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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
SINKABLE
oday marks the 109th anniversary of the sinking of
the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912, after she hit an
iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage
from Southampton, England, to New York City.
The ship was built at the Harland & Wolff Shipyard
(harland-wolff .com) in Belfast, Ireland, established in
1861, which is still in business. She was 883 feet long, 170
feet high, and had nine decks and four funnels. S he was the
largest ship in the world at the time.
Of the 2,208 people aboard, 1,496 were lost. There
were 14 30-foot lifeboats, each designed to carry 65 pas-
sengers, two 25-foot emergency lifeboats which could
carry 40 each and four 27-foot collapsible lifeboats that
could carry 47 each, for a total of 1,178 passengers.
Consequently, there was only room for a little more
than half of those aboard in an emergency, yet most of the
lifeboats went into the water fi lled nowhere near capacity.
After his “unskinkable” ship sank to the ocean fl oor,
owner Joseph Bruce Ismay (pictured inset) — a fi rst class
passenger who boarded the last lifeboat — lived another
25 years to think about it. (encyclopedia-titanica.org)
T
A GRINDING NOISE
TITANIC BABY
DEATH BY MIDLIFE CRISIS
un rerun: “One hundred years ago the Titanic was
on its fi rst and last voyage,” lecturer and historian
Rex Ziak (rexziak.com) of Naselle, Washington, told
the Ear.
“On board was a famous American who did not sur-
vive the tragedy. His name was John Jacob Astor IV.”
He was the great-grandson of Astoria founder John
Jacob Astor.
“There is more to this story than what has ever been
revealed,” Rex disclosed. “By researching newspapers
from 1909, 1910 and 1911, I stumbled upon a back-story
that has not been told.
“Many women tell their husbands how dangerous
a mid-life crisis can be; John Jacob Astor IV’s death
aboard the Titanic is a perfect example of what they are
talking about.
“It is such a compelling story, I created a … two part
YouTube documentary,” he continued. “It is jam-packed
with historic photographs, maps and great stories about
his life, from start to fi nish.”
It is indeed all of that. And let’s not forget Rex’s
dynamic and entertaining speaking style, which really
brings the characters and situation to life. Watch the
videos here: tinyurl.com/rexastor1 and tinyurl.com/
rexastor2
“Because of the sensitive nature of the subject (a mid-
life crisis is never pretty), viewer discretion is advised,”
he added. “This is a great history and should serve as a
lesson to all men as they approach middle life.” (In One
Ear, 4/20/2012)
F
n often forgotten survivor of the Titanic was John Jacob
“Jakey” Astor VI, the “Titanic Baby,” who was in his
mother’s womb when the ship sank.
The son of honeymooners Madeleine and John Jacob
Astor IV, he was born four months later in New York. He
may have had a chip on his shoulder since another Astor,
born shortly before him, got the V designation.
During Jakey’s lifetime he was widely known for his
legal battles with his older half-brother Vincent Astor over
their father’s estate, which was probably around $100 mil-
lion ($2.7 billion now).
When their father died, his will did not treat his new family
fairly. Madeleine received an annual income from a $5 mil-
lion trust, and other perks, as long as she didn’t marry. Jakey
received a $3 million bequest, held in trust until he turned 21.
Vincent loathed both his stepmother and Jakey with
equal measure, even refusing to believe Jakey was an Astor.
When Vincent died, childless, he left his half-brother noth-
ing of their father’s vast estate; everything went to Vincent’s
widow, Brooke.
Jakey, feeling cheated, sued Brooke for what he felt was
his rightful inheritance, contending that she plied Victor with
liquor to infl uence him to favor her in his will. Which wasn’t
entirely unlikely, since Vincent was an alcoholic. Jakey won,
all right, but only $250,000; the Astor millions stayed with
Brooke and Vincent’s foundation.
Jakey was also known for being engaged several times
and marrying four times. He died in 1992, leaving a daughter
and three heirs to carry on the family name: a son, William
Backhouse Astor III, and two grandsons, William Back-
house Astor IV and Gregory Todd Astor. (bit.ly/JJAstorVI)
A
OBVIATING DELAY
he Titanic catastrophe hit close to home here as well. Frank
Manley Warren (no relation to the Warrenton Warrens)
and his wife, Anna Sofi a, were aboard the ill-fated ship as Ore-
gon’s only fi rst class passengers, returning home to Portland
after a three-month holiday celebrating their 40th anniversary.
The couple were well known in Clatsop County, as he
was president of the Warren Packing Co. Among the com-
pany’s holdings were a cold storage in Astoria and a cannery
across the river in Cathlamet, Washington.
Mrs. Warren later recalled that they went to bed on April
14, but were awakened by a “grinding noise and the stop-
page of the vessel.” Their stateroom was about 30 feet above
the waterline and near the point of impact. She was imme-
diately alarmed; he was not, but got dressed and went out
to investigate anyway. He returned in a few minutes with a
piece of ice as a souvenir.
