The Perilous Life at the Soldiers' Home
A legislative report reveals that veterans at the Orting home are forced to carry oil lamps through the halls, risking catastrophic fire.
The report of the committee visiting the Soldiers' Home at Orting was filled with praise for the management of A.F. Street, as well as the business qualifications of the board of trustees. The report shows there are 125 inmates, each of whom is maintained at a cost of $156 per year. The committee recommends an electric light plant to cost $500. The committee says: 'This seems very necessary, as at present these old and suffering men are carrying coal oil lamps around with them through the building. They are liable to fall in ascending and descending the stairs or even on a level floor; the lamps are liable to explode in the room, and in either case the building would be consumed by fire, and necessarily great loss of life would follow, as the men are old and it would be impossible to remove them from the burning building.'
“These old and suffering men are carrying coal oil lamps around with them through the building... the lamps are liable to explode in the room.”
This report highlights the precarious state of public care for veterans in the 1890s, where basic safety was a luxury. Today, the Orting Soldiers' Home remains a state-run facility, though modern fire codes and electrical standards have long since replaced the dangerous oil lamps of the 19th century.
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