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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2020)
B1 THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, AuguST 13, 2020 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (971) 704-1718 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON MERWYN MEMORIES TEO’S HAPPY ENDING few days ago I received a text from Jacque Pressly at Angels for Sara Sanctuary about a cat Debra Welch and her husband had seen on the trails near the airport,” Rita Smith of River Song Foundation wrote. “It was following people. Jacque and her daughter, Kay, went to look for him, but didn’t find him. “I grabbed one of my rescue friends, and we went out. We knew he wouldn’t last long out there. As soon as we got down the trail a bit, we could hear it meowing frantically in a wooded area. It was a bit difficult to get to him, as he was across a small ditch and there was a lot of vegetation. After a couple of hours, we managed to get him into a carrier. He was starving, so it wasn’t too hard to lure him with food. “After searching lost pet pages, I found a post about a kitty that had been missing from Astoria for two months. It said he was microchipped. I felt it had to be this cat, Teo. “After tracking down the microchip info (which wasn’t easy), I called Teo’s people and he has now been reunited with Ben and Carrie Pelenske and their daughter, Lucy. They report that 13-year-old Teo is now snuggled in his favorite spot, the bed.” Carrie, Lucy and Teo are pictured. “So the moral of this story is,” Rita added, “Micro- chip your pets. And post them on social media. It really makes a difference.” “Thank you everybody!” a very relieved Carrie added. “He is so happy to be home, and we are so happy he is home safe. I really thought we wouldn’t see him again.” Please donate to River Song Foundation at river- songfoundation.org or Angels for Sara Sanctuary at angelsforsarasanctuary.com to help them make more happy endings possible for lost, abandoned and senior animals. ‘A CAUSE OF DEATH ere is the tenth installment of Daymon Garrett Edward’s (pictured, inset) memoir about own- ing and living in the Waldorf Hotel (aka the Merwyn Hotel) on Duane Street from 1979 to 1980. This is part two of the tale of CoCo, a colorful monthly guest, and her dachshund, Princess: “Over time, CoCo’s drinking became more intense, and her Social Security payments weren’t keeping up with her expenses, so she drank even more, and could be seen … sometimes passed out in the oddest loca- tions, with Princess sitting, patiently waiting. … The police or a kind citizen would bring her home to the hotel … “The most humorous and sad memory I have of CoCo is when we had two nefarious characters living at the hotel as monthly renters. … These two idiots had got- ten a half-kilogram of shake marijuana, and then found out that it didn’t give a high. They had been duped and needed to unload their useless stash … so they went to CoCo and offered her a commission on all the grass she sold. … Note: We had window wells in the hotel, and many conversations could be overheard … and I was able to keep up on the latest schemes happening … “CoCo, with Princess in tow … wandered around downtown saying in her raspy voice, ‘marijuana, mari- juana for sale, five bucks,’ and would shake a baggie so all could see the merchandise … (even at the bus stop) “Well, many of the bus riders were members of the older and respectable local habitués, and were shocked and offended that this local caricature of age and style would approach them and assume they were marijuana smokers. The police were called! “… I explained to the police that the marijuana didn’t work, and (who) were the true culprits. The police went to the hotel, got the two drug dealers and took them off to the police station, giving CoCo a verbal warn- ing … “Finally … CoCo’s decline was fast, with a trip to the hospital and other problems related to age, smok- ing and alcohol. “CoCo and Princess … you made the Waldorf Hotel, Astoria, in your minds, a world-class hotel, and for that, I thank you.” H NAUGHTY NELLIE SLOAN tidbit for history buffs: An interesting but sad web- site, “Death Certificates of Finns in Pacific County, Washington, 1908-1950,” excerpted from files belonging to the Family History Center at Vancouver, Washington, by Merle A. Reinikka (bit.ly/ DeathsPacCo). The causes of death range from fatal incidents (fell from a train, dynamite explosion, drownings, gun shots, logging accidents, suicides) to disease (cholera, pneumo- nia, measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough, cancer), to everything in between. More importantly, the notices give a good sense of the medical care available at the time; fortunately, many of the conditions that were a death sentence then are now treatable. A VOTE SMART ith the upcoming election season almost upon us, it would be helpful to know where a politician stands on issues near and dear to your heart. Not sure? Go to Vote Smart (justfacts.votesmart.org) and find out, as the site tracks thousands of politicians daily, and offers “just the