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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
DIFFICULTIES AND LOSSES
he Columbia River Light-vessel No. 50 (LV50), sta-
tioned just outside the Columbia River Bar, tore loose
from her mooring in heavy seas during a 74 mph gale on
Nov. 28, 1899. Her captain skillfully sailed her to a small
beach just west of Cape Disappointment, where he and the
crew were rescued. The lightship was left behind.
The Lighthouse Board Annual Report of Fiscal Year
1901 details attempts to get the LV50 — which was broad-
side on the beach and “somewhat sunk in the sand” —
afl oat and launched seaward. In July 1900, the fi rst con-
tractor failed miserably in his attempts to do just that. But
then, so did the contractors who followed him.
“The diffi culties experienced caused a series of disap-
pointments,” the report said, “attended by losses of haw-
sers, anchors and other gear.”
Clearly, a novel approach to solve the problem was in
order. Accordingly, in February 1901, an agreement was
made with two Portland house movers to haul the 112-foot
heavy wooden vessel 700 yards across land, and through
woods, to refl oat her in Baker Bay for $17,500 (about
$569,000 today).
They cleaned out the lightship, turned her so her bow
faced the shore, then jacked her up onto a temporary rail-
way they had built just for that purpose. Some repairs —
enough to make her seaworthy, anyway — were made
once she fi nally rolled to the edge of Baker Bay.
On June 3, 1901, she was re launched and towed
upriver to Portland for more thorough repairs, and eventu-
ally returned to her station.
The Chinook Observer reports that after several other
costly mishaps, the lightship was retired in 1909, and con-
demned and sold in 1915.
T
NAB THE TREASURE
BEWARE THE YEGGMAN
his year, Dec. 8 marked the 99th anniversary of
Astoria’s devastating 1922 fi re, which destroyed
most of the city’s business district.
The Dec. 11, 1922, Morning Oregonian predicted
that “human buzzards” such as yeggmen, or safe-crack-
ers, would be descending on Astoria, since several
banks were damaged or destroyed, leaving their safes
unguarded.
“In the smouldering, blackened crater that was once
the business section of Astoria was untold wealth,” the
story said. “It was estimated that several hundred thou-
sand dollars in gold, silver and gems were in that mass
of wreckage. Safes and strong boxes were scattered
about. A drill, a bit of nitroglycerine, a touch of soap,
and a yeggman could make a great haul.”
To prevent such an eventuality, U.S. Navy men were
on the watch, and civilian patrols kept a vigil to assist
the over-stretched police and fi re departments. And,
the vigilance worked, as far as notorious yeggmen go,
anyway, as two of them who arrived in Astoria in a car
were caught straightaway. They had two revolvers and
$5,000 (about $82,000 now) worth of drugs in their
possession.
“… Plans were being made to set up big electric
searchlights on all sides of the ruins. The interior of the
area tonight was patrolled by armed guards from the
naval vessels at dock in the harbor. The guards were
instructed to shoot to kill … The destroyed section of
the city resembled, to a great extent, the crater of a
volcano.”
Yeggmen foiled, a “corps of safe experts” would be
brought in after the smouldering stopped, to try to open
the multitude of safes, “promiscuously scattered through
the ruins,” which contained much of Astoria’s wealth.
The fi re, and subsequent cooling, would certainly have
damaged the combinations and locking apparatus on
most of the strongboxes, and an expert, non-larcenous
touch would be required to open them.
Just to be sure, after catching the yeggmen, no auto-
mobile was allowed to leave the city without a police
permit, and only those who had business in town were
allowed in. (Photo courtesy of the Clatsop County His-
torical Society)
T
OTTERLESS
ea otters are rarely seen in Oregon, yet one had been
spotted in the Newport area several times in November.
But on Nov. 30, the adult male otter, who had been injured,
and was found hauled out on a beach, was transported to
the Oregon Coast Aquarium for triage and care. He is
pictured, courtesy of the aquarium.
The otter was in rough shape. An aquarium press release
said, “… the injuries were consistent with those of a shark
bite.” After treatment, he was alert and eating, and was
monitored constantly. Sadly, he took a turn for the worse,
and died on his third day there.
Please be aware: If you see a sea otter in Oregon,
note its location and report it to the Oregon State Police
tipline at 800-452-7888, the West Coast Marine Mam-
mal Stranding Network at 866-767-6114 or the Seaside
Aquarium at 503-738-6211.
“This sea otter means a lot to many of us Oregonians,”
Brittany Blades, of the Oregon Coast Aquarium, said. “I
never thought I would get to see a live sea otter living on
the Oregon Coast until three weeks ago, when I saw this
otter swimming, foraging and sleeping around Yaquina
Head.”
S
LEAVE YOUR LEGACY
ere’s yet another little something for the person who
has everything: An opportunity to send their DNA
and personal story to the moon via LifeShip.com for $99.
