and expanding the distribution of my fine art prints.” For over a decade, the Columbia River Maritime Museum has sold his work in its Museum Store. “The museum will continue to exclusively represent my Asto- ria, nautical and scenes of the local area,” he explained, “but Luminari Arts is now representing my original paint- ings.” The originals include his comical cat print series and his warm-folksy Americana depictions. “For this upcoming Art Walk, I will display a very lim- ited number of prints dating back almost half a century, recently discovered hidden away in my studio,” he noted. “This collection includes the only one remaining copy of a piece used to decorate the set of the soap opera ‘All My Children,’ for which I provided art during a four-year period in the l970s.” The photo shown is from 2011, when the Silver Salmon Grille was transformed into the soap’s Pine Valley Inn to honor the last episode of the show. Bill is pictured with Laurie Martin, who is holding a piece of hanging art used for the permanent sets of the characters Cliff and Nina on the show. And, as if being in this new gallery wasn’t enough extra work for the artist (who apparently doesn’t believe in retirement), he is just wrapping up production of a line of coffee mugs featuring a special Astoria design (inset) which will be available in May. Bill will greet Art Walk visitors to Luminari Arts between 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, so why not go say hello? DID YOU KNOW? o wind things up, a few Titanic factoids are in order. It took 2 hours and 40 minutes for the ship to sink, and it might not have, at all, if there hadn’t been a 30-second delay in the ship’s communication system. By the time the message about spotting the iceberg reached the captain, it was too late to change course. (Shown, a Willy Stöwer illustration.) While it’s true the ship’s musicians played for hours and went down with the ship, it’s also true that after the disas- ter their families were billed for the uniforms the musi- cians were wearing at the time. And last, but surely not least, scientists believe the Titanic was done in by an iceberg that started forming around 1,000 B.C. (bit.ly/titanbits) T COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Lower Columbia R/C Society — 8:30 a.m., Buoy 9 Restaurant & Lounge, 996 Pacific Drive, Hammond. Local Academy of Model Aeronau- tics (AMA) chartered radio control model aircraft club meets for breakfast and busi- ness. All model aircraft enthu- siasts are welcome. For infor- mation, call 503-458-5196 or 503-325-0608. Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m., parking lot between Second and Third streets. Ilwaco to Beard’s Hollow, Washington, hike. Member- ship is not required to par- ticipate. For information, call Arline LaMear at 503-338-6883 or go to angorahikingclub.org Seaside Duplicate Bridge — 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mary Blake Playhouse, 1215 Broad- way, Seaside. Come with a partner or call ahead for one at 503-791-9745. Chinook Indian Nation — 11 a.m., Rosburg Hall, 28 Rosburg Hall Road, Rosburg, Washington. Monthly coun- cil meeting, open to all tribal members; attendees are reminded to arrive on time and bring a potluck item. Con- tact the Tribal Office at 360- 875-6670 for questions. Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knit- ting, crochet or other nee- dlework projects to this com- munity stitching time. All skill levels welcome. Men’s Exploration See Notes, page B3
