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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2020
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
YANKEE LOBSTERS
THE POWER OF SHARING
F
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, Jan. 23, 1889:
• Thirty boxes of lobsters arrived yesterday morn-
ing from eastern waters (off Massachusetts). Of the 30, 27
were taken on the Gen. Canby to Cape Hancock (Cape
Disappointment), where they were “planted” in Pacifi c
waters; two were sent to Shoalwater Bay, and one to
Gray’s Harbor.
… Mr. Johnson, the gentleman now in charge of the
lobsters, believes that there are about 200 lobsters in the
lot, and that each lobster contains from 20,000 to 30,000
eggs. … They are original Yankee lobsters.
Note: So what happened? The Oct. 19, 1889 edition
included a follow-up story:
“The fi rst fruits of the effort, seen by The Astorian’s
reportorial force, was showed last evening by Captain J.
A. Brown … who had a sure enough young lobster in his
lily-white hand (taken from Shoalwater Bay) …
“He, the lobster, was as big as a tarantula. … Send the
news abroad that eastern lobsters are thriving in western
waters.”
“Thriving” was quite an overstatement. Despite being
introduced to Pacifi c Northwest waters several times, even
up to the 1960s, they didn’t thrive at all.
The CanadianEnclyclopedia.ca explains: “Although
American lobsters seem able to survive in the Pacifi c, there
is no evidence that any of the introductions has resulted in
a reproducing population.” And now you know.
FORMIDABLE FROSTY
‘I
DIRT FISHIN’ FIND
usually don’t dig in the winter time, but due to the
king tides we had last week, I decided to hit a cer-
tain spot that might lead to some good fi nds,” metal-de-
tecting enthusiast and Astorian
Don Kelly of the North-
west Artifact Recov-
ery Team (fb.me/
NorthwestDig-
gers) noted in a
Jan. 19 Face-
book post.
“ We l l ,
besides dig-
ging
tons
of trash I
decided
to
dig along the
tide wall, and
sure enough all
my
experience
paid off as I unearth
my fi rst ever fl ying eagle
one cent piece, dated 1857.
Just speculating, but I think it washed up against the tide
wall during the king tides. Shifting sands smoothed it
out, I’m thinking.” Don’s photos of his fi nd are shown.
According to CoinValues.com, the coin was designed
by James B. Longacre and made of copper-nickel;
17,450,000 coins were minted in the two years the penny
was issued, 1857 and 1858. By the way, 1 cent in 1857
would be worth 30 cents now.
“It’s more about the history to me,” Don explained,
“but in the condition it’s in, (it’s worth) around $30 to
$50. Uncirculated coins fetch $450, and if a proof coin is
ever found, it’s worth $30,000.”
“If you heard a loud scream about 10 a.m. this
morning,” he added, “I’m sure it must have been me.
Gotta love dirt fi shin’ — I know I do! Bucket lister for
sure!”
‘I
n late December, the Seaside Police Department was
contacted via email about a phone that had been found
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in front of Ladder Com-
pany 3 of the Cambridge Fire Department,” Jon Rahl,
Seaside assistant city manager wrote.
“The phone was dead, but the fi refi ghter managed to
charge the iPhone and promptly discovered the lock screen
had an image of a couple standing in front of the Tilla-
mook Head Trail. The fi refi ghter located where this trail-
head was, and reached out accordingly with an image of
that lock screen.” The screenshot is shown.
“On Jan. 6, (the S easide Police Department) posted a
photo of this locked screen and sought the public’s help
in perhaps locating this phone that was found 3,100 miles
from the location where the photo on the phone was taken.
“The Facebook post reached more than 20,000 people,
was shared more than 300 times and, ultimately — assisted
by a local Verizon store employee who was able to use his
connections — (we were able) to determine the owners.
“Those owners were Oregon City residents, and were
extremely delighted to get their phone back, and the photos
they had taken, which had been missing since an October
vacation to Massachusetts.” The couple even sent a thank
you note (bit.ly/phonethx).
“An interesting aspect of this story,” Rahl added, “is
that the phone was left in a rental car at Boston’s Logan
Airport and discharged before the couple realized it was
missing. How it then made it to the edge of the Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology Campus in Cambridge is a
mystery, but the story illustrated the good that can come
from social media when using the power of sharing.”
A PLEASANT MEETING
P
robably because of the utter disappointment at the lack
of promised snow recently, the following Jan. 14 head-
line on CBC.ca was an attention-grabber: “Corncob pipe
and button nose: Giant snowman towers over Alberta
acreage.”
The Canadian snowman in question, built by Rob Sar-
vas, owner of Sarvas Construction, as a Christmas present
for his 2-year-old granddaughter, is 23 feet tall. It took him
four days, using an excavator. “Hat is made from a tarp
and chicken wire,” his wife, Janet Sarvas, posted on her
Facebook page, “‘corncob pipe and button nose’ are card-
board.” Her photos of the snowman are shown, via CBC.
