THE ; OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, , SUNDAY MOKNDsd, SEPTEMBER 21, . 1919.
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,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
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" !,;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