A7
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, July 22, 2021
CONTACT US
ewilson@dailyastorian.com
(971) 704-1718
COMMUNITY
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorian
IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
FINDING LOST MEMORIES
n June 15, Tom Kelly, of the Northwest Artifact
Recovery Team, found a military dog tag in a vacant
lot above Alameda Avenue with a metal detector. His
brother, Don Kelly (pictured), posted the find on Face-
book, hoping to find a Niemi family member.
It turned out the tag belonged Robin Niemi Golu-
bickas’ uncle, Russell Stuart Niemi (1924-1981). “Russ,
as he was known to family and friends, attended schools in
Astoria,” Robin recalled.
“The family lived in the Walluski area, until later mov-
ing to Astoria on West Franklin and Florence avenues. He
joined the Navy after graduation, and served in World War
II.”
The brothers held a little presentation to give the dog
tag to Robin. “We were more than happy to return it where
it rightfully belonged,” Don wrote.
“The family was overjoyed to receive this memento,”
Robin said, “and it will be treasured along with fond mem-
ories of Russ.”
“After the exchange,” Don added, “Robin and her hus-
band granted us permission to detect on their farm, which
also included her dad’s farm. During our dig at that farm, I
dug up a small silver ring with gold accents in the grooves
of the ring. I showed the ring to Robin, and her face lit up,
as she remembered the ring she once had at the age of 15.
“With that being said, we returned both of these items
to the family, and we hope they will bring back some lost
memories of their past. Gotta love dirt fishin’!”
O
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
oday is the 95th anniversary of the dedication of the
Astoria Column in 1926. The artist who designed
the mural on the Column, Attilio Pusterla (1862-1941)
of New York, was known for his skill in the art of sgraf-
fito, an engraving technique used by potters.
Time was tight to complete such an ambitious art-
work, yet the artist and his assistants didn’t arrive on
the scene until mid-June. Work finally began on the Col-
umn on July 1, according to AstoriaColumn.org (which
also provided the photos). A wooden structure circled the
Column, and dangled from a 110-foot high platform at
the top.
Pusterla would haul his drawings up onto the scaffold,
then start creating a section of the sgraffito mural, a long,
involved process. If he wasn’t happy with the outcome
from ground level, he had no qualms about trashing a
day’s work and starting over.
With such a painstaking approach, and so much sur-
face to cover, only three bands of the artwork were com-
pleted by the time the Column was dedicated. But appar-
ently nobody cared, as 8,000 showed up for the event, and
three days of festivities commenced with great fanfare.
Pusterla finally finished his work on Oct. 29. With a
great sigh of relief, no doubt.
WHERE ARE YOU, CAIRNSMORE?
ast week there was a story about the 1883 wreck
of the Cairnsmore on Clatsop Spit and the uncer-
tainty about its current location. Building the South Jetty
caused sand to build up, and land that was once shore-
line moved inland, including the site of the Cairnsmore.
“The late Clarence Sigurdson knew where the
Cairnsmore was located,” Patrick Lines, of Seaside,
wrote. “He detailed it in his 1973 book ‘Raised by the
Sea.’
“When he was a young boy, he lived briefly at the
homestead on the west side of Coffenbury Lake, and
remembered seeing her laying partially above the sand.
In the 1960s, he borrowed a large metal detector from
Camp Rilea and searched for the ship. He detected a
large mass laying north and south in a boggy area west
of Burma Road.
“I had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Sigurdson at
length at the 1996 Clatsop County Fair. I followed his
instructions to go several hundreds of feet north on
Burma Road from the east/west road at the south of Cof-
fenbury. Look for the trail with the limbs cut off on one
side of the pine trees, and stay to the left when the road
forks. I found myself in one of the low-lying wet areas
laying north and south in between the dunes. Could it
be?”
Don Marshall’s 1984 book “Oregon Shipwrecks”
agrees with the location. And, in 2003, the late Rich-
ard Fencsak wrote about how he and his companions
“trudged through a swampy morass and scrambled gin-
gerly over logs buried in waist-high cut grass” to get
to what little was left of the mostly-buried Cairnsmore
wreck. The only clue he gave of the location is to find
“the distinctive tree that marked our entry through a
grove of shore pines.”
“Unfortunately, after the Great Coastal Gale of 2007,
the marked trees and the trail were wiped out,” Patrick
noted, but “I believe Mr. Sigurdson.”
L
OFFBEAT OPAH
large fish, rare to the Oregon Coast, was found
on Sunset Beach July 14. The 3.5-foot, 100-pound
opah was reported to the Seaside Aquarium at 8 a.m.,”
Tiffany Boothe, of the aquarium, said.
“After seeing photographs of the unusual fish, we
quickly responded and recovered the fish. It created quite
the stir at the aquarium, where folks were encouraged to
come take a look at this beautiful and odd-looking fish.”
