The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1905-11-29

was from an enlisted force Of 80
600 MEN. the percentage being
1875 per cent. or only one-tenth OF l
per cont In excess OF the year be
fore.
This record Includes all men
marked on the books as desertefs.
though some may have been what
the service calls "stragglers, men
who may have oVersiayed their
TINA and who finally return or are
picked up and RESTORED 60 tho ship =
complement. Neither does the state
ment take account OF double Of
fenses by tho same men.
The summary reads as follows.
Distortions: Petty officers, Us.
men. sgss: apprentices. 81. Total.
slSS.
More than half % these descftions
are made up OF two classes. the
'.mcssmen" and the engine room
force." OF the former ISIS per
cent. while OF the latter ITO per
cent. desert. Other deserters are;
Seamen. T.6T per cent. petty officers
and shipwrights. 50 per cent, ofdi-
nary seamcn. 2 per cent. apprentice
seamen. lois per cent
Outside % the coal passers and
amen. the desertions are not nu-
srous
In all navies the normal rate of
tessrters Is about Il per cent.
The American navy can only be
compared with Great Britain's
for none but these relies on vol
untAry enlistment. II Is said that
there have been times when the
rate OF assertions in the British
navy has run as high as p per
cent.
The assertions by coal passera
and messmen is explained By an
official OF the department as fol-
lows.
The work Of the coal passes IL
very trying The heat Is intense.
and oftsn the men suffer with sea-
sickness II Is a hard berth. and
men are picked up for this work
as occasion offers. They are
fioafers Generally not much time
a. expended in trying to look them
MP.
Much the same may be said of
the messmen They perform the
most mental work and are the
poorest paid. They are often
negroes. japanese or Chinese. and
they are picked up wherever they
enn BE- sccured- They soon get
tired OF working and DESERT at the
first opportunity
Reason for a slight increase in
trsertions among seamen during
the past two or three years i
found In the rapid expansion Of
the naval force. During the year
1904 no less than 10000 new men
we're taken into the service Many
were farmer boys ard young fell
lows from the inland cities. The
assertions are nearly all from the
ranks OF the new recruits.
Lieutenant Commander John
Hood. who recently made a study Of
this subject and prepared a report
for the last naval Institute. has
summarized the causes for desertion
a. follows.
The average weakness Of hu-
man nature. there being In any large
body OF men its due proportion of
weak and unstable characters.
1-The presence. unavoidable At
the start. o. a small percentage Of
vicious characters in any large body
Of men. however carefully selected.
whose example and teaching in
flnencs strongly the weak
3--Ths bunting OF all natural IN
ssincts OF human nature. and the
homeless and friendlezs stray dog
feeling produced in men by fire.
quent shifting and changing
4-The want Of n uniform. iuat
and strict. and AZ the same time
liberal. system OF discipline.
6-And iasi--comment on which
Is considered superfiuous-ths un-
due use OF intoxicants by men of
weak mind.
One OF the most fruitful causes Of
assertions. in the opinion OF Com
mancer Hood. is the ''homeiessneas''
Of men due TO the constant shifting
Of both officers and men from ship
x4E44 444444 $50