4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL August 26, 2015
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History
The ones that got away: Almost-shipwrecks
on the Columbia Bar
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
T
he merciless waters of the
Columbia River Bar are not
known for easily giving up their
prey once they’ve trapped a ship
on their sandy shoals. But over the
years, it has happened now and
again – and the stories of these
survivors are always interesting.
The Queen of the
Pacifi c
There was no hint of irony in
mind when the passenger liner
Queen of the Pacifi c was launched
in Philadelphia in 1882. The Pa-
cifi c Coast Steamship Company
of San Francisco had spared no
expense. Competition on the San
Francisco-Portland line was at
its peak, and the Queen’s owners
intended to have the very fi nest
steamer on the route.
And so they did. The 2,727-
ton fl oating palace arrived at the
Golden Gate late that year and was
greeted with cheering crowds. Un-
der the command of Captain Eze-
kiel Alexander, she immediately
started making money easily and
rapidly.
That’s probably why, when word
arrived in the San Francisco offi ces
that the Queen had run aground on
Clatsop Spit just a year after she
went into service, the word that
went back was something along
the lines of a blank check.
The stranding had been a
straightforward one, and no one
had been hurt. The weather had
been mild, but very foggy, and the
vessel had drifted out of the chan-
nel and stuck fast in the sandy bot-
tom on the Oregon side. Of course,
the instant the hull touched, the
engineer put her into full reverse,
but it was too late.
The situation was made more
embarrassing by the fact that the
passenger list included some very
prominent Californians, coming to
Portland to witness the driving of
the last golden spike to mark the
completion of the Northern Pacifi c
Railroad.
So the Pacifi c Coast Steamship
Company sent the word along:
Save our ship, no matter what the
cost.
Accordingly, the next day when
the tide was looking good, the big-
gest collection of salvage tugs ever
seen on the bar appeared to lend a
hand – knowing doing so would
give them a great chance to col-
lect. Soon fi ve powerful salvage
tugs – the C.J. Brenham, Astoria,
Columbia, Pioneer and General
Miles – had massive hawsers on
the stranded liner and were join-
ing their forces with that of the
Queen of the Pacifi c’s engines.
The huge hawsers stretched tight,
strained, occasionally snapped;
but the big tugboats were patient,
and no sooner was one broken
than another was being slipped on
the Queen.
Finally, at the apex of high tide,
the stranded liner started to creep
slowly backward into deeper wa-
ter. By the time the tide was start-
ing to ebb again, the liner was
free, and all six ships celebrated
the victory with blast after blast
on their whistles.
Had the Queen of the Pacifi c
known what was coming, her cap-
tain might not have been so hap-
py. After all the negotiation and
litigation that followed, the Pa-
cifi c Coast Steamship Company’s
blank check ended up being worth
$65,000 – which comes to roughly
$1.5 million in modern money.
Not bad for one afternoon’s
work.
The Queen was worth the ran-
som, though. She went on to have
a long and lucrative career before
fi nally being bought for scrap met-
al by Imperial Japan in 1938.
The Sidi
The list of people who know
what it’s like to total one’s car
while the new-car smell is still lin-
gering in the air is a short one, and
none of us would ever want to be
on it.
But if you, by some mischance,
are on that list, you will be able
to relate to the predicament of
Captain J. Hill of the French brig
Sidi.
The Sidi was eight months out
of her natal shipyard and crossing
the bar on Valentine’s Day of 1874
when she suffered the fate that
so many other sailing ships have,
before and since: the wind died at
just the wrong moment.
The skipper, of course, dropped
both anchors. As usual, this
only slowed the ship down. The
four-knot current was more than
enough to pull the Sidi along,
dragging both anchors through
the clean sand beneath. Onto the
sandy shore of Sand Island she
stuck. And it was high tide: a few
hours later, the stout little brig was
perched there on a shelf of damp
sand. The crew, of course, took the
opportunity to clamber down and
walk ashore, without even getting
their feet wet.
The next day, salvors were on
the scene. They immediately saw
that it would be a tough job and a
lot of work, but it could be done.
And the brand-new ship was in-
sured for $50,000.
A few weeks later, at a spring
tide’s fl ood, they triumphantly
fl oated their prize free of the
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 12A
Are you ready for Back-to-School 2015?
Some health insurance
plans offer free preventive
care measures
BY SUSAN JOHNSON
For the Sentinel
T
he days are getting shorter and
summer activities are winding
down. School supply lists are appear-
ing in stores and your in-boxes. Kids are
(hopefully) fi nishing their summer read-
ing lists. Back-to-School time is just
around the corner, though it may feel
like Memorial Day was just a couple of
weeks ago.
As you prepare your kids to return to
school this year, you should be aware
that some states have enacted tougher
immunization laws in the wake of the
recurrence of “childhood diseases” that
were previously eliminated in this coun-
try.
Recommended vaccines are among
the free preventive health services of-
fered by qualifi ed health plans, Medic-
aid and CHIP as a result of the Afford-
able Care Act. Other preventive health
services for children include: hearing
and other screening tests for newborns;
behavioral assessments; developmen-
tal screening for children under age
three; oral health risk assessment for
young children; depression screening
for adolescents; alcohol and drug use
assessments for adolescents; obesity
screening and counseling and vision
screening for all children. Adults and
women also have access to preventive
health services.
Not currently enrolled in health insur-
ance? You can enroll in Medicaid and
CHIP at any time. You may be able to
enroll in a qualifi ed health plan through
the federal marketplace or your state
exchange if you have a Qualifying Life
Event (QLE) such as a change in your
family composition; loss of health insur-
ance; moving into an area where your
previous plan doesn’t provide coverage;
gaining status in a federally recognized
tribe; certain income changes; change
in immigration status or are a victim
of domestic abuse or spousal abandon-
ment. These events trigger a 60-day
Special Enrollment Period (SEP) during
which you can enroll. If you haven’t had
a QLE and are not eligible for Medic-
aid, then you may enroll during the next
Open Enrollment Period, which begins
on Nov. 1, 2015, and ends on Jan. 31,
2016. Visit HealthCare.gov for informa-
tion on enrollment and SEPs.
We hope people will use their new
health coverage and we’re offering as-
sistance. From Coverage to Care (C2C)
explains how to use coverage, including
choosing a doctor, where to go for care,
how to read your insurance card and
your Explanation of Benefi ts, sugges-
tions for the fi rst appointment and other
critical information. C2C resources are
available in eight languages plus a tribal
version.
The “Healthy Self” initiative, which
encourages people to take control of
their health and their healthcare, is a
current focus. Eating healthy foods, get-
ting plenty of exercise and sleep, taking
care of mental health, getting preventive
tests and knowing risk factors are all
ways consumers can help take control of
their health. Commonsense suggestions
like: if you smoke, try to cut down or
stop; limiting your alcohol intake; and if
you’re prescribed narcotics or opioids,
use them for the shortest time possible
also fall within this initiative.
Creating a healthier America will take
all of us working together. If you’re a
parent, you manage your kids’ health.
Your health care provider is an advisor,
but you’re the one who oversees their
daily life. Make sure your children start
each day and the school year with the
healthiest start possible—take them for
their yearly exams, make sure they get
their immunizations, help move them
away from the screens and get them
outside and active, and offer healthy
balanced meals which can include tra-
ditional foods. If you are concerned
about your child’s or your own mental
health, contact your provider. Take care
of yourself so your kids will see how to
live as a healthy adult. We’re encourag-
ing everyone to post a #HealthySelfi e on
social media. It could include you and
your family actively enjoying the out-
doors, sharing a healthy family meal or
visiting the doctor.
Back to School time is a busy time,
but make sure the doctor’s visit is on
the top of your checklist. Knowing your
kids are healthy and protected from
“childhood diseases” will help you
sleep better at night and move you and
your family toward your own “Healthy
Self” goals.
Susan Johnson is the Director of Re-
gion 10 of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
Vitamin D during pregnancy affects mother and child health
I
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
n recent years, we have
learned that suffi cient blood
levels of this vitamin are crucial
to our health, and also that a
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significant
propor-
tion of the
population,
including
pregnant
women, is
d e fi c i e n t .
Vitamin D
is an im-
mune-supporting nutrient and
during pregnancy — especially
during the third trimester — it
is a key factor in growth of the
baby’s skeleton. It is estimated
that up to 50 percent of pregnant
women and breastfed infants
are defi cient in vitamin D, and
defi ciency is associated with
pregnancy complications. For
pregnant and nursing women,
vitamin D defi ciency or insuffi -
ciency has been associated with
increased risk of preeclampsia,
gestational diabetes, infections
and low birthweight. Vitamin D
insuffi ciency during pregnancy
is also associated with impaired
growth during infancy, greater
body fat mass and greater risk of
low bone mass and autoimmune
diseases during childhood.
The American College of
Obstetrics and Gynecology and
Institute of Medicine both rec-
ommend that pregnant women
take 600 IU/day supplemental
vitamin D, and most prenatal
vitamins, similar to other con-
ventional multivitamins, con-
tain 400 IU vitamin D. How-
ever, scientists have voiced
concerns that these amounts are
inadequate for most people to
maintain blood 25(OH)D in the
30-45 ng/ml range, considered a
suffi cient vitamin D level.
Clinical trials investigating
vitamin D during pregnancy
have reported that supplementa-
tion with either 2000 IU or 4000
IU doses of vitamin D improved
maternal, cord blood and neona-
tal 25(OH)D. Also, pregnancy
complications such as hyper-
tension, infection and pre-term
birth, were less common in the
women who achieved higher
25(OH)D. Importantly, women
with higher 25(OH)D gave birth
to babies with higher 25(OH)D,
confi rming that the supplemen-
tation helped to insure that ba-
bies were born with suffi cient
vitamin D levels.
As part of the nutritional plan
for a healthy pregnancy and a
healthy start for the baby, preg-
nant women should supplement
to achieve 25(OH)D levels in the
30-45 ng/ml range. The amount
of supplementation necessary
for individuals to reach opti-
mal serum 25(OH)D levels may
vary; vitamin D needs should be
assessed by blood test and sup-
plementation adjusted accord-
ingly. For some women that
may be 1000-2000 IU, but oth-
ers may require more or less.
Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New York
Times best-selling author and a
board certifi ed family physi-
cian specializing in lifestyle and
nutritional medicine. His new-
est book, The End of Dieting,
debunks the fake “science” of
popular fad diets and offers an
alternative to dieting that leads
to permanent weight loss and
excellent health. Visit his infor-
mative website at DrFuhrman.
com. Submit your questions and
comments about this column
directly to newsquestions@
drfuhrman.com
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