OCR Text |
Show DESERTION IS ON INCREASE IN ARMY WASHINGTON, Nov. 26. Desertion in on the increase in the army. The annual report of the miltary secretary shows that in the year ended June 30 there were 6258 desertions, or 7.4 for. every one hundred soldiers in the army. In 1905 the rate of desertion was only 6.8 and for the three years previous to that time the rate of desertion was only 6.1. From 1895 to 1904 the average, aver-age, of desertion was only 4.5 per cent. The rate of desertion'in 1906 was highest high-est in the field artillery. 9.2 per eent. The cavalry was next with 7.8 per cent. White soldiers showed a desertion average of 8.4 per cent, while the negro soldiers showed an average of only 2.3 per cent. Twenty-five per. cent of the desertions were in.' the first three months ef the desert wV enlistment. ' |