A7
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, ApRIl 14, 2022
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
‘EPITOME OF SECURITY’
W
ith the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the
Titanic upon us on Friday, the Henry Aldridge &
Son Ltd. auction house in London is holding yet another
sale of shipping memorabilia on April 23, including
some gems from the Titanic.
The item attracting the most publicity is the “Origi-
nal White Star Line Olympic & Titanic Brochure of
Accommodations and Arrangements,” touted as “one
of the finest examples known of the rarest Titanic bro-
chure.” It’s expected to fetch from $5,200 to $7,800.
“There are no more than a handful of these in exis-
tence,” Andrew Aldridge told DailyMail.com. “It
is more of a promotional brochure that was aimed at
wealthy prospective passengers …”
Published in May 1911, the 72-page pamphlet fea-
tures many of the ships’ technical details, along with
about 50 illustrations of the they-thought-of-everything
amenities and accommodations; the cover is shown,
courtesy of Aldridge’s.
The Titanic and her sister ship, the Olympic, were
built side by side, starting in 1908, and their main sell-
ing points were that they were were the largest, and most
luxurious, passenger ships ever built.
Ironically, the pamphlet also describes the Titanic as
being “the epitome of security,” and we all know how
well that turned out, with too few lifeboats, and a death
toll of over 1,500. Of course, speeding through a known
ice field didn’t help matters.
“Had the disaster happened today,” the Daily Mail
opined, “the company would have been charged with
corporate manslaughter.” No doubt.
DYNASTY DYNAMICS
hen the news hit on April 16, 1912, that the
Titanic actually sank after hitting the iceberg
the previous day, one of the headlines in The Morning
Oregonian focused solely on the extraordinary wealth
of some of the first class passengers.
At the top of the list was Col. John Jacob “Jack”
Astor IV, great-grandson of Astoria’s namesake, worth
an estimated $87 million ($2.5 billion now). He was
honeymooning with his pregnant second wife, Made-
line, when he went down with the ship. His body was
recovered, and buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in
New York.
Astor left Madeline the annual income from a $5
million trust and several other perks, plus an annual
payment of $500,000 until she remarried. She mar-
ried twice more, had two more sons, and died at 46
in 1940.
A fund of $3 million was left for his unborn child,
John Jacob “Jakey” Astor VI, who was born Aug. 14,
1912, but wouldn’t inherit until he was 21.
William Vincent Astor, known as Vincent, inher-
ited the Astor fortune. Even though he was Jakey’s
older half-brother, he loathed Jakey and his playboy
lifestyle, and didn’t even consider him an Astor. As a
result, he left Jakey nothing of their father’s enormous
estate when he died in 1959.
Jakey sued, but settled for $250,000 (about $2.4
million now). He married four times, had a son and a
daughter, and died in 1992, at the age of 79. He was
buried with his parents.
W
MISFORTUNES
O
ther millionaires aboard for the Titanic’s heralded
maiden voyage were also mentioned in The Morn-
ing Oregonian. One was Benjamin Guggenheim of
the American Smelting Securities Co., founded by his
father, Meyer. His brother, Solomon, founded the Gug-
genheim Museum in New York. John B. Thayer, vice
president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, also died in the
tragedy.
Col. Washington Roebling, builder of the Brook-
lyn Bridge was also on the Titanic, along with Isadore
Strauss, co-owner of Macy’s department store with his
brother, Nathan. Strauss’ wife, Rosalie, chose to stay
with him instead of getting into a lifeboat with the other
women; they stayed together in deck chairs while the
ship sank. Both perished; only his body was found.
Probably the most controversial millionaire aboard
the ship was Joseph Bruce Ismay (inset), managing
director of the White Star Line, which built the Titanic.
He survived the disaster by jumping into the last lifeboat
after helping women into the other lifeboats for an hour.
Although Ismay was later cleared of any wrongdo-
ing, he never overcame the public shaming he endured
for abandoning the ship, or for being part of the Titan-
ic’s creation. He was even blamed, albeit wrongfully, for
being part of her demise.
BUDDING BIOLOGIST
TINY TREMORS
‘W
tarting on March 20, on Vancouver Island, in the
Canadian province of British Columbia, there were
episodic tremor and slip events occurring on the Cas-
cadia Subduction Zone the TimesColonist.com reports.
Residents couldn’t feel it, but as of early April, more
than 4,200 “tiny tremors” were recorded between 15 and
25 miles below the surface. “On the instruments they
look like series of a trains rolling by,” John Cassidy, a
Canadian earthquake seismologist, said. He also noted
that these events happen for a few weeks about every 15
months, during which time the subduction zone slippage
is about the size of five stacked dimes.