Tiffany’s photo of the fish is shown.
“Opahs can grow to over 6 feet and weigh over 600
pounds. They inhabit pelagic — meaning they live in the
open ocean — tropical and temperate waters, where they
feed on krill and squid.
“Always on the lookout for new educational opportu-
nities, the fish will be frozen until the school year starts,”
she explained. “Partnering with the Columbia River
Maritime Museum‘s educational director, Nate Sandel,
one lucky school group will get the chance to dissect this
large fish.
“While rare this far north, it is not unheard of.” Accord-
ing to The Oregonian, she added, “a 97-pound opah was
caught 37 miles off of the Columbia River mouth in
2009.”
The fisherman who caught it, environmental lawyer
Dave Phillips, who was fishing for tuna at the time, took
it to a Hawaiian restaurant (opah is a valuable food fish
in Hawaii) in Vancouver, Washington, where it was pre-
pared for him.
He proclaimed the fish “delicious … I’m stuffed.”
‘A
WHO GOES THERE?
T
FETCHED UP ALL RIGHT
rom The Daily Astorian, July 22, 1888, through rain,
snow, sleet and hail — and deep holes …
• Sunday afternoon the Astoria mail carrier, while
coming around the Bar View House point (on the way to
Tillamook), allowed his horse to get into a deep hole and
swim across the channel.
Horace Scovell managed to grasp the mail sack before
it got wet (himself going into the water up to his neck)
while the horse swam across the channel with a strong ebb
tide at the time, and he fetched up all right at the end of the
south spit.
This caused a delay to the mail until Monday.
Note: Happily, at the time, the decision to deliver mail
on Sundays was left to the local postmaster.
F
n Astoria resident, who prefers to remain anonymous,
found this currency (shown) while rummaging around
in the Astoria underground in the vicinity of 14th Street
and Marine Drive.
According to Numista.com, this 75 kyat bill comes
from the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (1974-
1988), which was renamed Myanmar in 1989.
On the front is Maj. Gen. Bogyoke Aung San (1915-
1947), founder of the modern Burmese army, along with a
pair of guardian Chinthe lions.
On the back is a Buddhist deity, Lawkanat, which
Numista says is “the Guardian Spirit of the Universe, sym-
bol of peace, joy, prosperity and artistry.”
How the monty wound up in Astoria’s underground is
anyone’s guess.
What else did the explorer see? Lots of discarded old
Mason jars and car oil cans, and a very old wagon with
wooden wheels … but no other people.
“It feels like hell in the underground,” he recalled. “It’s
hot!”
A
MR. POND’S
LAWSUIT
T
he Daily Astorian, July 12, 1885,
included the result of a lawsuit by
William S. Pond against the Pacific
Coast Steamship Co., owner of the
Queen of the Pacific (pictured).
Pond was one of the almost 300 pas-
sengers aboard when she ran aground
on Clatsop Spit on Sept. 5, 1883. And
there the Queen sat, stuck and “quiver-
ing” for several hours, until rescue tugs
arrived to disembark the passengers.
“Part of the cargo was served like
Jonah,” the newspaper reported, “while
the passengers were taken off in tugs
and lifeboats. According to Pond’s
account, he was particularly active, and
aided in manning a lifeboat.
“While doing his duty like a brave
man, Mrs. Bosworth, one of the pas-
sengers, was thrown from the deck of
the Queen into the lifeboat. She landed
in such a way as to almost knock the
life out of Pond.
“By this unfortunate accident Pond
was severely injured, and claimed that
the trouble was caused by the care-
lessness of defendants’ servants, and
brought suit to recover $25,000 in
damages ($700,200 today).”
Pond, who was “not as shallow as
the name might lead one to suppose,”
then pulled off a shady maneuver. As
soon as the lawsuit was initiated, he
began side negotiations with the steam-
ship company, and agreed to accept a
$1,000 settlement ($28,000 today).
Once Mr. Pond had his payoff in
hand, he promptly skedaddled, “for
parts unknown.” Unfortunately, as a
result, Judge Matthew Paul Deady
ordered a judgment of non-suit, leav-
ing Pond’s lawyers stuck with paying
all of the costs in the case, which was
“a considerable sum.”
GOOD PEOPLE
he New York Times Coronavirus Briefing of July 9,
under the heading “What you’re doing,” included this
uplifting letter from Redman Ferguson of Nappanee,
Indiana:
“After having the virus, then being fully vaccinated, I
decided to live out one of my dreams: Traveling the Trans-
America Bike Trail.
“From Astoria in Oregon to Yorktown in Virginia, I
planned on spending 90 days doing it. Sixty-seven days
later I’ve accomplished it, and more. I saw some of the
most spectacular views this planet has to offer, but the
thing that changed me most was the people I met.
“There are a lot of good people out there, but seldom do
they get credit or headlines. I hope more people become
like them, I know I will.”
T