Dear Editor,

June 19, 2021

Happy Independence Day to all.

I hope to celebrate my 96th birthday in Forks, my adopted hometown and the most generous town in America, based on its support of its H.S. grads.

President Truman was not known for his sophistication when he could be blunt. One time when Bess had a group of women at the White House Harry broke in to ask her to get more manure for the roses. Later one of the women asked Bess to try to get her husband to use more delicate language. Bess replied, “My dear, you have no idea how difficult it was to persuade him to use “manure.” (attrib. lost)

When the intrepid men of the Lewis and Clark expedition met their first grizzly bear it was a hair-raising experience. Four of the six hunters fired a volley but the bear forced them off a cliff into the river and then jumped in after them. When the bear was finally killed, it was found that eight bullets had passed through it. When they met a second bear the unpredictable bruin turned and raced away. (“Sacajawea by Harold Howard.)

A Columbia river sturgeon can grow up to seven feet long and weigh 500 pounds. (Wik)

We’ve been led to believe that drinking salt water can quickly end in death, but it may not be so toxic. In his 1950 classic “KonTiki” Thor Heyerdahl reported that while on hot days his crew lost a lot of salt by sweating, to compensate they added between 20-40 percent saltwater to their fresh water and found that it quenched their thirst with no adverse effects.

(Skeletons on the Zahara, etc.” by Dean King)

On Nov. 4, 1876, the “Omaha Herald” carried an article which would be typical in the media for the next 30 years or more: “…America Horse’s papoose was a chubby, sturdy little beggar, and when one of the ladies spoke to him he set up a tremendous wail just as natural as if he were human.” (“Fools Crow,” by Thomas Marls)

April 5, 2021. This afternoon I received seven scam calls. Most of them began with a lugubrious female voice intoning, “Dear customer, we have detected suspicious activity…” Sound familiar? Surely people are no longer being duped by these infernal predators.

Bob Hall

Bellingham