These episodes actually add a bit of stress to the
locked portion of the subduction zone, and could trig-
ger an earthquake when the stress is already at a criti-
cal level. All the same, these tremors help “us form an
understanding of the subduction, and where earthquakes
are likely to occur and release energy,” Cassidy said,
“… but where, and how big, we cant predict.” (Image:
Pacific Northwest Seismic Network)
‘CAIRNSMORE
LIVERPOOL’
S
BEACH FIND
‘BEGGARS BELIEF’
F
ound rerun: What is believed to be the oldest known
message in a bottle, dated June 12, 1886, was found
on a beach in Wedge Island, Australia, by Tonya Illman,
the Western Australian Museum reports.
The bottle was open, and had sand in it, along with a mes-
sage in German that was rolled up and tied with string. The
museum authenticated the note, which details the route of
the ship Paula while studying ocean currents. It’s estimated
the message probably made landfall within a year.
“To think this bottle has not been touched for nearly 132
years and is in perfect condition, despite the elements, beg-
gars belief,” Illman said. “I’m still shaking.” (In One Ear,
3/9/18) (Images: Western Australian Museum.)
T
he three-masted British bark
Cairnsmore wrecked on Clatsop
Beach in September 1883; Brian
Medlock has owned a ship’s board
saying “Cairnsmore Liverpool” for
about seven years now.
“I purchased it at a Goodwill that
is now closed,” he explained. “I
saw it rolling out on the cart, and I
grabbed it before it ever hit the shelf.
It looked old and special, and it had
a tiny little note taped to the back
that said the ship’s information about
the wreck, and that all men had been
saved. The little note unfortunately
has since fallen off somewhere, and
lost.
“However the sign has been
admired, and thought to be real, by
several people who have looked at it.
The last person was David Harper,
BBC antiques appraiser, whom I sent
some photos to. He believes it is real
and not a reproduction. The value, he
says, is in the interest/history of the
piece …
“The ship/barque is buried for-
ever there in the Clatsop sands … I
thought maybe an article (about the
board) would bring more interest,
conversation, knowledge and excite-
ment about this little piece of Oregon
history. The sign measures just shy
of 4 feet long, and is about 4 inches
wide, dark wood, with little hand cut
and nailed-in brass letters, and looks
like over a 100 years of patina.
“I think it may have been from
the lifeboat the men were saved
from, or maybe above the captain’s
cabin, or over the steering wheel
area. The area of the ship, or what
it came off of, is still needing to be
pinned down exactly … I have done
so much research, and not come up
with much.”
Anyone have any ideas of what
part of the ship this board could have
come from? If so, please email the
Ear at ewilson@dailyastorian.com or
leave a message at 971-704-1718.
alking along the beach Ava Miler, visiting from
Spokane, Washington, came across a unique deep
sea creature struggling in the wet sand, a longnosed lan-
cetfish!” Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium wrote.
“This 5-foot long fish resembles a barracuda, with
its long body and sharp fang-like teeth, but this did not
deter Ava from trying to save it. Ava bravely walked up
to the fierce-looking fish and, without hesitation, picked
it up and returned it to the sea.
“Unfortunately, the fish came back to shore. It had
suffered an injury, most likely from another lancetfish,
while engaged in a feeding frenzy. The large gash near
the fish’s gills was life threatening, and the fish eventu-
ally died.
Ava and her family went to the aquarium with photos
of their adventure to share with the staff, who wanted to
find and study the fish. “Ava readily showed us where the
fish was,” Tiffany recalled, “and once she heard the word
dissection, she only had one question, ‘Can I watch?’
“While the dissection did not yield much, we did dis-
cover a squid tentacle and a whole stickleback (fish). It
was also an experience that Ava will not soon forget.”
“I was so impressed with Ava,” Tiffany added. “Not
only did this budding biologist try to save a fish that even
I would be hesitant to pick up while still alive, she was
more excited about the opportunity to learn about it, and
the chance to get her hands dirty.” (Photos: Erik Miler).
POT AND KETTLE
F
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, April 15, 1887:
• Fearful depravity in Portland: This sailor
stealing business has been long carried on, and has about
outlived itself. In many instances, boarding house keep-
ers supply sailors, steal them before the vessel leaves,
and reship them again and again, realizing profit many
times. In fact, a system of the most fraudulent character
has been carried on.
Note: Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Astoria was a hotbed of shanghaiing sailors with its own
crimps (kidnappers), bar-room trap doors and under-
ground tunnels. According to a letter from one victim,
Darius Norris, who wound up penniless in London after
being abducted and forced into unpaid service on a ship,
he had been shanghaied in Astoria by none other than the
city’s police chief.