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: