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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, AuguST 4, 2022
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
CLEANING UP
A LABOR OF LOVE
he historic Astoria ferry, Tourist No. 2,
capsized on the Astoria waterfront on
July 28.
According to her 1997 National Regis-
ter of Historic Places application, the wood-
en-hulled vessel was built in 1924 for Swed-
ish immigrant Fritz Elfving to join his new
ferry service across the Columbia River.
The application notes the ferry was likely
commandeered on Dec. 7, 1941 (Pearl
Harbor Day), by the U.S. Army. Renamed
The Octopus, she was a minelayer at the
mouth of the Columbia River during World
War II, and was later a troop ferry between
Fort Stevens and Fort Columbia, Washing-
ton. She was returned to Elfving in 1945.
In 1946, the ferry service was bought
by the state. On July 29, 1966, the Astoria
Bridge opened, ending the auto ferry busi-
ness. The Tourist No. 2 was purchased by
Pierce County, Washington, renamed The
Islander of Pierce County, and joined their
ferry service from 1967 to 1974, then was a
backup ferry from 1974 to 1994.
Kirkland Ferry LLC bought the ferry
from Pierce County at a public auction.
Renamed MV Kirkland, she was leased to
Argosy Cruises of Seattle and, between both
companies, was totally refurbished to the
tune of almost $2 million. An August 2010
fire ended her many years of ferry service.
She was declared a total loss; the aging
vessel would have to be donated, sold or
scrapped. Because of her wooden hull, the
ferry had to be dry-docked every two years
for a U.S. Coast Guard inspection, and
replacement of old hull boards, to retain
her certification to carry passengers. Worse
yet, she was due for recertification after the
fire. The costs for this biennial maintenance
were astronomical.
It was a painful dilemma. She has “been
a labor of love for this company, and a
source of pride for us” Kevin Clark, for-
mer CEO of Argosy, said at the time. Scrap-
ping would be a heartbreaker, but donation
attempts were unsuccessful.
Finally, the ferry was sold at a very
reduced value to Christian Lint. He did
restoration work, and later worked with
the late Robert “Jake” Jacob and a group
of local citizens to bring her back to Asto-
ria. Unfortunately, that deal eventually fell
through, and the ferry went back to Lint,
who owns it now.
Can Tourist No. 2 be saved? Stay tuned …
oung
Dutch
entrepreneur
Boyan
Slat
always dreamed of cleaning up the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch, and is now the founder
and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, which has been
experimenting with rigs that would enable him to
reach his goal.
The current device is a half-mile long U-shaped bar-
rier that traps plastic and debris as the barrier is pulled
through the water slowly by two ships, one on either
end. The ships collect the plastic gathered, which is
brought back to shore for recycling.
“Since deployment in August 2021, System 002
(or ‘Jenny’) has now collected 101,353kg (223,445
pounds) of plastic over 45 extractions,” Slat’s latest
press release says, “sweeping an area of ocean of over
3000km (1,864 miles) …”
“Added to the 7,173kg (15,814 pounds) of plas-
tic captured by our previous prototype systems,
The Ocean Cleanup has now collected 108,526 kg
(239,259 pounds) of plastic from the (Great Pacific
Garbage Patch) – more than the combined weight of
two and a half Boeing 737-800s, or the dry weight of
a space shuttle!”
Slat theorizes that if they repeat the 100,000 kg plas-
tic haul 1,000 times, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
will be cleaned up. “Right now,” he added, “we’re
scaling up to the next phase in our cleanup with Sys-
tem 03,” which is expected to pull in plastic at a rate
“potentially 10 times higher than System 002.” (Pho-
tos: The Ocean Cleanup)
Y
T
THE MOTHER’S FRIEND
he Daily Astorian, on Aug. 4, 1896, ran an ad for
Dr. Samuel Pitcher’s Castoria, “for infants and
children.”
“… It contains neither opium, morphine nor other
narcotic substance … Castoria destroys worms and
allays feverishness. Castoria prevents vomiting sour
curd, cures diarrhea and wind colic (bloat). Castoria
relieves teething troubles, cures constipation and flatu-
lence … Castoria is the children’s panacea, the moth-
er’s friend.”
So what did it contain? “The formula was composed
of senna leaves, bicarbonate of soda, essence of win-
tergreen, extract of taraxacum (dandelion), sugar, and
water and … other ingredients, such as ‘pumpkin, anise
and worm seed, Rochelle salts, peppermint, and 3%
alcohol’ were added to the mix. Many of these ingredi-
ents are known laxatives …”
Dr. Pitcher sold the patent, retired in 1900 and died of
a heart attack in 1907.
T
A LAST FAREWELL
WHERE IS IT NOW?
hostly rerun: Did you know that Astoria’s beloved
ferry, Tourist No. 2, is believed by many to have
her very own ghost? It’s Capt. Fritz Elfving, her orig-
inal captain, whose photo (shown) was hung at the bot-
tom of the stairs of the main passenger cabin when she
was the MV Kirkland with Argosy Cruises.
