Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2021)
A7 THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, SEpTEmbER 30, 2021 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (971) 704-1718 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON A TRAGIC FATE he story of the trials and tribulations while finding the Northwest Passage (connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via a sea route across the top of North America) has intrigued Pacific Northwest history buffs for more than a century. According to Biography.com, in 1845, British sailor John Franklin, pictured inset, attempted to sail the route with a crew of 129 and two vessels, HMS Erebus and Terror (pictured), with all the latest and greatest equipment aboard (tinyurl.com/biogfrank). The expe- dition was last seen in July 1845 in Baffin Bay, in the Canadian arctic, by whalers, before completely disappearing. The mystery went unsolved — until recently. The wreck of the Erebus was discovered in 36 feet of water in Baffin Bay in 2014 (tinyurl.com/erebus-found). Now, almost exactly two years later, The Guardian reports that the Terror has also been found (tinyurl.com/ter- ror-found), at the bottom of Terror Bay. It’s in such good condition, the glass in three of the four stern windows is still intact. It was originally believed the ships became trapped in the ice in 1846. From “brief written records,” it is known that Franklin died in 1847. What was left of the crew was forced to abandon ship in 1848. Starvation and scurvy plagued the men during their vain attempt to reach land, and the condition of some skeletal remains found by Inuits also led to suspicions of cannibalism. No one survived. “This discovery changes history,” Jim Balsillie, of the Arctic Research Foundation, told The Guardian. “Given the location of the find and the state of the wreck, it’s almost certain that HMS Terror was operationally closed down by the remaining crew, who then reboarded HMS Erebus and sailed south where they met their ultimate tragic fate.” (In One Ear, 9/30/2016) T ‘THEIR GOOD EXAMPLE’ LOCAL BREVITIES rom The Daily Morning Astorian, Friday, Oct. 3, 1884: • The sunken steamer Joseph Kellogg was raised last Wednesday. The damage was about $500 (about $13,000 now). Note: The Joseph Kellogg, a sternwheeler, had sur- prisingly few mishaps, aside from this one, in her long career (1851-1929). She snagged at least three times, survived a collision in 1889, was wrecked and repaired in 1906 and went through at least two refittings and a reconstruction. She was sold in 1920, renamed Made- line in 1921, and ignominiously abandoned in 1929. (bit. ly/joekell). From The Daily Morning Astorian, Friday, Oct. 3, 1890: •Work is still progressing on the extension of the horse car track at the eastern end towards Alderbrook. Note: Five horse cars took to the streets starting May 9, 1888, run by the Astoria Street Railway Co., cover- ing 3 miles of track on Commercial Street. But, by 1892, worried about competition from other transit modes (electric, steam motor, cable cars) the company took a gamble and converted four horse cars to electric motors. (bit.ly/horsecarz) • Robert Chabot, the Pacific County cranberry king, signed at the Occident yesterday. Note: Robert was the nephew of Anthony Chabot, who bought property on the Long Beach Peninsula in the early 1880s because he (rightfully) believed the climate would be suitable for commercial cranberry growing. Robert moved to Ilwaco and oversaw the operations, but left in 1892 to start his own cranberry business in Grays Harbor County. (bit.ly/chabotcran) Popular in 1893: • Dr. Gunn’s Onion Syrup for coughs, colds and croup. It is just as effective today as it was 40 years go. Sold at 50 cents ($14.25 now) a bottle. Note: Believe it or not, onion syrup was described in Dr. Nicholas Culpeper’s “The Complete Herbal” in 1850 as an ancient cough remedy, and is still used today. It sounds awful — sliced onions layered with sugar or honey in a closed jar till it all liquefies — but some swear by it. Or at it. (bit.ly/onionsyrup, bit.ly/onionsyrup2) (In One Ear, 10/3/2019) F HERE A WHALE, THERE A WHALE ive Oregon Coast high school students, including Charlotte Watkins, of Warrenton High School, and three teachers, including Josh Jannusch, also of Warren- ton, had the learning opportunity of a lifetime helping Ore- gon State University scientists aboard the R/V Oceanus on a research cruise Sept. 13 through Sept. 18. They col- lected data on marine mammals and seabirds between Astoria and seamount Heceta Bank (near Florence) and learned about marine-related careers. The cruise was organized by Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. Pictured, the Oceanus, in a photo by Sharon Nieukirk; inset, a whale and Charlotte, both by Tracy Crews, Oregon Sea Grant marine education program manager. More are at tinyurl.com/oceanus-trip “The students and teachers also collected plankton, entered and analyzed data and deployed and retrieved oceanographic instruments that profile the water column,” Tracy wrote. “They spotted jellyfish, ocean sunfish, alba- tross, tuna, orcas, fin whales, over 50 humpback whales, and more than 400 smaller whales, including Pacific white-sided dolphins, northern right whale dolphins and Dall’s porpoise.” More than 500 whales in