Astoria High School - Zephyrus Yearbook (Astoria, OR)

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THE-ZEPHYRUS mS -NlNETE£N-TWENTY-SIX

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THE-ZEPHYRUS NINETEEN-TWENTY-SIX - ■ ' nyp- January ’26 Senior History The spirit of enterprise, which is so essential to progress, once again entered Astoria High School in January of 1925. A group of students, stirred by the ambition to do and dare, asked for permission to embark upon a long sea voy- age. The main object of this undertaking would be for this group to go as an independent unit on a long journey, while each member sought his individual fortune in the various places visited. The proposition, when carried before the noted shipping magnate. H. B. Johnson, met with his approval. He consented to draw up his plans and specifi¬ cations for the vessel, one whose handling would require a crew of at least fifteen. The enterprisers numbered more than the required figure so the plans were accepted and preparations immediately begun to build the ship. (All work was to be done by the crew.) First of all the officers were chosen. To pick the skipper from among such an able assemblage of navigators was indeed a task. However, “Sheenie Spongberg was given the command with Cliff Flake for first mate. The ship ' s secretary (a new piece of equipment to the old salts) was chosen to care for the correspondence and records while the building was in progress. Of course the captain had to take her along on the voyage when the time of departure came. He said it was necessary on such an important venture to have one person entirely responsible for entries in the log. Some old tars were a bit dubious and whispered that they thought maybe she was the captain’s wife. Any way “Goodie ' Olsen put her nose up in the air and climbed aboard. The financing of such a momentous undertaking was necessarily placed in the hands of an experienced financier. Snow, being famous throughout the world for his coolness on all occasions, was chosen for the task. The ship s title of the financier was “steward,’’ and to keep tab on him and the rest of the crew a ship’s police was necessary. John Clay, former sheriff of Muddy River, Oregon, got the job (probably by means of “dirty’’ politics). Then came the actual building of the ship with the Misses Allen and Poysky Shipbuilding Co., Inc., directing. The first six months of construction went through without a kink in the rope. During this time the now famous adventure seekers were photographed for the “shipping journal, Zephyrus. The crew of the ship “June ’26 paid the expenses of the advertising and were heartily thanked by the would-be wanderers. After a vacation during the summer months the crew reassembled all “pep¬ ped up ' and ready to put finishing touches on the craft. The hull was now finished, so the Wootton-Von Berg Co., ship-outfitters, took charge of the re¬ maining preparations. The employment of such expert directors and the con¬ sequent high salaries necessitated the raising of large sums of money and several different schemes for doing so were successfully carried out. Shortly before the time for embarking arrived the “sailors blossomed out with the orange and white ship’s insignia on their uniforms and they certainly presented a natty appearance. Flake’s sudden withdrawal necessitated the appointment of a new “mate and “Buttermilk Wicks” was unanimously chosen by voice of the tars. Page Nine