|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 18
Even a relative who has never been seen may sometimes be induced to act
effectively.
A man who deserted his wife and family was reported to have gone to
his brother in another city. Nothing definite was known of the
brother except that he was a telephone lineman. No address could be
secured through the company, but they agreed to forward a letter to
this relative. He never answered; shortly, however, the deserter
reappeared, having been persuaded to return voluntarily by the
brother to whom the letter had been addressed.
During the war local draft boards were of the greatest assistance in
finding deserting men. Election records too have been of real value in
the case of men who were voters. Passports and immigration records may
in some instances yield information helpful in establishing whereabouts.
Where there is actually a warrant out for the man's arrest, the active
co-operation of the postal authorities can sometimes be secured in
furnishing return addresses on envelopes delivered to persons with whom
the culprit is known to be in correspondence.
Problems of family desertion involving men in service during the war
were in the main handled by the Red Cross Home Service. Before the war,
private case working agencies had learned that the regular Army and the
Navy often seemed desirable havens to would-be family deserters. The
difficulties of finding them there were great, owing to the fact that
they often enlisted as single men under an assumed name. It has usually
been possible to gain excellent co-operation from the military
authorities if there are any clues whatever.
The desertion bureau of a family social work society learned that a
deserting man had expressed a desire long before he left his family
to enlist in the Army. Several letters were exchanged with the War
Department, and the man was finally found to be with a company
serving in the Canal Zone. As he had made misrepresentations when he
enlisted, the War Department was willing to transfer him from Panama
to a camp within the limits of the city where the desertion had
taken place and there discharge him. This brought the absconder
within the jurisdiction of the local courts and made it possible to
arrest him as soon as he was outside the bounds of the camp.
It will repay the visitor to make not only a careful study of the
deserting man's employment history but also to learn something about the
trade he follows. A cloakmaker, for instance, who deserts in New York
City is likely to be found in Cleveland, for these are the two centers
of the cloak branch of the garment trade. Certain seasonal occupations
give the periodical deserter a great opportunity. Among these are hop
picking, berry picking, and lumbering. The amusement parks near the
large cities also furnish occupation for the seasonal deserter. The case
worker cannot be expected to have such knowledge at his finger-tips, but
he can go to people who know about the fluctuations of particular
trades--to employers, union officials or fellow-workmen who may throw
light on a deserter's movements. The story of Adolph R.[21] is an
excellent illustration of the help that may be obtained from trades
unions and from fellow-workmen. A family welfare bureau in a western
city writes:
"In one instance a blacksmith's union published the picture of the
deserting man in its official journal and asked that information
regarding him be sent to the local unit here. This proved
successful. In another instance a union gave us access to its books
and helped us to trace all the men of a given name listed there. By
this means we found the man we were looking for. One man, a
vaudeville performer, we traced through the _Bill Board_ (a trade
paper) by discovering the movements of the show with which he had
been connected."
Another society succeeded in getting a certain trade union to post a
description and photograph of a missing man on its bulletin boards. This
aided in finding the man. Fraternal orders may be; used in the same way,
though for many reasons they cannot be so helpful as the trades unions.
Employment agencies should not be forgotten in seeking to trace a man
through his industrial record. The extension of the federal employment
service, with free inter-city communication, should be of assistance in
getting upon the track of deserters.
The co-operation of newspapers can be secured to good effect in tracing
missing men.
Herbert McCann, who had been doing railway construction in Russia,
returned to this country and disappeared while en route from an
eastern city to his home in Canada. There was reason to think that
he might have left the train in an intoxicated condition at an
important junction point; and the family social agency of that city
was asked to trace him. No information was secured from the police,
lodging houses, employment agencies, etc., and finally the following
advertisement was inserted in the local paper: "_Information
Wanted_--Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Herbert McCann, Montreal,
who returned from Russia in June, will confer a favor upon his
family by notifying Social Service Building, 34 Grand Street." Six
days later a reply was received from a man in a nearby town, and
McCann was found at work in a factory there.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|