New Britain herald., 1918-12-21
9OO,OOD MEN TO BE
 DISCHARGED HERE 188,562 Men DeInobilized During
 Week of December IA PRISONERS BEING RELEASED
Already 3,2tO Americans Have Been Repatriated and Very Few Are Elsewhere.

Washington, Dec. 21--With a to- tai Of 1S8,562 men discharged from the army during the week ending De- cember fl, General March announced today the war department has about reached the average of 3O,000 dis charges daily for which the demobili- ZatiOn plans call.
 On a seven day basis the average for that week was 27,000 men per day, but in many cases demo biliZa- tion officers did not operate on Sun day.
 Additional units in this country designated for early demo bilization brings the total of men so selected to 900,O00 General March announced. Up to the date of the latest official reports, 26, 903 officers had been hon. orably discharged.
 3,21O Yanks Repatriated.
 General Pershing has reported that 3,210 American prisoners of war were repatriated up to December Is. Of these 2,653 came through Switzer- land; SPA passed through the Ameri- can front line: 12O went through Hol- land and 113 through Denmark. Those passing through Holland and Denmark are now all en route for England, the dispatch said. e
 General Pershing expressed the opinion that very few American pris- oners remain in Germany and be- lieved these would be quickly evacuat- ed. He said a continued search is being made for isolated prisoners, British and French officials in Switz- erland, Holland and Sweden and in Germany itself aiding in this search.
 Heavy Influx of Troops.
 As an illustration of the heavy flow of troops returning from France on board the largest ships, General March announced that the steam CT Leviathan, making ten trips. had car ried an average of 9,41S men to France on each trip. Seven other ships of unusual tonnage averaged better than 2, 900 men per trip.
 Every effort is being made to ar range for the delivery of mail con- signed to units which have been des- ignated for early return, the chief or staff said. In cases where a majority of the members of any unit have been ordered home, the mail is held in the United States until the organi- zation arrives and a report is made of the men left in France. The mail ad- 'N' M @& out and sent across.
 In cases where only a small pro- portion of a unit is homeward bound, the mail for the entire unit IS shipped to France and that consigned to the men who have been returned home .s sorted out in France and re- directed.
 Mail to Russia Delayed.
 General March disclosed that the communication facilities with the American forces in Russia, parucu- 'larlv in the Archangel area, have been very unsatisfactory. The war de- partment itself has had difficulty in communicating important military instructions to the commander and only meagre dispatches have come through to this end. General March said he felt sure that the authorities in England and France through whom these m messa ges pass are doing evervthing possible to improve the sit uation.
 In answer to a question General March said that coast artillery units which were being used for army and corps artillery are all being returned to this country, but those which were serving as divisional artillery prob ably will stay abroad for some time.