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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1919)
THE ; OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, , SUNDAY MOKNDsd, SEPTEMBER 21, . 1919. V f ' r ,lMNo matter how ttrong his ymust come times when the nerve of the millionaire outlaw, lurking in his hiding place, fail. Then the outside world must seem to him full of searching eyes, hunt ing, peering for him in every corner fww iiu' lj uijjinniijiiimiji'w, mum l uiWi,i i iniii in i n, m,. ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmi mi, f 'J)k .:" ' X " !,;t ' - Grover Cleveland k pT Zl&lr "And does S 3 r 1 u bravado, there then this picture of the soldier x. . t i and in whose ranks he, too, might have so. boys, returning in triumph . . . marched, flash before him? 1Q 1819, Istematicat! mm'- Humiliating Failure to Capture tLe Rick Slackers Wko Rout and Defy tke Laws of tke Country Wkick Skowereci "EARS to Eflward Everett Hale, the famous author, at tracted the attention of nearly all the world with his classic story, "The Man Without a Country." "A man without a country! could there be any great er human tragedy on earth? How would a man feel if ha hid no country, no tit, no klnly bond with his fellow men, no right to that ineffable thrill that surges through the blood when the military band marches by, keeping step to the stirring strains of a patriotic sir! Deftly, cleverly, Mr. Hale drew his word picture of the passions, the bitter ness, ths despair and via dictiveness that mast abide in the heart of such a man a "man without country. Tet Hale's man without a country was st the most 4 true patriot compared to 6 rover Cleveland EergdoU, of Philadelphia, sharer by inheritance of one oi ths greatest fortunes In America, the favorite son of & pampering mother. Two years ago this young man, possessor of millions of doli&rs in his own name, ws one of the rich est youthi of Philadelphia. His father, the late Louis Bergdoll, had amassed an Immense fortune and had accumulated a great estate in city properties. It was commonly said that "the Bergdolls own half the Quaker City." And, in those days, young Bergdoll had a country. Now no mother in the land would permit her daughter to receive him. There even is no country in the world that would harbor bim as its Tjwn. Any citifcen of the United States who meets him on the Btreet may, if he refuses to halt, shoot him dead. He and his brother, draft dodgers and slackers, both of them, are out lawed. Around the home of his mother in Philadelphia, one of the stateliest mansions in the East, a ring of police is constantly on guard, patiently waiting, night and day, for just one clear shot at him. In England, France, Italy and South America, even the authori ties constantly are on the watch for him. Wherever he turns there are only enemies. No one will sympathize with him, no one will be his friend. So he has brought into play alls old, daring bravado which might have made him one of the country's honorable heroes, and has declared a strange war upon all society Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, the Mora Spectacular of the Millionaire Outlaws Fealnre Serrtc, lae. Great Britain Wealtk Upon particularly upon ths Secret Service of the United States and the agents of the law In his own city. And be. cause he has no remorse, no respon sibilities to society or to any na tion's flag, he has given his bitter ness full rein and, so far, Las inso lently defied the whole naticn which once was his own but which now has declared him an outlaw from all nations. When many young men of Phila delphia rushed to the recruiting onices to volunteer for the first con tlngent of the fispediuonary Forces. auring tne nrst months after our entry into the war, all his friends believed that Grover Bergdoll would be one of those who would not wait for ths draft. They remembered his record bf daring feats, his defiance of death itself on dozens of occa sions in his racing cat, his aero plane and In his laboratory dabbling with the dangerous X-rays even his constant defiance of the law in car rying out his hazardous escapades. "Here is the stuff of which our heroes must be made," his friends said, and waited for the sight of him in a uniform. But they waited In vain. Tonng Bergdoll did not enlist. Neither did his younger brother, Erwln, who had been quite as much a daredevil In his way as had Grover, but not quite so spectacular. Then came the draft law. "The Bergdoll boys have been waiting." said their friends, taking new hope in ths midst of their disappoint ment, "that they might set a good example to other young men by submitting themselves to the draft. They feel they can serve best by going in the ranks as con scripts snd thus encouraging the sons of poorer families. Perhaps that will be their way of making up for their Ill-advised pranks fn the past." But again those who knew the Bergdoll boys were disappointed. This time there was no mistaking the intention of Orover and his brother. Both announced publicly that they would not submit to the draft. When they were reminded that the draft act was a law of the land they replied. In effect: "There is no law for us but our own desires. We defy the law." The agents of the Government heard this boast They knew the Bergdoll boys especia'.'y Grover. They knew they would heed noth ing if their whims were set against it. The draft board peremptorily ordered both young men to appear before It at once. Erwln, the younger, simply disappeared. It is whispered that he drew from the bank where his inheritance was kept $100,000 in