“Any incident of the photo being removed or relo-
cated,” an Argosy publication says, “resulted in unex-
plained events such as shattered glassware, rearranged
furniture and other mysterious occurrences.”
Kevin Clark, CEO of Argosy, says that “there are sto-
ries of footprints in a newly vacuumed carpet, or slightly
oiled foot prints from the engine room out to the salon,
all done after the boat had been closed up for the night.”
Then there’s this, from a captain, Vince Tougas:
“Some of the crew were convinced that the boat was
haunted, because strange things would happen — many
strange noises, and some crew say they have seen Fritz’s
ghost.” So there you have it.
By the way, the Elfving portrait was still with the ves-
sel when she was sold to her current owner, Christian
Lint. (In One Ear, 10/29/2020)
G
FLYING SWITCHBLADE
hildren of the 1950s will perhaps remember fanci-
ful drawings in magazines of smiling families soar-
ing around in flying cars. Well, that vision is about to
come true, if Samson Sky of Redmond has anything to
say about it, with their Switchblade Flying Sports Car.
The three-wheeled street-legal vehicle can cruise at
up to 125 mph and gets 33 miles per gallon. To fly, the
wings (which are stored in the belly) can be deployed,
and the tail section extends. The Switchblade can fly at
up to 200 mph and up to 13,000 feet.
Just in case you are wondering how one would reg-
ister such a contraption, in the air, it’s an experimental
home-built aircraft; on the road, it’s a custom motorcy-
cle or kit car. And, the owner would need two insurance
policies, one for land and one for air, since there’s noth-
ing available for flying cars … yet.
To reserve one, the least expensive Switchblade Kit is
$150,000, and the Samson Builder Assist Program (you
build it, folks) is $20,000. Just remember, it’s a sports
car and an airplane. Some sports cars alone can cost
over $200,000, if that makes you feel any better. (Photo:
Samson Sky)
C
ARE YOU THERE?
PLAUSIBLE PLESIOSAUR
he Daily Morning Astorian of Monday, Aug. 4,
1890, mentions a Sunday evening balloon ascen-
sion, “witnessed by (hundreds of) saints and sinners,”
gathered at the courthouse square.
The balloon inflated in only 14 minutes. The aero-
naut, 28-year-old Arthur Cosgrove, rose quickly, but
was forced to escape and descend in his parachute, as
the gusting wind alarmingly tipped the balloon.
On the following Sunday, he had even worse luck.
It was only his third ascension, in Portland. He went
up “quite high,” but when he cut himself loose, the
parachute was blown about and descended slowly.
He had not fastened his wrist straps, and at 150 feet,
he let go and “shot to the ground.” He left behind a
wife, Bertha Ansola, also a balloonist, and two
children.
His FindAGrave page newspaper clipping insists
his death was a suicide, he was drunk at the time, and
that he had refused to fasten his wrist straps to the
parachute before lifting off. He had been despondent,
and had threatened he would follow Professor Phin-
neas H. “Finn” Redmond, who had died in a balloon
accident. He also believed Redmond had been having
an affair with his wife.
“‘I have known you all for a long time,’
Cosgrove told his friends on the ground before ascend-
ing. ‘You have all been good friends to me, but I will
never see you alive again,’” the newspaper said.
“He then kissed his little boy, and bade all a last
farewell.”
T
he existence of the Pacific Northwest’s Colossal
Claude‘s Scottish cousin — a presumed plesio-
saur in the Loch Ness named Nessie — was declared
“on one level, plausible” by British scientists at the Uni-
versity of Bath, the Independent says. Small plesiosaur
fossils found in a river system in the Sahara Desert sug-
gest that plesiosaurs did, indeed, manage to live in bod-
ies of fresh water such as the loch.
“Plesiosaurs weren’t confined to the seas,” a press
release from the university says, “they did inhabit fresh
water. But the fossil record also suggests that after
almost 150 million years, the last plesiosaurs finally
died out at the same time as the dinosaurs, 66 million
years ago.” Except for Nessie, right? (Image: National
Park Service)
T
F
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, Aug. 5, 1888,
a tidbit about a new invention, “special to the Asto-
rian” from Washington, D.C.:
• Prof. Elisha Gray has obtained a patent for a instru-
ment called the Telautograph, designed for transmit-
ting messages by wire by sender, in his own handwrit-
ing, doing away with skilled operators …
Note: This device was actually an early precursor of
the facsimile (fax) machine, and he received six patents
for it between 1888 and 1893.
“By my invention you can sit down in your office in
Chicago, take a pencil in your hand, write a message to
me, and as your pencil moves, a pencil here in my labo-
ratory moves simultaneously, and forms the same letters
and words in the same way,” Gray said in an interview.
The telautograph’s original use was to transmit signa-
tures for banks and legal documents. After several name
changes over the decades, the company was purchased
by Xerox in 1999.
By the way, Gray is also considered the father of the
modern music synthesizer and, although he’s the orig-
inal inventor of the telephone technology, Alexander
Graham Bell snagged the patent first.