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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, NOvEmbER 21, 2019
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
‘A VERY UNIQUE SHARK’
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
‘O
n Halloween, the educational director of the
Columbia River Maritime Museum (crmm.org),
Nate Sandel, led Steve Porter’s Warrenton High School
zoology class in the dissection of a thresher shark,” Tif-
fany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium (seasideaquarium.
com) wrote.
The shark washed up and stranded on the Manzanita
beach on July 31. Unfortunately, attempts to return the
shark to the ocean failed, and the shark died. The aquar-
ium recovered the shark to be used for educational pur-
poses, and Nate Sandel asked for it for the dissection class.
“Though sad, it was a great educational opportunity
that they may not have otherwise gotten,” Tiffany noted.
The shark is pictured, courtesy of Tiffany Boothe/Seaside
Aquarium.
“Nothing remarkable was discovered during the dis-
section, so the cause of death still remains a mystery,”
she revealed. “The kids got to explore the contents of the
shark’s stomach and get an up close look at the shark’s
large liver.
“Thresher sharks are native to the Oregon Coast, but
are more commonly found off the California coastline. …
They use their large tail to beat the water, which frightens
and stuns the fish, making them easier to catch. The max-
imum size of this species of shark is 20 feet, averaging
about 18 feet. It was the first thresher shark to wash ashore
on the northern Oregon Coast in 10 years.”
“The class was very enthusiastic and engaged in the
dissection,” Tiffany added. “It provided a great opportu-
nity for the students to learn the anatomy and life history
of a very unique shark.”
ICE SURPRISE
#DOGTHANKING
A
re you thankful you have the most amazing dog on
the planet? Now’s your chance to show the world
how grateful you feel during the “National Dog Show
Presented by Purina” on NBC or nbc.com from noon to
2 p.m. (in all time zones) on Thanksgiving Day.
To enter, share a photo or video of your pet in a post
on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag
#DogThanking and tag @Purina. Want to give it a shot?
Some examples are at bit.ly/dogthank
ack in October, photos of a starving, terrified dog began
appearing on the Tillamook Animal Shelter’s Face-
book page. The dog was clearly lost, and unapproachable.
A post on Nov. 5, was encouraging: “… We have a plan
in place. We know where he hangs out and the trap is on its
way tonight. … He’s being fed, and he knows where to go
for that right now. Wish us luck in trapping him.”
After a good deal of anxiety, finally the good news came
on Nov. 16. “I have an awesome story to share,” Maria
Nagy posted for the shelter. “This is Evan (the man, not
the dog), and Evan is a camp ranger at Camp Meriwether.
Evan is also a hero :-) Recognize the dog?” The shelter’s
photos are shown.
“This dog has been on the run for more than a month.
He started somewhere near Cape Lookout, we had sev-
eral sightings in Sand Lake, and we were always one step
behind with the trap.”
“Evan called us the other day and told us this dog had
been eating on his porch. Dan Dixon went and set the trap.
The dog was wary of the trap and as it turns out, he’s too
tall to get in it.”
“After a few days, the dog decided Evan was all right.
With a little coaxing, and a little food, the dog finally let
himself be caught, by hand. Evan has a dog already, but his
dog was welcome to having a buddy, too.”
“This story also has the perfect ending,” Maria con-
cluded. “He gets to stay! Apparently he already knew
where he was supposed to go, we were just slow to get it.”
B
D
ave Wilson sent in a link with an eye-catching head-
line from NBC29.com: “Charlottesville (Virginia)
Approves Plan to Remove Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea
Statue.” Why?
Well, the 18-foot statue — which sits on Main Street,
and was donated in 1919 — is offensive to Native
Americans because it appears to depict Sacagawea as
cowering beside explorers Meriwether Lewis and Wil-
liam Clark. The sculpture is shown, courtesy of NBC29.
com
“This morning, I went out there to look at that statue,”
Shoshone descendent of Sacagawea, Emma George,
remarked, tearfully. “It did not make me feel good at
all.”
But wait. Was that subservient-appearing depiction
what the artist, Charles Keck, intended? The Daily
Progress (bit.ly/Sakastatue2) mentions a 1919 article in
Natural History magazine that insists his intention was
to show Sacagawea “bending forward, intent on the vast
expanse of the ocean.”
Which is appropriate, since Keck’s name for the
statue is “Their First View of the Pacific,” according
to its 1996 National Register of Historic Places applica-
tion, which mentions that she “crouches against the rock
where Lewis stands.”
The application also says “the sculptor has made her
look down and seem interested in the immediate sur-
roundings, for she is not aware of what is in the minds of
the explorers.” (bit.ly/NRHPkeck).
It should also be mentioned that the statue includes
four murals around its base, one of which is the home-
coming of Sacagawea.
So, the issue in Charlottesville is pretty straight-for-
ward: What is more important — modern-day percep-
tions, or the artist’s original intent? It’s all in the eye of
the beholder.