Frosty also has a sled hill on his back, and snow stairs.
Those so inclined could even climb on top of his head.
“My husband is very skilled with his machines,” Janet
told CBC. “It’s a 3-acre property but about an acre of it
now has almost no snow because Rob scraped it up. He
scraped up a lot of snow to make that snowman.”
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ …
OF YOUNGS BAY
un rerun: When Jim Capellen of Astoria recently
visited his family in California, they went to dinner
at King’s Fish House in Calabasas.
The menu is huge, and right smack in the middle,
prominently featured in the “Today’s Regional Specials”
section, were Youngs Bay salmon:
“Our journey continues with cohos netted in Youngs
Bay at the mouth of the Columbia River. Special thanks
go out to the crews of Thor Seppa’s Predator and Bill
Ivanoff’s Fin Power for landing these silvers in one
hour ‘short-sets.’ Fishing in this manner ensures the best
possible handling of these nutrient rich and fl avorful
fi sh.”
The Ear has been to Calabasas, and thinks it’s a mighty
unlikely place to fi nd Youngs River salmon. Even so,
Capellen’s daughter went shopping the next day at her
local market, and what did she fi nd? You guessed it …
Youngs River salmon. (In One Ear, 11/13/2009)
F
‘WHAT’S NEW?’
have been digging through boxes,” Astoria’s favor-
ite ex-patriot Daymon Edwards (who now lives in
Korea) wrote, “… (and) ran across something you might
be interested in. This letter to the editor appeared Nov.
14, 1987 … it was timely then, timely now — very little
changes.” The title is “What’s new?”
Here’s the letter: “’What’s new in River City?’ you
ask. Well, you might want to call the topic ‘Small Town
Friendliness.’ Burger King has the nerve to want to
come to Astoria!
“Columbia House Condominiums are up in arms
again with stories of devaluation of property and traffi c
hazards, same line used against the proposed hardware
store. It wasn’t too long ago when the condominiums
went through the process to build. The residents on the
hill with river views said the same thing about the pro-
posed prison-like structure.
“Dairy Queen received a public funds loan to
remodel, and what a fi ne use of the money. Everyone
connected with the project said how it would help the
community. Other restaurants in town didn’t like the
idea at all.
“Enter McDonald’s. What a joy it is to get out onto
Marine Drive from their drive-through going west.
They received an award from their parent company for
landscaping. Did the judges go to the back facing Bond
Street?
“The tree limbs slap you in the face as you walk by,
cardboard blocks on the sidewalk and the mansard roof-
line doesn’t even go across the back. This kind of false
front devalues the property on Bond Street.
“We live in a free enterprise system. Most of the
aforementioned like it, as long as they are the fi rst on
the block.
“Please do us all a favor. Work hard on your own
property and don’t volunteer for the promotion or wel-
coming committee of Astoria. Daymon Edwards, 330
Bond St., Astoria.”
Does the complaint sound familiar? The letter was
written over 30 years ago, yet it’s timely, indeed.
‘I
F
rom the Jan. 23, 1887 edition of The Daily Morn-
ing Astorian:
“Four years ago, Capt. Bergman and his daughter were
washed overboard from the vessel the captain was com-
manding, in a storm off Cape Flattery. A sailor named
Brown rescued them from drowning.
“About a month ago the Harvey Mills foundered off
that same terrible coast, and Brown the sailor, was one of
the three that were tossed about on the stormy water. They
were saved, and as luck would have it, it was Capt. Berg-
man, now of the ship Majestic, that saved them.
“Each man had saved the other’s life, and the meeting,
as can be readily imagined, was a pleasant one.”
Note: Brown’s rescue was miraculous. When the Har-
vey Mills foundered on Dec. 14, 1886, eight escaped on
two hastily built rafts; 12 stayed on board. The next morn-
ing, one raft and the ship were gone.
Jacob Brown and the remaining crewmen were adrift
for four days with no food or water, with seas constantly
breaking over them. One went insane and jumped over-
board to his death; Brown and the rest were rescued by
Capt. Bergman. (bit.ly/LewDry)
‘SEND ME …’
eed a fi ne art fi x? The San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, which has over 34,000 artworks in its
collection, is only a text away.
Text “send me (whatever)” to 57251, keeping it as sim-
ple as possible, and see what happens. For example, some
sample requests are “send me something purple” or “send
me trees.” Shown, a reply to “send me ocean,” Sibyl Ani-
keef’s “Little Sur River Mouth No. 2” circa 1940.
This sure beats the alternative. The museum’s website
(sfmoma.org) says: “If you were to walk past each artwork
currently on view, you would walk almost 7 miles. To show
the museum’s entire collection at once would require the
construction of another 17 SFMOMAs, and you would need
to walk the equivalent of 121.3 miles to see each piece.”
N