Scandal at the Orting Soldiers' Home
The commandant of the state home for veterans faces a morals charge brought by an inmate.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Commandant W.S. Street, of the Orting Soldiers' Home, has been arrested on a warrant sworn out by an inmate of the home, F.S. Premerger, who alleges adultery with the laundress, Mrs. Norman. Premerger claims he surprised Street in a compromising position and called a witness to prove it. Commandant Street has been in charge of the home since its organization and is a Seattle man. He received $1,500 per year for his services, and his wife, as stewardess, received $500 per year. He has heretofore been considered a capable and efficient officer. It is said in his behalf that some of the old soldiers have had trouble with Street and were anxious to prefer charges of some nature against him.
“Premerger claims he surprised Street in a compromising position, and called a witness to prove it.”
Scandals involving the management of taxpayer-funded institutions remain a persistent feature of civic life. The Orting Soldiers' Home, now the Washington Soldiers Home, continues to serve veterans, though modern oversight mechanisms are vastly different from the personal accusations that dominated 1894 politics.
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