Mrs. Warren wisely took out the life belts, but Mr. War-
ren was still not concerned, telling her not to worry, the “ves-
sel could not possibly sink.” After going out into the corridor
and talking with others, they all still felt there was no danger,
with the exception of one man, who warned them that water
was coming into the ship up forward.
The couple waited for another 45 minutes in the corri-
dor, when a steward came by and told them to put on their
life belts and go topside. They complied and waited on deck
with a group that included John Jacob Astor’s family, until
the Astor’s went back inside.
Mrs. Warren was urged to step into a lifeboat, and she did,
expecting her husband to follow … but he didn’t. When she
turned around to look for him, she saw him helping other
ladies into the boat. That was the last time she saw him. H is
body was never found. (bit.ly/titanicaFW, bit.ly/titanicaAW,
bit.ly/CumtuxWarrens)
T
EYES ON AXIAL
FATA
MORGANA
deas abound as to why the Titanic
crew didn’t see the iceberg in time to
avoid it. O ne of the more insightful ones
has been proposed by historian, author
and Titanic expert Tim Maltin (tim-
maltin.com): He told The Sun that the
collision might have been caused by a
rare “Fata Morgana” mirage, which
creates an optical illusion.
While the Titanic cruised through
the freezing waters of the North Atlan-
tic, she was surrounded by icebergs. “…
Above the level of the top of those ice-
bergs, much warmer air drifted across
from the nearby warmer waters of the
Gulf Stream, trapping cold air under-
neath it,” Maltin explained.
“This created the same thermal inver-
sion conditions at Titanic’s crash site as
seen along the coast of Britain recently
(photo shown, courtesy of Apex News),
creating a band of light haze above which
ships appeared to fl oat in the sky.” In the
case of the Titanic, a “mirage strip” on
the surface of the ocean made the ice-
berg invisible against the white haze.
“In fact several ships which passed
through the area in which Titanic sank,”
Maltin noted, “both before and after
the Titanic tragedy, recorded abnormal
refraction and mirages at the horizon.”
As further evidence supporting his the-
ory, during the offi cial inquiry, the ship’s
lookouts stated that the iceberg seemed
to just suddenly appear out of the haze.
So, did a mirage contribute to the
Titanic’s demise? Maltin is quite
convincing.
I
F
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, April 15, 1890:
• In accordance with a promise made to The Morning
Astorian some time ago … the Western Union Telegraph
Co. has sent to the telegraph offi ce here a quadruplex instru-
ment, as fi ne a one of the kind as money can buy …
This will require the employment of an additional oper-
ator here; while one is receiving A ssociated P ress dis-
patches for The Morning Astorian, another can be receiv-
ing diff erent messages over the same wire, thus obviating
the delay and annoyance that have been so vexatious.
Note: Thomas Edison (pictured) invented the quadru-
plex telegraph in 1874. He sold his invention to Western
Union for $10,000 ($232,000 now).
This instrument changed the telegraph market, and pro-
vided better access to news. The quadruplex could handle
four messages simultaneously over one wire — two out-
going signals and two coming in — which saved Western
Union the considerable expense of adding more wires to
meet the increasing demand. (bit.ly/TEquadru)
TO THE MOON, ALICE
ow, from the bottom of the ocean to space: Life-
Ship (lifeship.com) is a “mission-driven space and
genomics startup” in San Francisco that wants to make
space accessible to people. For the last 15 years, founder
Ben Haldeman has created telescopes to explore space,
worked on satellite networks and has been involved in sev-
eral rocket launches.
LifeShip’s latest venture invites people to send their
names to the moon via a rocket and moon lander shared
with NASA. Sending your name is free at bit.ly/Lifeship;
once the lander is on the moon, it’s there to stay.
If you really want to get cosmic, you can send your
DNA, or your pet’s DNA, for $99, or even a loved one’s
ashes for $399. DNA is privacy-protected, preserved in a
synthetic amber polymer (“Jurassic Park,” anyone?), and
expected to last for about 10,000 years.
As the website says: “Be a part of humanity’s grand
endeavor to expand outwards to the stars.”
N
he National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion’s Pacifi c Marine Environmental Laboratory web-
site says the Axial Seamount, about 300 miles off the
coast, is “the most active submarine volcano in the north-
east Pacifi c.” It is the site of the New Millennium Observa-
tory, the fi rst underwater volcano observatory.
The seamount has erupted in 1998, 2011 and 2015. T he
National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatory Initia-
tive’s Regional Cable Array (one of their images is shown)
provides real-time data of what’s going on there; scientists
hope the information can predict future eruptions.
Want to know more? There are several blog posts at bit.
ly/OOIblog about the remote-operated vehicle exploration
of the seamount in 2020.
T