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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2019)
B1 THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, July 18, 2019 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (971) 704-1718 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON BELL HITS THE BLOCK re you a diehard Peter Iredale shipwreck fan? Leslie Peterson of Peterson Media LLC in Portland wrote in to say the bell salvaged from the Iredale after she ran aground on Oct. 25, 1906, hits the auction block this weekend as Lot 0736 at Guernsey’s in New York, New York (bit.ly/IredaleBell). The bell is pic- tured, courtesy of Guernsey’s, and includes the clapper and yoke. “Discovered by the consigner in her grandparents’ cel- lar in Texas, the bell has been in their family for over half a decade,” the description says, “and was once a prized pos- session of her grandfather, who kept a notable bell collec- tion. Bell Dimensions: 10 inches tall, 9.5 inches in diame- ter at widest point.” “The fact that it exists is wonderful,” Leslie Peterson noted, “and I don’t know my vintage bell prices, but the starting bid on this is $5,000.” It’s expected to fetch from $15,000 to $25,000. LOCAL BREVITIES A A BUMP IN THE NIGHT uring the same Guernsey’s “A Century at Sea” auc- tion event as the Iredale bell, an intriguing Titanic item is also up for bid: First class passenger and survi- vor Ella White‘s 35-inch long walking stick, with a bat- tery-run light in the tip (bit.ly/ellastick). The photo shown is courtesy of Guernsey’s. After the bump that indicated Titanic’s collision with the iceberg, Mrs. White noted “It was just as though we went over about a thousand marbles. There was nothing terrifying about it at all.” Even so, she had the good sense to head to the upper deck — a good choice, since that’s where the lifeboats were. She took her cane with her when she boarded Lifeboat No. 8, and that was fortunate. The night was very dark, and after a while, she and her boatmates could not tell where they were, or the location of the other lifeboats. And that’s where Mrs. Green and her black walking stick became the stuff of legend. She worked tirelessly as a beacon, waving her lighted cane to show the way, but more importantly, to signal the other lifeboats and the res- cue ship Carpathia. You’ll really have to plunder the penny jar for this one; the opening bid is $100,000. It’s expected to sell for $300,000 to $500,00. D rom the Tuesday, July 18, 1882 edition of The Daily Astorian: • Unheeded warning No. 1: It is a habit among the careless and unthinking to drop lighted matches and stumps of cigars as they pass along ... the dry planks of the sidewalk ... Note: About a year later, on July 2, 1883, a disastrous fire started at the Clatsop Mill at 13th and Exchange streets (then part of the Astoria waterfront, on posts and piers, with plank sidewalks). Wood shavings and trash were piled up below the mill, making perfect tinder. The fire spread east to 17th Street, racking up around $250,000 (about $6.3 million now) in damage. (old300.org/ahistory. html) • Unheeded Warning No. 2: The cannerymen of the Columbia River do not seem to heed the fact that they are swiftly sweeping that great estuary of its supply of deli- cious salmon in their greed to capture all they can, and can all they can capture, regardless of final results. — Portland Journal of Commerce Note: In 1883, 39 Columbia River canneries pro- duced 42 million pounds (yes, million) of salmon. (bit. ly/nosalmon4u) • Colden’s Liebig’s Liquid Beef and Tonic Invigora- tor will cure indigestion and perpetuate bodily vigor. Take no other. Irony alert: William A. Greene, M.D., of Macon, Georgia, declared in the professional journal Annals of Anatomy and Surgery, “I have found it the best remedy I have ever used in chronic alco- holism ... appeasing the thirst for more alcohol.” Undoubt- edly true, since that was the main ingredient. (bit.ly/ liquidbeef) • By the first of August the time between Astoria and Chicago, via Northern Pacific (Railway) route, will be eight days and six hours. Note: Things didn’t speed up until 1898, when the link between Astoria and the Northern Pacific Railroad opened. The first train from Astoria to Portland ran on May 16, 1898; 700 people hopped aboard to celebrate the occasion. (bit.ly/AstNPac) F ‘A MAN OF MANY TALENTS’ ome people get all the talents and the good looks,” my former newsroom colleague Patrick Webb light-heartedly teased. “I’m talking about Sergey Antonov, the red-headed cello player who has been such a popular star at the annual summer concerts in Astoria these past few years.” “As well as playing concerts around the world, record- ing CDs, and climbing mountains (including Mount Hood),” Patrick explained, “the young Russian-born musician apparently found time to write a children’s book called ‘Seven Little Sisters.’ He intended it just for the enjoyment of his son, Noah, but, as he told the audience during a recent concert at Astoria’s Liberty Theatre, once his wife Nika had edited it, Antonov said he ‘made the mistake of telling my mother.’” Pictured, courtesy of Patrick Webb, the cover of the book, and Sergey, signing autographs at the Liberty. Behind him are the other members of his Hermitage Trio, Ilya Kazantsev and Misha Keylin, left. “Sergey’s mom — Maria Zhuravleva, his first cello teacher when he was growing up in Moscow — insisted he try to publish it. The book is cleverly illustrated by Ukrainian artist Olya Grebennik, and tells the delightful story of the C Major Family.” “He’s a man,” Patrick noted, “of many talents.” ‘S EMILY SAVES THE DAY n June, this column mentioned that the Rockaway Beach Volunteer Fire Department was doing practice rescues with an EMILY (EMergency Integrated Life- saving LanYard), a 4-foot robotic buoy that can swim through riptides at a top speed of 24 mph to save swim- mers in distress that lifeguards can’t reach (pictured, inset, courtesy of emilyrobot.com). Swimmers in trouble can use EMILY as a flotation device until rescuers can arrive, or EMILY and the swim- mer(s) can be pulled to shore via an 800-yard rescue line, even through heavy surf and currents. Well, all that practice at Rockaway Beach paid off on July 8. “Just before 6 this evening, Rockaway Fire responded to a water rescue call off of N. Sixth Ave.,” the fire department posted on its Facebook page. “After a short visual search, three victims were located approx- imately 100 yards beyond the beach, after being pulled out by a rip current. “Our USV (unmanned surface vehicle) was deployed, and all three victims were successfully rescued with its use. … Our thanks to the Rockaway Police officers, Nehalem Fire and Rescue and the Coast Guard for their help.” A photo of the rescue is shown, courtesy of the RBVFD. Two boys were saved, and one’s aunt, Bridgette Gus- tin, who swam out to help them. She brought them life jackets, then couldn’t get the boys back to shore, accord- ing to a story on KGW.com (bit.ly/KGWRockaway). Which is when EMILY zoomed out to the rescue. Luck- ily, all three of them are fine. “That is a life saver, like right there,” a grateful Gus- tin told KGW. “I think every beach needs to have that.” She’s right. I ngel Finley and her husband, Evan, have a toddler, heart patient SveaJade, and a baby, Lemuel James Dean (pictured), and money is tight — especially with a limited income, and a legally blind husband/main provider. “About four days ago, we bought a $35 canister of for- mula, only to realize today, when we needed it, that it got left in the cart or something, because it’s gone,” Angel posted on her Facebook page July 13. “With a hungry baby, I race up to the store and ask if it’s been turned in, not having much hope that it has been.” No, it hadn’t been turned in. Then she went to see the man- ager, who turned the day around with a nice surprise: She gave Angel the same size canister she had lost. “Well, I get home, and open it, and look … someone had put 20 bucks there (under the plastic lid)! Things like this just renew my hope that there are good people out there, helping others!” “God is so good,” Angel added, “always reminding me not to stress, he will always provide.” s you may recall, pregnant Madeline Astor was one of the survivors when the Titanic sank in April 2012. She was the new wife of John Jacob Astor IV, great-grandson of Astoria’s namesake. Luckily for Mrs. Astor, she had both a life jacket and a seat on a lifeboat, so she survived. Her husband went down with the ship. Among those rescued by the ship Carpathia, she was sent to the ship’s hospital, where she finally took off her life jacket, KnoxNews.com reports (bit.ly/MAlifejacket). Crew member Gottlieb Rencher took it, and and hung it in his New York office when he became a chiroprac- tor. Later, his family donated it to the Titanic Historical Society (titanichistoricalsociety.org). Of the original 3,000 life jackets, only 12 remain, and six are on display at the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (titanicpigeonforge.com), includ- ing Madeline Astor’s, which is pictured, courtesy of the museum. One of the visitors to see the artifact was Madeline’s distant relative, Victor Astor of Memphis, Tennessee. He is pictured in a screen shot from a KnoxNews.com video. “It makes it all much more real than it has ever been, because I have known these stories all my life,” he told KnoxNews,com, visibly moved by the experience, “and more and more, as I got older, I always knew there was a relative on the Titanic … It just makes it very real.” A ANGEL’S ANGELS A ‘IT’S VERY REAL’ ‘RECHARGE THE OCEANS!’ ood news: According to MarineExecutive.com, Le Cord, a Swedish company, is making Apple-certified iPhone charging cables out of recycled plastic from ghost fishing nets (bit.ly/ghostcords). The company’s motto? “Recharge the oceans!” A cord is shown, courtesy of Le Cord. Abandoned ghost nets entrap fish, which then become prey for other fish, who also get entangled. The deadly cycle continues, possibly for hundreds of years, as that’s how long it takes the nets to degrade into microplastics. But the danger remains — microplastics, when ingested, are often deadly to marine life. “This is the first time recycled plastics from the ocean have been used for certified mobile charging accessories,” Marine- Executive.com says. It’s certainly a step in the right direction. G