cash and took this huge amount of money away with The Sights SeterveO. Tkeir Family Mm. Ho has been heard, from in various parts of the world, but whenever his trail is found he dis appears again. Orover, however, had too much contempt for his country his coun try then! He would not go away so quietly. He, too, drew $100,000 from his bank, but he made no secrecy about it. He even sent for a news paper reporter and announced that he had fortiBed himself with a hun dred thousand dollars and that with that much money he could ret along very nicely In the world t0?i ""A: Another summons was sent the draft board. Grover seat back an Insulting reply, returning un opened the envelops in which the summons was delivered. For months the agents et ths Becret Service and the city police sought htm. At the various residences of his moth er, the big town house and the splendid estates out beyond the suburbs which she maintained as Summer homes U was denied by the mother herself and the servants that Grover was sbout But almost every day someone reported that Bergdoll had been seen in one of his racing cars speeding along the beautiful coun try roads which link the Phila delphia suburbs. Many times his car was pursued by Government agents but the Government sup plied only the ordinary cars of daily usage. BergdOll's car had been made In Francs for racingand he escaped. He waved his bands at every pursuer and sped away. Repeatedly the Goversment agents thought they had traced him to one of his mother's homes snd rushed in after bim. But each time a servant met them at the door with drawn revolver, demand ing their search warrant. By the time search warrants had been pro cured the outlaw had sown. At another time, while rumors were msny that Bergdoll frequently wss seen by neighbors through the windows in ths upper floors of the town house, Bergdoll openly dared the cordon of police drawn about the house watching for him. One night, Just after dark, a servant silently drew back the gates that led inside the- bouse yard, opening up the roadway to the garage. The police were alert at once, stationing themselves across the path, ready to Are upon any car that might come dashing out if it carried young Bergdoll at the wheel. But they were not looking behind. Sud denly there was the whirr of a pow erful motor Just behind them. They turned Just In time to leap aside as a huge racer sped full speed into the path and through the gates into the yard. A second's hesitation would have brought death to any one of those police men. When they recovered them selves they rushed into the yard snt beat upon the house doors. They were admitted and coolly told to search the bouse but they could not find the fugitive. When, crestfallen, the police filed out of the housjs, puzzled but powerless, Bergdoll Home, Jiear PhiUdelphia, Surrotmded by the Cordon of Police on Constant Watch for the Return of the Brothers, their attention was attracted by a' sneering laugh from an upper win dow. Turning they saw young Berg doll peering down at them. Again they rushed into the house, but again their search was unsuc cessful. At another time the outlaw ap peared mysteriously in his mother's heme and Just as mysteriously dis appeared, despite the closely drawn cordon Of police. Search for a tun nel wis fruitless the secret never has been discovered. . Shortly after this Grover disap peared from Philadelphia. Mrs. Bergdoll appeiled to the chairman of her sons' draft board, Mr. John P. DwySr. an bid family friend, for hit assistance In helping her sons evads the drift- call. She would glSdly girt $100,000 to the Red Cross, she laid, if her two boys might be exempted. She could never ask her boys to submit to the draft and become fighting soldiers, she Bald. Her excuse WSS that both were afraid of the sight of blood. Some time later Mrs. Bergdoll was arrested and charged with abetting her sons in their evsslon of their military daty, but the Jury acquitted her. It could only be shown that she had not urged them to submit it could not be proved that she had asked them not to do so. The progress of Grover Berg doll across the country after he had fled from Philadelphia was " marked by postal cards which he Imprudently mailed back to ths agenta of the Secret Service. He seemed to take especial delight la flaunting his disloyalty in the face nt the law and in twitting its rep resentatlves with their failure to catch him. The trail of the postal cards was closely followed, but Grover kept ahead of the authori ties and eventually was heard from In Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. Just when the watch about his Philadelphia home was relaxed hs appeared there again, boldly riding up to the gate In a car he had taken out of the garage at one of the country homes. In this country there can be no formal, decree of outlawry, yet young Bergdoll. besides being with out a country, Is as much an outlaw as any man ever was. He may be sentenced to death if he is cap tured, for the military law provides this penalty for his offense in the 68th article of war. Under the draft Jaw, or Section 3952 of the Revised Statutes or the United States, Bergdoll is declared to be without all rights of citizenship and denied the right to ever again become a citizen. It is expressly forbidden that he ever be accorded public recognition of any kind as an honored member of the society of those who once were his country men. Sooner or later he and his brother must be caught. Until they are they live the lives of the hunted denied even the use of the nam tbst they hsve covered with scora and dishonor! a
