4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL April 22, 2015
O PINION
CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Cottage Grove City Hall:
942-5501. www.cottage-
grove.org/
Phone: (541) 682-4203
Fax: (541) 682-4616
Oregon State House of
Representatives:
Cottage Grove Mayor Tom
Munroe: 942-5501.
Rep. Cedric Hayden (REP)
District: 007
900 Court Street NE
Suite H-379
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1407
Fax: (503) 986-1130
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
Cottage Grove City
Councilors:
Mike Fleck, At Large:
942-7302
Heather Murphy, At Large:
942-3444
Rep. Peter A. DeFazio
(DEM)
District: 004
United States House of Rep-
resentatives
2134 Rayburn House Offi ce
Building
Washington, DC 20515-
0001
Phone: (202) 225-6416
Fax: (202) 225-0032
Email: http://www.house.
gov/formdefazio/contact.
html
United States Senate:
Jake Boone, Ward 1: 653-
7413
Oregon State Senate:
Sen. Floyd Prozanski (DEM)
District: 004
900 Court Street NE
Suite S-319
Salem, OR 97301-0001
Phone: (503) 986-1704
Fax: (503) 986-1080
Email: sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
Jeff Gowing, Ward 2:
942-1900
Garland Burback, Ward 3:
337-3702
Kate Price, Ward 4: 954-
9810
Sen. Ron Wyden (DEM)
District: 0S1
United States Senate
230 Dirksen Senate Offi ce
Building
Washington, DC 20510-
0001
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717
Email: http://wyden.senate.
gov/contact/
Governor:
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
Phone: (503) 378-4582
Fax: (503) 378-6827
Lane County
Commissioners:
Faye Stewart, East Lane
Commissioner
Lane County Public Service
Building
125 East 8th Street
Eugene, OR 97401
United States House of
Representatives:
Sen. Jeff Merkley (DEM)
District: 0S2
United States Senate
404 Russell Senate Offi ce
Building
Washington, DC 20510-
0001
Phone: (202) 224-3753
Fax: (202) 228-3997
Email: http://jmerkley.senate.
gov/webform.htm
Offbeat Oregon History
French sailors miraculously saved from
certain death on the bar
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
Back in the 1800s, when a
sailing barque struck bottom
while crossing the Columbia
River bar, its chances of survival
were very close to zero.
Sometimes a frantic throwing-
overboard of everything in sight
— cargo, cannons, livestock,
anything — would lighten a
ship enough to fl oat free.
But it had to be done fast,
because time was never on a
stranded ship’s side. Ships usu-
ally crossed the bar on an ebb
tide, or on the slack tide just be-
fore it started to ebb.
That practice made sense.
Getting caught on the bar when
the tide was coming in — and
colliding violently with the
seven-knot current of the river
water going out — was to be
avoided at all costs. But it had
some unpleasant implications
for a ship that found itself stuck
on the sandy bottom of the shoal
waters of the bar. Every minute
that went by, the tide dropped a
fraction of an inch lower, leav-
ing the ship a fraction of an inch
higher and drier. So trying to
lighten a stuck ship was a race
against time and tide — a race
that the forces of nature usually
won.
When that happened, the usu-
al playbook involved the ship
getting hammered against the
sand for hours by the incom-
ing breakers and swells, which
would get especially powerful
after the tide turned and started
coming in. By the time the wa-
ter was deep enough to fl oat a
stranded ship, it usually had
spent a good nine hours being
mercilessly worked against the
sand, popping nails and tearing
ribs and sometimes even break-
ing the ship’s back.
If the wreck happened during
good weather, the crew stood
a great chance of surviving the
shipwreck, even though their
ship did not. But add a high
wind driving heavy seas out of
the southwest, and all bets were
off.
If the crew could just get the
lifeboats launched, they could
usually make it — most of them.
But getting a lifeboat launched
in a stranded ship with waves
crashing into it is tricky even in
the best conditions. Add a howl-
ing gale, and it’s nearly impos-
sible. And once all the lifeboats
were gone, the chances of any
remaining crewmembers mak-
ing it to shore alive were prob-
ably well north of 20 to 1.
But every now and then, a
ship would beat those odds.
Such a ship was the Etoile
du Matin, a French barque that
found itself in terrible trouble
on the bar in July 1849.
The Etoile du Matin — usually
referred to by the English trans-
lation of its name, the Morning
Star — had been across the bar a
time or two before. This was the
ship that had brought Archbish-
op F.N. Blanchet back to Oregon
with 20 priests and nuns, who
would found many of Oregon’s
Catholic communities and even
convert Dr. John McLoughlin to
the faith. Its captain, a fearsome
red-bearded man of fl orid face
and volcanic temperament, was
named Francis Menes.
On that particular day, Cap-
tain Menes and his crew had
been tacking back and forth
off the mouth of the river for
a week, waiting for a pilot to
come out and help them work
the ship across the bar. They
were coming in from Le Havre,
a seven-month journey, and
were all very much ready to get
some dirt back under their feet
again. And they couldn’t fi gure
out what the delay was.
Then a coastwise schooner
came up, making for the bar,
and Menes hailed her. Her cap-
tain explained to Menes what
the problem was: The bar pilot
had, a few months earlier, piled
a British barque up onto the
Middle Sands for a total loss.
Knowing this was going to lead
to embarrassing questions and/
or criminal charges, the bar pi-
lot had thought the better part of
virtue might be to run for it, and
he’d left town immediately, ap-
parently intending to lose him-
self in the gold-rush crowds in
San Francisco.
We can only imagine the bi-
lingual expressions of discon-
tent that must have greeted this
news. And Menes decided that,
pilot or no pilot, he?d head into
the river on the very fi rst favor-
able wind.
His chance came on July 11,
when the heavy-laden Etoile
du Matin turned into the bar,
drawing 16 feet of water, and
headed for the channel — or,
rather, headed for what Menes’
two-year-old charts listed as the
channel.
Just off Sand Island, the big
ship shuddered to a stop, skid-
ding into the edge of the shoals,
and a raging Captain Menes ran
to the taff rail and hurled his
charts into the sea.
As (bad) luck would have it,
the weather was freshening into
a regular summer gale now, and
the pounding wind-driven seas
hammered the stranded ves-
sel mercilessly into the sand,
working the planks so that wa-
ter started to fl ow into the bilge.
Desperately the crew started
trying to launch lifeboats, but as
soon as they hit the water, they’d
be dashed against the hull and
knocked to splinters.
Finally a crewmember vol-
unteered to stay in the last boat
as it was lowered, holding it in
position with oars. But by this
time, apparently, the tide was
coming in, and the seas were
getting huge. Just as the boat
hit the water, a massive comber
swept across the ship, tearing
the boat away, and neither it nor
the sailor was ever seen again.
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 5A
The truth about whole grains, rice and arsenic
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
A
high-nutrient (Nutritar-
ian) diet is largely fo-
cused on
vegetables,
with all of
their health-
promoting
vitamins,
minerals
and phyto-
chemicals.
Other foods used liberally in-
clude beans, fruits, seeds and
nuts, and whole grains, includ-
ing whole grain rice. As the
most widely consumed grain
worldwide, rice serves as a sta-
ple food for a large part of the
world. However, not all rice is
equally healthful. Rice varies by
type and origin, which contrib-
ute to both its nutritional con-
tent and potential level of arse-
nic contamination.
A whole grain contains a
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
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complete “kernel” that consists
of three edible parts; the bran,
endosperm and germ. Whole
grain rice is classifi ed by the
color of its bran, and there are
four groups: brown, black, pur-
ple and red. Wild rice is similar,
but technically not in the rice
family.
The most commonly grown
commercial rice is brown rice.
When brown rice has its bran
and germ removed, it is called
white rice. This processing al-
lows white rice to have a longer
shelf life and shorter cooking
time, but the healthful fi ber in
the bran and benefi cial nutrients
in the germ are lost. More color-
ful pigmented whole grain rice
varieties are becoming increas-
ingly popular, and red, black,
and purple rice exhibit higher
antioxidant activity as compared
to brown rice. Overall, black
rice, which is rich in anthocya-
nins, showed the highest antiox-
idant levels of all rice varieties,
followed by red and purple, then
brown and lastly white rice.
Arsenic is a toxic element that
is naturally present in the earth’s
crust. As such, it is found in the
soil, water and some foods. In
addition, some areas have in-
creased concentrations of arse-
nic as a result of industrial pol-
lution, the use of arsenic-based
drugs in poultry production, and
arsenic-containing pesticides
and fertilizers.
All plants can absorb some ar-
senic, but rice can absorb up to
10 times as much as other grains.
This is due to how the rice (in-
cluding wild rice) is grown, in
fl ooded paddy fi elds. The soil
in the fi elds, when covered with
water, create conditions that al-
low arsenic to be converted to
more readily absorbable forms.
Arsenic accumulates most in
the outer layer of rice, which is
the reason that whole grain rice,
with its bran intact, can have up
to 80 percent more arsenic than
white rice.
Arsenic is well recognized as
a human carcinogen and chronic
exposure (via inhalation or from
high-arsenic drinking water) is a
known cause of skin, lung and
bladder cancer and is also asso-
ciated with other cancers such
as kidney, liver, and prostate.
Studies have also demonstrated
associations with noncancerous
conditions, such as diabetes,
heart and lung diseases, immu-
nological effects, and impaired
cognitive function.
Although whole grain forms
of rice have a superior nutri-
tional profi le compared to white
rice, they also have a higher risk
of arsenic contamination. When
you do eat whole grain rice,
these are some ways to mini-
mize arsenic exposure:
Select whole grain rice grown
in areas with low arsenic lev-
els. Consumer Reports found
that brown basmati rice from
California, India or Pakistan has
about a third of the inorganic ar-
senic as compared to brown rice
from other regions and would
be the best choice. Rice grown
in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana
and most other U.S. locations
had the highest inorganic arse-
nic levels, so would be better
to avoid or minimize. Check
companies’ websites. Some
rice growers conduct indepen-
dent testing for arsenic levels
in their rice and post the results.
There are also companies that
harvest wild-growing rice from
northern Wisconsin and Canada
without the use of commercial
fertilizers. Keep in mind that or-
ganically-farmed rice may mean
there is less pesticide use, but
does not necessarily mean there
are lower arsenic levels
Rinse rice before cooking to
reduce arsenic content. Rinse
rice until the water becomes
clear.
Cook rice in a higher water
volume. Research has shown
that the amount of arsenic in
rice can be reduced by approxi-
mately 40 percent if the rice is
boiled in a large volume of wa-
ter. Cook rice using a 1-to-6 cup
rice-to-water ratio, drain and
discard the excess water.
Eat a variety of starches—not
just rice. On a Nutritarian diet,
the most emphasized starch
sources are beans, lentils and
other legumes. There are also
healthful starchy vegetables
such as butternut squash, winter
squash, carrots, beets, parsnips,
rutabaga and turnips, and a va-
riety of whole grains such as
amaranth, barley, buckwheat,
bulgur, farro, millet, and quinoa.
If you utilize a variety of these
foods, arsenic exposure from
the occasional serving of rice
will not be a concern. However,
as a result of this arsenic issue,
brown rice should not be eaten
often and regularly.
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