The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-03-13
DESERTER5 8.
A Serious Trouble Encountered by Army
Officers.

Ohcers.
New York Mail and Express.
People seem to think it n curious
thing that a deserter should have been
on the West Shore train the other day,
and that he was the only man seriously
injured" said the officer in charge OF
the United States recruiting station or
Chatham street to q reporter.
"Why, as for deserters," he added,
ut isn't such an unusual thing for
soldier to desert, only you don't heal
about 1t in the papers, and as to the
poor fellows getting injured, why, he
was handcutfed and had to roll as the
car rolled. He had three ribs broken,
1 understand. and is now in the hos.
i pital on Governors Island. He wa.
captured in Albany, and the two who
caught him left him here for David's
Island yesterday. They lost o good
deal of clothing by the burning Of the
cars. Will the deserter be triedi
Most certainly he will, although he Ii
pretty we'll punished. But they are
very strict here, and it is generally 8
sentence of five years in the military
prison.
"Where are these prisons, and what
do the sentenced men do!" was asked
"Old Castle William at Governors
Island is one there is another at Fort
Smelling, Minnesota. and another al
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The
men are obliged to sleep in them, but
in the day they are made to work about
the post. At the West the sentence is
generally two years for desertion and
five years for desertion and theft. For
good behavior ten days of the sentence
are taken off each month"
do many assertions occur in the
army?" was asked.
Eyes, a good many, especially in the
West. They are almost always recruits
who have become dissatisfied or discon.
tented. You rarely find IN old soldier,
or one who has served one enlistment,
deserving. Some desert after service Of
a year or two, and others after a
few months. Out west if a man
wants to desert all he has to do is
to clear out directly after tattoo.
He is not missed until after reveille,
and by that time he is thirty miles or
more away. They don't capture one
out of ten. They can't get them. Es-
pecially those who go to work in the
mines are safe, for the miners won't
let them be retaken. Why, the West is
full of deserters, and a man can get
away easy enough, only he must take
his chances for recapture and court
martial. The soldiers are not allowed
to have citizens clothes, and this makes
1t somewhat harder to get away"
Are you getting many recruits now ?"
asked The reporter.
"Ihey are coming in fast enough, and
50 that we are able to pick the best
men. We are taking men all the time
to fill up the places of men whose
time is expiring. They are first sent to
David's Island on the Sound, which is
the department of instruction. After
that they are sent wherever needed.
Livery enlistment is for five years. The
pay Is Sl3 a month the first and second
years; S14the third; SIS the fourth, and
SIG the fifth. But the increase is not
paid until the man receives his dis
charge. After a man gets his discharge
he is allowed m days rations and n
days pay for every twenty miles that he
Is obliged to travel to reach his home.
This often turns out a good thing. For
instance, l was discharged in Baltimore.
Consequently my allowance to come
home was $l60, but it only cost me
$50,