(You can send just your name for free.)
A cheek swab is sent to LifeShip’s lab, which extracts
the DNA as a solid powder. The powder gets preserved in
synthetic amber, which goes into a capsule containing a
“biobank with DNA from diverse plant and animal species,
as well as an archive of human knowledge and culture.”
This archive is being compiled by one of LifeShip’s
partners, the Arch Mission Foundation, which wants to
preserve humanity’s knowledge across time and space for
future generations.
Back to the DNA … The DNA will fl y to the moon on
a SpaceX rocket that is scheduled to launch in 2023. Once
in the moon’s orbit, the capsule containing the DNA goes
to the lunar surface on Firefl y’s Blue Ghost lander. And
there it stays.
“You’ll preserve your unique blueprint,” the LifeShip
website says, “feel forever connected to your loved ones,
and leave your legacy in the universe.” (Images courtesy
of LifeShip )
H
‘SIGHTS AND
INCIDENTS’
he Dec. 11, 1922, Morning Orego-
nian noted “sights and incidents” of
the Great Astoria Fire :
• The streets are covered with slush
and snow. The pedestrian out after night-
fall is constantly being halted by guards.
And, as a result of these conditions, the
fellows who operate taxicabs between
the railroad station and the edge of the
burned district, a matter of some eight
or 10 blocks, are reaping a harvest by
charging 75 cents (about $12 now) for
the short haul. Jesse James had nothing
on Astoria taximen.
• One optimistic Astorian opened up
for business yesterday in an automo-
bile. With a stock of candles, cigars and
tobacco arranged on shelves built in the
tonneau (rear pull-out seating compart-
ment) of his car, he took up a stand at
a street corner and did a brisk business.
• … They saved the canaries but for-
got the furniture: Mrs. J. A. Sampleter’s
residence, one of the few destroyed, was
attacked by fi re at about 8 o’clock Friday
morning. With her mother, Mrs. Sam-
pleter managed to save her four canar-
ies. They were all that was taken from
the home. The woman and her mother
are now being cared for by friends.
• The soft drink stand is under the
offi cial ban in Astoria. All such resorts
were closed by police order last night,
and will remain closed until complete
order is restored … The Astoria force
is taking no chances with booze or rad-
icals. (Photo courtesy of the Clatsop
County Historical Society)
T
he Goonies still never say die, even though there will
likely never be a sequel. Now The Op has released a
new board game, “The Goonies: Escape with One-Eyed
Willy’s Rich Stuff .”
It’s part of The Op’s at-home escape room Coded Chron-
icles series, “where players are guided to unlock clues and
solve puzzles by a unique code-revealing mechanic.”
Here’s the synopsis: “… Players (go) on an epic adven-
ture through the trap-fi lled caverns of Astoria, Oregon.
Using the treasure hunting skills of Mikey, Brand, Mouth,
Data, Andy, Stef, Chunk and Sloth, players will navigate
their way to fi nding One-Eyed Willy’s rich stuff ! Can you
get the gang to the Inferno, nab the treasure and get to
freedom, all while staying one step ahead of the nefarious
Fratelli family?”
The game takes two -plus hours to play, just a bit lon-
ger than the movie takes to run. Might as well make it a
two fer, and do both.
T
TICKET TO RIDE
FLIGHTAWARE
t’s anyone’s guess how many planes will be on time in
the seasonal melee. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what’s
really going on in advance?
There is hope, and a great way to track global fl ights:
FlightAware, which touts itself as a “digital aviation com-
pany” that “operates the world’s largest fl ight tracking and
data platform.”
FlightAware “provides over 10,000 aircraft operators
and service providers, as well as over 13 million passen-
gers, with global fl ight tracking solutions, predictive tech-
nology, analytics and decision-making tools.”
How? FlightAware gets data from air traffi c control sys-
tems in over 45 countries. The website features live fl ight
data and delays (the MiseryMap), news and commen-
tary about the aviation business and thousands of aircraft
photos.
In addition to the website, yes, there’s an app for that,
too, with more than 10 million downloads. They must be
doing something right.
I
un rerun: ShawnAnn Hope brought in her childhood
scrapbook this week, and one of the little treasures it
contained was a ticket for the very last Astoria ferry ride.
She also collected a few wood slivers from the ferry dock
on the Megler, Washington, side.
ShawnAnn wasn’t sure what the actual date was, and
it’s not on the ticket, but she did know that she took that
last ride sometime in 1966. A little research reveals that
the fi nal Astoria-Megler ferry run was made by the M.R.
Chessman on July 28, 1966, as reported in The Oregonian .
Incidentally, no one knows what fi nally happened to
the Chessman. Sold in 1966, she was sent to a facility in
Cat Lai, Vietnam; she is presumed to have been destroyed
when the facility was bulldozed after the war. (In One Ear,
8/5/2016)
F