The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-09-14
Court Martials in the
Regular Army.
They Say an Army Of
ficer was Drunk.
Portland and Her Kid COuncil-.-The
Late Flood and Its Great
Height.

Portland, Sept 11th.-The autumn
season has been ushered In with
series of court martials Of officers of
the army and militia that are of much
| interest. Capt. w. c. Goodwin, of the
| 14th infantry, Is now on trial at Van
couver for drunkenness while on duty
He Is charged with being too intoxi-
Gated while on duty at Spokane dur
| ing the strike to attend properly to
his company, and with appearing on
| parade at Vancouver so intoxicated as
| to stagger ir the ranks. The evidence
| already given shows great preponder-
ance in favor Of the defendant, and
| it Is probable that the court will ac-
quit him. The truth of the matter
seems to be that Captain Goodwin is
! drinking man, as are too many of
| the army officers, and sometimes takes
too much Of the red-eye. So do other
| officers On the occasions In question
there Is little doubt that he had been
drinking, but the evidence shows that
he performed all his duties correctly
ard therefore was not drunk ac-
cording to the army definition. One
at all familiar with the military
knows that an old officer would have
to be very drunk indeed to incapaci-
tate him from taking his company
through dress parade, a ceremony he
could almost perform in his sleep. One
could do that and yet be so drunk as
to be incapacitated for command in
an emergency requiring discretion and
prompt action. However, since Cap
tain Goodwin was sober enough to
perform his duties and since getting
drunk when not on duty is not pro-
hibited either by the army regulations
or customs, and since the army defini-
tion of drunk is very elastic. it Is
more than proba BILE that the defendant
will be acquitted. Special interest is
felt in this trial here because Captain
Goodwin is the father of Mrs. Geo.
B. Markle. Following this trial will
be that of Major Whan, of the pay
department. He is charged with con-
duct unbecoming an officer and a gen.
tleman in nor paying his debts, Some
YEARS ago he invested in an enterp
z 1870 aTs lost T. all s5nngdbt andb
reach him b. p pressure upon his s,,- =
periors in the army. He stands in the
position OF any man who has become
involved beyond his ability to pay.
Unless it can be shown that there
is ability on his part to pay and
disposition not to do so 1t Is very
doubtful If the court martial will con-
vict him. The other court martial OF
interest is in the national guard. Col.
S. L. Lowell, formerly in command or
the I'd regiment, at Salem, Is charged
with diverting state funds tntrusted to
him for transmission to the various
companies of his regiment, to his own
use. His delinquency was discovered
two years ago and more than year
ago Colonel Lowell was relieved of
command and the regiment has been
without a. colonel ever since.
Evidence of the fact that the recent
flood was by far the highest that has
occurred in more than a century has
been related to me by an observing
and intelligent gentleman who has
been spending some time near the cas-
cades. He Gays that trees on a fiat
were killed by the water overflowing
their roots. These were fir trees
shown by examination to be 125 years
old. 1t is we'll known that If water
stands about the base Of fir tree
few hours the tree will die. This
proves that these trees have never
been under water before, and as they
were 125 years old and stood SO that
they could not have escaped had the
water risen even several feet less than
1t did this year, it is ample proof that
this was the highest flood the Columbia
has known for over a century. Those
who think that such flood Is likely
to happen any year should study this
evidence Of the forests along the banks
of the Columbia. So also should those
who draw long bows about the inun-
dations half century ago.
Portland is now blessed with city
council a little farther below par than
any of it's predecessors. Because of
the general youthfulness CT its MEM
bers it was promptly christened the
kid council but it is doubtful If 1t
does not earn a name even less re-
spectful than that. A majority fac
ton has combined to run it in their
personal interests, and become a
"solid six Their latest exploit was
to pass an ordinance permitting sa-
looms to keep open all night, In spite
Of popular sentiment against such a
privilege. The mayor is expected to
veto the measure, and If he does the
"solid six will have to rustic up
another vote to pass it over the Veto
If he does not veto it there will be
much indignation. Four of the six
are republicans, one a democrat and
one Independent. The republicans are
ashamed of their members belonging
to the 'six" Indeed they have never
been proud of them since the day
they secured their nominations and
many voted for Independents on cleo
ton day. But the Independent candi-
dates were not as a rule any better
than the regular nominees. and the
only one elected is member OF the
solid six 1t was the poorest lot Of
candidates, from three to five In each
ward, that was ever offered to suffer-
ing public from which to make a
choice. r r. B.
n.1pEn or SI1EEERING