Modern perceptions won out in Charlottesville. The
city council voted 4-0 to banish the statue. They also
voted that a new sculpture be installed, “with primary
consultation from indigenous people on the design of the
statue.”
Could Charlottesville’s loss be Oregon’s gain? “Ore-
gon should get this statue that they don’t want,” Dave
Wilson opined. “It would be great to have it at Fort
Clatsop.”
AROUND TOWN
A
few weeks ago, Astorian and nautical writer Peter
Marsh sent in a link to a BBC.com story about a
peculiar winter phenomenon — ice balls mysteriously
appearing on a beach on Hailuoto Island, Finland, in the
Gulf of Bothnia (bit.ly/BBCice).
Photographer Risto Mattila was stunned by the sight,
which covered about a 100-foot area; the balls ranged
from egg-sized to being as large as footballs. One of his
photos is shown, courtesy of BBC.com
“That was an amazing view,” Mattila said. “I have
never seen anything like this during 25 years living in the
vicinity.”
So what causes this to happen? “… They form from
pieces of larger ice sheet which then get jostled around
by waves, making them rounder,” BBC weather expert
George Goodfellow said.
“They can grow when sea water freezes on to their sur-
faces, and this also helps to make them smoother.” Then
they’re blown in to shore, or brought in by the tide. And
now you know.
END OF THE RUN
HIGH HOPES
F
or Astoria history buffs, this little gem: “Port of Asto-
ria, Astoria, Oregon, U.S.A.: Smith Point Terminal,” a
report prepared to attract business to the Port at the 1920
National Foreign Trade Convention in San Francisco. A
photo from the report is shown.
The Port was bustling with commerce then. The water-
front had two railroad terminals (20th and 14th streets),
and three privately owned wharves: the Ninth Street Dock
(Geo. Sanborn & Sons, Eighth through 11th streets), the
Elmore Dock (Third and Fourth streets), and the Callender
Dock (14th Street).
Meanwhile, the Port had Piers 1, 2 and 3, and commer-
cial wharves abounded, consisting of fish canning and cold
storage, oil companies, grain and flour mills, coal bunkers,
warehouses, marine repair plants, lumber mills and more.
The Port’s final selling point was a grand plan for a Belt
Line Railway to “touch every industrial site” for 20 miles
of water frontage south and west — but only three miles of
it were completed in 1920.
Want to read or download the report? It’s a beaut, and
can be found at tinyurl.com/port1920
ALMOST UNBEATABLE
F
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, Friday, Nov. 23,
1883:
• The party who stole the quarter of beef from Jeff’s
Restaurant got 30 days at Mack Twombly’s boarding
house. He is bound to eat a quarter of beef at somebody’s
expense.
Note: A. M. Twombly was the Clatsop County sheriff
from 1880-1884. He was the arresting officer in a notori-
ous local case, “The Klaskanine Homicide,” mentioned
in the Nov. 20, 1883, edition of the paper.
One fine morning, Jack Leonard happened upon John
Leahy and his two brothers, who were armed to the teeth
and in an extremely ugly mood.
John’s response to Leonard’s greeting of “good morn-
ing, gentleman,” was to first shout “go, go!” to alert peo-
ple standing by, then he raised his revolver and shot Leon-
ard dead at point blank range. His brothers then opened
fire with their shotguns.
The unarmed witnesses didn’t have time to flee before
the shooting started, so they saw Leonard fall. One was
even grazed by a bullet.
Leonard’s shot-up body was put on display in the cor-
oner’s office, and received hundreds of visitors. An unre-
pentant Leahy told the sheriff he “had shot John Leonard,
and would do it again.” No reason for the shooting was
given.
• Another Claimant: C. A. Enberg of Upper Astoria
says he is the man who saved the individual who tumbled
into the drink last Tuesday night. He was in Frank Fab-
re’s getting a cup of coffee when he heard the man fall in,
and with the aid of his lantern, guided him safely to the
shore.
Note: It’s not mentioned how many others came for-
ward to claim the hero’s role.
A
tidbit from The Daily Morning Astorian, Saturday,
Nov. 21, 1885:
• The patrons of the manly art of self-defense will
see a first-class exhibition at Liberty Hall tonight. Jack
Dempsey, the champion middleweight of the world …
and other notables will appear.
Note: Having famous American bare-fisted (and
gloved) boxer “Nonpareil” Jack Dempsey on the billet
would have been quite a coup for Liberty Hall and Astoria.
Born John Edward Kelly in Ireland, Dempsey began
boxing in 1883, and didn’t lose his first fight until 1889,
so he would have been at the top of his game during his
appearance in Astoria.
He lost his title in 1891, but kept fighting until he retired
to Portland in 1895, weakened by tuberculosis. He died
that same year. (bit.ly/JDemps1)