The Colonel, the Adjutant-General, and the Olympia Hotel Lobby
A state militia court-martial adjourns without deciding whether Colonel Haines was a civilian or a soldier when he assaulted Adjutant-General O’Brien—prompting a newspaper suggestion that O’Brien wear a baseball mask.
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.
“A Guardsman,” writing in the Oregonian from Goldendale, says: “We are touched with sorrow as we view with shame some of the overt acts perpetrated by officers of our state militia who don the emblems of a soldier only to disgrace the uniform they wear. We say, let our court martial in session at Olympia go on with the good work until every egotistical, undisciplined officer is weeded out of the service.”
The Fairhaven Herald adds: “What a pity that the Haines court-martial has adjourned without determining whether the bellicose colonel was at large as a civilian or as a warrior when he assaulted Adjutant-General O’Brien in the lobby of the Olympia hotel some weeks ago. It is too bad to keep the anxious populace in suspense in a matter of such importance. Inasmuch as nearly all the officers of the first regiment seem pugnaciously disposed toward the adjutant-general, it might be well for him to wear a baseball mask until the question is determined.”
“What a pity that the Haines court-martial has adjourned without determining whether the bellicose colonel was at large as a civilian or as a warrior when he assaulted Adjutant-General O’Brien in the lobby of the Olympia hotel some weeks ago.”
The Haines affair is a reminder that official violence and jurisdiction can become a punchline before they become accountability. In Olympia, then as now, whether an officer was acting as a public official or a private citizen can determine the consequences.
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