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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2019)
B1 THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, SEpTEmbER 26, 2019 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (971) 704-1718 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON NO ZOO FOR YOU LOCAL BREVITIES F rom The Daily Morning Astorian, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 1888: • First Officer Chambers, of the wrecked Derby Park, was among the passengers on the Geo. W. Elder yesterday, on his way to Portland. … He says that the island of Pen- ryhn, where the vessel was wrecked, is an atoll, a circu- lar coral reef. There are 500 natives and one white man … Note: The Sydney Morning Herald, on Monday, Sept. 10, 1888 (bit.ly/derbypark), reported that while off Pen- rhyn Island on July 23, natives approached the ship Sil- verdale in boats to convey that a ship had wrecked on the lee side of the island July 19 or 20. From the description, it sounded like the Derby Park. Everyone made it to shore, except the captain’s wife, who drowned on the way, and the survivors were picked up by a French schooner bound for Tahiti. Of note: The Derby Park, built in 1887, was owned by Peter Iredale & Son of Liverpool. It was only in service for one year. From Friday, Sept. 26, 1890: • Geo. W. Traver, a prominent Tacoma (Washington) capitalist, has been in the city for a few days past, and has made arrangements to invest largely in Frankfort property. Note: Settlement in Frankfort, across the river from Astoria, began in 1876, but it wasn’t until 1890 — when Frank Bourn and Frank Scott platted the place with 1,226 lots — that a big fish like Traver showed up to invest. Even though Frankfort was only accessible by water, the selling hook was that a railroad was supposed to go through the town. The two Franks sold lots, built a hotel, store, saloon, post office and sawmill … and sold more lots. The duo then started a newspaper, the Frankfort Chronicle, and sold even more lots. The financial Panic of 1893 stopped the boom, the rail- road never showed up, and the slide to oblivion began. The post office closed in 1918, and Frankfort was a log- ging town until the 1940s. By the time it was sold to a log- ging company in 1953, there was hardly anyone left. Tra- ver probably lost his shirt on this one. (bit.ly/frankf1, bit. ly/frankf2) HOMETOWN HERO? little while ago, a gentleman left a message asking about the zoo in Shively Park. Yes, there really was a zoo. But how did it get there? And where did it go? The Astoria Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Mas- ter Plan (bit.ly/APRDplan) seemed a good place to start the quest. First of all, the land for the main portion of Shively Park was deeded to the city of Astoria by Charles W. and Annie M. Shively in 1905, and then developed for the grand Astoria Centennial in 1911. Shively Park is pictured, courtesy of the Clatsop County Historical Society. The master plan says the celebration included “a reconstruction of Fort Astoria, amphitheater on the Park’s south slope, exhibition halls, Native American camp, botanical garden, trails and zoo.” But, “within 20 years, many of the Centennial features were dilapidated or missing.” Not the zoo, apparently, according to a 1999 Cumtux story about Shively Park by former Astoria Police Chief Charles A. “Chuck” Pae- tow (bit.ly/paetow). He wrote that in the 1920s, there were still a coop full of exotic birds and fenced-in deer. One buck, he recalled, who lived 12 to 14 years, had antlers that never forked. In 1938 or 1939, the deer became sick because of the stickers on the barley beards in the hay they were being fed. The stickers got caught in their mouths, causing infections. Paetow was working for the local veterinarian at the time, and he had to catch the deer and hold onto them so the vet could remove the stickers. The task was com- pleted “with torn clothes and bruises.” After that, along with a change of diet, the deer “recovered and thrived.” Around 1940, a local poacher “shot the deer and cut the fence to get them out,” all on a bet, apparently. That, and other vandalism incidents, made the city decide to close the zoo. Sadly, no photos of it could be found. “I was sad to see it go,” Paetow wrote. “I don’t recall exactly when it closed, either just before or during World War II. When I returned from the war in 1946, the zoo was gone.” A N A TECHNICALITY riter Jamie Hale — of the somewhat misguided “Our 10 favorite fish and chips spots on the Ore- gon coast” fame (bit.ly/10fishies) — has now tackled “The 10 best beach towns on the Oregon Coast” (bit. ly/halebeach). No. 1 on his list is Newport. But his Astoria entry, coming in at No. 3, beating out both Seaside (No. 8) and Cannon Beach (No. 4) was the real surprise: “Astoria isn’t technically a ‘beach town’ … but that technicality isn’t enough to unseat it as one of the very best towns on the Oregon coast.” Despite Astoria having no beach to speak of, and no ocean, either, the sentiment is still right on the money. W AT Footwear really showed some love recently to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast (coastwildlife. org) — which rescues and rehabilitates injured wildlife — by donating $5,000. “… We just love your drive, we love your passion for what you do, we love your optimism,” Garrett McGuire of CAT explained to Josh Saranpaa, executive director of the WCNC. CAT Footwear also created an eight-minute video hon- oring the center and its work, “The Value of a Wild Heart- beat,” featuring Josh (pictured, in a screen shot), Pauline Baker, Melisa Colvin, Morgan Heim and Seaside Mayor Jay Barber. You can see it here: bit.ly/CATwcnc (scroll down). “Places like the Wildlife Center of the North Coast exist because people care about what we’re doing,” Heim said. “So much of what keeps them running are just small indi- vidual donations by random people from all over. Here’s something really tangible that you can do: You give, you help. It’s as simple as that.” C ‘PERFECT THROUGHOUT’ orwegian Cruise Line has launched an Encore Moments campaign — in advance of the debut of its newest ship, the Norwegian Encore — to recognize one hometown hero from each U.S. state (plus Wash- ington, D.C., and Puerto Rico), and each Canadian province. The 64 winners receive a three-to-five-day cruise for two on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship, plus airfare and accommodations for an award ceremony on Dec. 16 in New York City. Everyone is encouraged to “nominate those who deserve an encore — applause — for the positive impact they have on their friends, family and communities.” You have until Oct. 18 to nominate your choice (or yourself) at encoremoments.ncl.com So … who will be Oregon’s hero? ‘YOU GIVE, YOU HELP’ he Astoria Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan (bit.ly/APRDplan) also mentioned that Astoria’s Centennial celebration planned to feature the world’s tallest flag pole in Shively Park. There was only one problem: At well over 200 feet tall, it was too long and heavy to be lifted, even with the help of a steam donkey (red arrow in photo, courtesy of the Clatsop County Historical Society). Some local accounts say the pole snapped, which is why it was never raised. But that’s not what happened. According to the April 2012 edition of “The Pacific Coast Architect” the dimensions were mighty, indeed: “The flag pole is of Douglas fir, perfect throughout, with a butt diameter of 5.5 feet and one of 2 feet at the apex. Its length overall is 246 feet, and it is estimated to weigh 93,061 pounds.” Since they couldn’t use it for the Astoria Centennial, what to do with it? Conveniently, it just so happened that the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco was coming up in 1915. In 1914, somehow, someone managed to get that behemoth hunk of wood settled onto a cigar-shaped log raft which was towed to San Francisco by the Hammond Lumber Co., to be presented as a gift from the mayor and the city of Astoria. But when the tug approached San Francisco Bay, it was hit by a whopping storm, and the flag pole broke free. Fortunately it’s hard to misplace something that large; it was found two days later, and brought to the exposition. The flag pole (shaped and trimmed to 30 tons, and using three derricks) was finally raised, and sunk 10 feet deep into a 200-ton concrete block. The city of Astoria then provided an enormous flag (40 to 50 feet long) to fly proudly at the top. Sadly, the flag pole was dismantled sometime after the almost year-long exposition ended. And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, “You know the rest of the story.” (bit.ly/centpole1, bit.ly/centpole2, bit.ly/ centpole3) WINTER WARNINGS ot to jump the gun, since fall just started, but it’s probably not too early to contemplate winter. To that end, the Farmer’s Almanac has rounded up some weather folklore, passed down from generation to gen- eration, to consider (bit.ly/brrwinter). These are some of the signs that point to an impending hard winter: thicker-than-normal corn husks; tree-sharing woodpeckers; geese and ducks fly- ing south early; thick hair on a cow’s neck; pigs collect- ing sticks; crickets arriving on the hearth earlier than usual; spiders spinning bigger webs; more spiders in the house; and ants marching in a line instead of wandering along. And then there’s the orange and black wooly bear caterpillar. If he’s fuzzier than normal, take out your long-johns, winter will be bitter cold. You’ve been warned. N T ‘TWISTED TALES OF MADNESS’ am Rascoe at the Clatsop County Historical Society sent in a link to the trailer for the horror movie “The Mortuary Collection” (subtitled “Every Corpse Has a Story”) directed and written by Ryan Spindell for Trap- doorPictures.com Why do you care? Well, some of the filming took place in Astoria last year, that’s why. You can see the trailer at bit.ly/mortshort, where you’ll see some local sights — among them the Astoria Riverfront Trolley and the Fla- vel House. “An eccentric mortician spins four twisted tales of madness and the macabre in a sleepy New England town,” Spindell wrote, describing the plot, “where nothing is as it seems.” If there’s a screening in Astoria, you’ll have fun pick- ing out both places and faces, since several locals worked as extras. Stay tuned. S