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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2020)
B1 THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, JANuARy 30, 2020 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (971) 704-1718 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON STANLEY’S EPIC TRAVELS F rom the Thursday, Jan. 30, 1879 edition of The Daily Astorian: • Mrs. Eliza Shepherd, agent for Stanley’s book on Africa, has arrived in the city, and we commend her to kind receptions. This book is well worth the price asked for it, and no library will be complete without it. Note: This little snippet refers to the 1878 book “Through the Dark Continent,” written about what was then the mysterious continent of Africa, by Henry M. Stanley (1841-1904), of “Dr. Livingstone, I presume” fame. Stanley a Welsh/American, was born John Rowlands, but changed his name upon moving to America. He served on both sides of the Civil War, and was a sailor before becoming a journalist. It was a special assignment by The New York Herald that led him on his first trip to Africa in 1871 to find Dr. Livingstone, who was searching for the source of the Nile. His first book, aptly named “How I Found Livingstone” (1872), was a best-seller, and brought him international fame as an explorer/journalist. Funded by The Herald and another newspaper, he went back to explore large expanses of Central Africa from 1874 to 1877, and went down the length of the Lualaba and Congo rivers to the Atlantic Ocean. It is this journey that is covered in the 1878 book, which was also a huge hit. (bit.ly/HMSepics) For history fans, both books are available online. The first is at http://bit.ly/HMSpresume; Volume 1 of the sec- ond can be found at http://bit.ly/HMSdark. For Victorian Astorians wondering what to do for the rest of the winter, reading these lengthy exotic epics probably took them well into summer. FOUND THE LITTLE BEACH HOUSE F rom the Sunday, Jan. 31, 1881 edition of The Daily Astorian: • The high tide on Friday carried away about 50 feet of the new roadway at Upper Astoria, in front of the house of Mr. B. Young. Enough assistance was immedi- ately rendered to save all materials, and the roadway will be up again in a few days. Note: Benjamin Young (1843-1911, pictured) arrived in Astoria in 1874, and became one of the leading salm- on-packing cannery owners on the lower Columbia River. However, the house referred to in the clipping was probably his first house (of three), which was quite modest. Liisa Penner, archivist at the Clatsop County His- torical Society, says the typed reminiscences of Benja- min Young’s daughter, Mrs. Caroline Ogilvie, explained the location as being a “little beach house,” probably on what was once Scow Bay. The bay divided downtown Astoria from Uppertown, and before a bridge was built in 1878 from 18th to 21st streets, you could only row or sail between the two parts of town. Scow Bay has since been filled in. “It was their first home in 1874,” Liisa explained, “… It was in Upper Town, one of several shacks or scows on the beach. Benjamin Young was fishing on the Colum- bia River then.” “Lots of people, poor families, found shelter in that little house afterwards,” Caroline added, “and it stood there quite a while, and finally was torn down.” The second house, “was like a small ranch, for we had cows and chickens and a pig, cats, pigeons and a dog and an old horse and buggy. Mother was a farm woman at heart, and loved to grow anything that would grow there, all kinds of flowers and vegetables.” “I can remember Father’s telling us so many times that someday he was going to build us a big, lovely house, and after it was finished, he intended to retire and enjoy himself — and that was exactly what he did,” Car- oline recalled, referring to the final house he built, pic- tured, in 1888 or 1889. It’s still standing at 3652 Duane St., and is a far cry from the “little beach house.” (bit.ly/ BYoung3652, bit.ly/BYoung1911, old300.org/ahistory. html) A FORMULA FOR KINDNESS y husband and I went to Fred Meyer to get for- mula for my 10-month-old baby boy,” Marie Egler wrote. “We just moved into a new two-bedroom apartment, and we were pretty much broke. I opened the lid, and found $100. We were very shocked and excited. It meant we can make it through the rest of the month.” “Thank you to whoever put this in it,” Marie posted on her Facebook page, along with the photo shown. “We are forever grateful!” Once the good news went around social media, a friend informed Marie that the person who made that lovely, unexpected cash boost possible was Meagan DeSart. So why did Megan leave the money in the formula can? “It’s called Wealth Wednesday,” Meagan explained, “and every week on Wednesday I do a random act of kindness for a stranger that is a monetary exchange. “I often put cash in formula cans or diaper boxes (it’s probably my favorite one I do). Last week I had pizzas anonymously delivered to the Astoria Police Department. I also will go out to eat at local restaurants and tip 100% of the bill. I brought McDonald’s to the homeless camp, one day.” “Any giving that includes