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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, AuguST 13, 2020
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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