all, actually. The Ear is officially jealous. (In One Ear, 9/30/2016) F VINTAGE STYLE ’m proud to mention that Astoria Vintage Hardware was listed as a Favorite Vintage Shop in a national magazine, Flea Market Style,” Rebecca Johnson told the Ear. “Karla DeLong is an Astoria resident and a fan of Vintage Hardware who nominated us,” she explained, “submitting our business to the magazine directly, unbe- knownst to us. Apparently the magazine did a ‘readers favorite’ feature once a year.” “Flea Market Style then contacted me in the spring requesting additional information and pictures of our business,” she continued. “I completely forgot about the exchange, as we were in the process of moving locations. I found out about the good news on a Facebook posting con- gratulating Vintage Hardware on being listed. A picture I submitted was selected, too.” “The publication will be on the stands until end of the year,” Rebecca added. “Cooler yet, we were the only (Favorite Vintage Shop) listed in the state of Oregon. An honor for us — but great press for Astoria, as well!” (In One Ear, 10/3/2014) ‘I QUITE AN ADVENTURE hile browsing around researching something else entirely, the Ear came across the Oregon Pioneer Obituaries website (bit.ly/oldobits), which are sepa- rated by county, and come from several different Oregon newspapers. Clatsop County has almost 100 entries, among them the obituary of Dr. B. A. Owens-Adair, a famous Asto- ria woman physician, and Caroline Van Dusen (pictured), wife of Astoria store owner Adam Van Dusen, who origi- nally lived in one of the houses built by the wrecked sloop Shark survivors. But it’s the obituary of Robert Shortess of Upper Asto- ria, who died May 7, 1878, that says it all: “He was a true pioneer, an honest man and lived to the good old age of 81 years. One by one, those who came here when Oregon was a wilderness are passing over to join the majority in the hereafter. Forever bright be the memory of their good example.” (In One Ear, 10/3/2019) W THE BRIDGE’S NEW ‘DO’ ’ve seen the ‘Bridge Curtains’ blowing east and west,” Mark Demory, of the Long Beach Peninsula, reported, “but the stiff north wind on Sept. 24 inflated them like a huge spinnaker, and made them start clearing off the bridge a little early.” His photo of the bridge’s new pouf is shown. “Look at how wide it got!” he exclaimed. (In One Ear, 10/3/2014) ‘I ongtime friends Joanne Poggetti, (pictured, left) and Katie Geraghty (right) — members of North- west Women in Boating in Seattle — enjoy going on adventures together, and this year’s trek was a whop- per. They decided take Joanne’s 13-foot Boston whaler (equipped with a 40-horsepower motor), and follow the Lewis and Clark Expedition 469 miles downriver from Lewiston, Idaho, to the mouth of the Columbia River. Preparation for the trip had its challenges. They had to weigh everything, as the boat only holds a total 935 pounds, including both women and the motor (216 pounds) and spare parts. In addition, Joanne worked with a Garmin team, spending “hours and hours map- ping a route to avoid the shallows” and setting up 900 GPS waypoints. The dauntless duo left Sept. 9, and right outside of Lewiston, the Garmin crashed. Katie got it running again, but the waypoints weren’t there. Good thing they brought along nautical charts. “One thing we hadn’t accounted for was that moorage and camping are 1/4 mile apart,” Joanne noted. “So lug- ging eight dry bags 1/4 mile is hard, especially when you have to get up at 5 a.m. to beat the wind.” Another problem they found along the way was a lack of infrastructure on the river, making it hard to get gas. “One of my biggest fears was going through the dams,” she said. “But it’s been great. We’ve been in there with barges, and you go down 100 feet. We locked through seven dams.” “We’ve really been seeing some great stuff,” Joanne recalled. “The kindness of strangers has just been remarkable all along the way. The women, in particu- lar, have been so encouraging. They say, ‘We love that you’re doing this.’” Some of Joanne’s photos can be seen at bit.ly/JandK2018 The pair arrived in Astoria on Sept. 21, tired, but no worse for the wear. “I just wondered if it could be done,” Joanne told the Ear. “It’s a waterway that could be explored. It’s been quite an adventure.” (In One Ear, 9/28/2018) L MIND YOUR BEESWAX tidbit from the Monday, Sept. 29, 1890, edition of The Daily Morning Astorian: • Yesterday morning there arrived on the steam schoo- ner Augusta from the Nehalem River, William Edward, a resident of that section, bringing with him 250 pounds of beeswax, which he had picked up with the assis- tance of his daughter, Minnie Garitse, on the coast near Nehalem. It is said the beeswax was part of a cargo of a vessel that was wrecked on the coast near the Nehalem River, but the oldest inhabitant of that section does not remem- ber hearing of a wreck. But Indians living in that part of the county say it was wrecked over 100 years ago. Note: Actually, it was almost 200 years before 1890. This was undoubtedly cargo from the famed “Beeswax Wreck” of a Spanish galleon, probably the Santo Cristo de Burgos, in the late 1600s. The actual wreck has never been found, quite possibly because of the 1700 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tidal wave. (bit.ly/bee- wreck) (In One Ear, 9/28/2018) A