monetary value, and always to a stranger,” Meagan added, “because I don’t want it to be perceived that I want anything in return.” No one would have known about Marie’s surprise gift, except, Meagan noted, “(It) just so happens this one got posted about.” ‘M DON’T STOP BELIEVING TRUTH IN TRADITION A s always, the Ear tries to keep you informed of intrigu- ing Bigfoot sightings, and last week was a bonanza, in that there were two of them, both in Washington state, both reported on by KHQ.com (bit.ly/SasqWash). On Jan. 22, the Washington State Department of Trans- portation East posted this to their Twitter feed (bit.ly/ TwitWSDOT): “Sasquatch spotted!!! I’m not superstitious … just a lit- tle stitious. Have you noticed something strange on our Sherman Pass/SR 20 webcam before? If you look closely by the tree on the left there looks to be something … might be Sasquatch … We will leave that up to you!” The post refers to the webcam image on the left. Then on Jan. 23, @WSDOT_East hit the Twitter feed again, with this gem: “I think Bigfoot is making the rounds across our moun- tain passes. @wsdot_east showed him on Sherman Pass the other day, and now he is on the wildlife overcrossing on I-90 just east of Snoqualmie Pass. #doyoubelieve” This post refers to the image on the right, a screenshot from a 31-second webcam video. “Never stop believing,” Steve Meacham, who spot- ted “giant biped tracks” last year, told KHQ.com. “I mean, you’ve always got to have something to look forward to. If you can’t believe in something that you can’t reach, there’s no sense in going forward.” T here was an interesting tidbit on the U.K. website for The Telegraph, in the travel section: “Ghosts of the coasts: The stories behind seven shipwrecks you can see without diving” (bit.ly/TeleIre). There’s one caveat: Some are only accessible to snorkelers. One of the ships given some international recognition was Oregon’s very own Peter Iredale shipwreck, which joined other hiding-in-the-sand wrecks in Greece, Spain, Bermuda, Wales, Cape Verde and the Bahamas. In case Brits want to see the Iredale in person, the arti- cle mentions that a London travel website, AmericaAs- YouLikeIt.com, offers a 14-night “Best of Oregon and Washington” road trip. The North Coast has definitely been “found.” S AFTERSHOCK imely tidbit: Want to scare yourself silly, and it’s not even Halloween? Go to opb.org/aftershock, and type in your address for a “custom report on your seismic risks and how to prepare” for a 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, courtesy of Oregon Public Broadcasting. And, for a real waker-upper, check out the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries maps at bit.ly/QuakeMaps. The relative earthquake hazard map — featuring the combined effects of ground shaking, ampli- fication, liquefaction and landsliding — of Astoria is shown. As you’ve no doubt guessed … unlike in China, the red on the map is not the color of happiness. T unday was the 320th anniversary of the last time the Cascadia Subduction Zone slipped on Jan. 26, 1700, causing a massive 9.0 earthquake and tidal wave. James B. Swan (1818-1900, pictured in 1883), the first school teacher at the Makah Reservation at Neah Bay, Washington, wrote down a traditional narrative of the event — as told to him by Native American Billy Balch — in his July 12, 1864, diary entry (tinyurl.com/ Swan1864): “… (Billy said) the water flowed from Neah Bay through the Waatch prairie, and Cape Flattery (on the Olympic Peninsula) was an island. That the water receded and left Neah Bay dry for four days and became very warm. “It then rose again without any swell or waves, and submerged the whole of the cape, and in fact the whole country, except the mountains back of Clayoquot (on the west coast of Vancouver Island). “As the water rose, those who had canoes put their effects into them and floated off with the current, which set strong to the north. Some drifted one way and some another, and when the waters again resumed their accus- tomed level, a portion of the tribe found themselves beyond Noothu (Nookta, also on Vancouver Island) where their descendants now reside, and are known by the same name as the Makah or Quinaitchechat. “Many canoes came down in the trees and were destroyed and numerous lives were lost. The same thing happened at Quillehuyte and a portion of that tribe went off either in canoes or by land, and found the Chimahcum tribe at Port Townsend.” “There is no doubt in my mind,” Swan noted, “of the truth of this tradition.” BEWARE THE HYPPO DIP he Memories of Warrenton Facebook page reports that in July 1914, the city of Warrenton took on a legend- ary evil: Dancing. “The city of Warrenton does ordain as follows: That all persons be, and they thereby are, prohibited from danc- ing any exaggerated or disorderly dances … the pivot, walk-back, Frisco walk shivers, hyppo dip, jelly wiggle, sun fish squirm, bunny hug, turkey trot … corkscrew twirl, angle worm wiggle, grizzly bear and Texas Tommy.” Anyone violating this ordinance could be fined from $2 ($51 now) to $25, or get 15 days in city jail. Or, if the danc- ing was truly egregious, both. T