facts” about their “biographies, issue positions, voting records, public statements, ratings and their funders.” Enter your address for a list of office holders that apply to your location, or just a lawmaker’s name, and do your research. Does he/she deserve your vote? With any luck, now you’ll know. W he Daily Astorian, Aug. 6, 1882, note that “Miss Nellie Sloan, whose name is famous in connection with James A. Lawrence, now awaiting trial here, was on the Oregon train that arrived yesterday afternoon. She didn’t stop.” Was scandal afoot? The back story was revealed with the headline “Elopers heard from” in the Sacramento Daily Union, April 4, 1882. Interesting, since Lawrence, a clerk in the U.S. engineer’s department in Port- land, was already married, and had two children, and 18-year-old Sloan stole $3,000 (about $76,000 now) from her father, the former Portland police chief, before they went on the lam. The couple first ran to San Francisco, register- ing at a hotel as J. N. Squires and wife, then sped to New York before they could be intercepted. Once there, the couple hopped on a ship and sailed to Europe. Several months later, the charge d’affaires of Bern, Switzerland, contacted the current Portland police chief to notify him that Lawrence was there, with only $900 (about $23,000 now) of the purloined funds left. Sloan had been sent home to her uncle in Illinois. Why Lawrence’s trial wound up being held in Asto- ria is a mystery, but he quickly married Sloan here before the court proceedings took place. The Daily Astorian, Aug. 16, 1882 reports indig- nantly that he was only fined $300 (about $7,500 now), at his former wife’s request, because his pres- ence in the Oregon Penitentiary would have been a “constant menace” to her. He paid on the spot and hastily departed with his new wife. “He deserves a penitentiary and surely as man ever did,” The Daily Astorian huffed, “and the moral affected on the community amounts to the tacit asser- tion ‘run away from your wife, marry another woman, and get off with a $300 fine.’” T KINDERGARTEN LOP he Northwest Film Center in Portland had pro- posed an Aug. 6 outdoor screening of “Kinder- garten Cop,” filmed in Astoria and released in 1990, “for its importance in Oregon filmmaking history.” The DVD cover is shown, courtesy of Universal. Yet Willamette Week reported that the screening was abruptly canceled (bit.ly/NoKinderCop). Why? Portland author Lois Leveen posted a Twitter rant that “national reckoning on overpolicing is a weird time to revive Kindergarten Cop. … There’s nothing entertain- ing about the presence of police in schools … (and) criminalizing of children increases dramatically when cops are assigned to work in schools.” Well, OK, but actually, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t playing a school police officer at all, he was por- traying an undercover cop who uses being a kinder- garten teacher as his cover. It’s a comedy, for heaven’s sake. However, film facts rarely trump perceived political correctness, and the Northwest Film Center immedi- ately caved in and canceled the showing … even though one might quite rightly wonder if Leveen has ever even seen the movie. Watch out, Goonies! T GOAT FOR A HIKE ikers and two pack goats completed the 6.2 mile Fort to Sea Trail at Fort Clatsop on Aug. 5, retrac- ing the steps of Lewis and Clark,” Arline LaMear of the Angora Hiking Club wrote. “Jeff and Jack, the twin pack goats, belong to one of the hikers, Laura Dooling. We also had a new hiker, Debbie Gregson, who has just moved to Astoria. “It was a great day for a hike, and we all enjoyed the varied terrain … heavy forest, open fields, well-crafted bridges crossing swampy areas filled with skunk cab- bage, the picturesque bridge crossing the Skipanon River, etc. “Our big adventure came when we met a big black bull contentedly chewing on grass in the middle of the path. He had escaped from the barbed wire enclosure he was supposed to be in. Although we shouted at him, and made noises to scare him off, he wasn’t about to move from his munching.” “Finally, we decided to cut through some brush and brambles so we could get around the bull without dis- turbing his lunch,” Arline noted. “The goats and hikers were all happy to put the bull behind us.” ‘H SLICKEST AND SHARPEST cautionary tale from The Daily Morning Astorian, Aug. 13, 1885: • Notwithstanding The Astorian warned everybody yesterday about the notorious swindler Vogel yesterday morning, who had arrived in town the night before, he found a dozen suckers yesterday who contributed $2.50 each to his game. The only way to beat that fellow is to let him alone. He is the slickest and sharpest of the whole gang. One of the minnows who bit at the hook yesterday was squealing about “the city council giving him a license.” They did just right in giving him a license. He ought to have one right along. He pays $10 a day for it, and it’s worth that to find out how many consummate idiots there are in town. Note: Considering $2.50 is about $66 now, and $10 is about $264 now, that’s a lot of flimflammery, and even more consummate idiocy. A
