The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-12-31
GERARD SAVED PEERLESS.
Put Up $4,000 Cash to Keep Her
From Jail.

HOW luo uduSulel VI d OIlliSll
peer was saved from German pri-
son through the efforts of Ambassa-
dor Gerard and 7. st. John Gaffney,
consul general at Munich, has just
been revealed here through the re-
turn of Hon. Mary Isabel Portman
to the home of her father, Viscount
Portman. Miss Portman was about
to be incarcerated because she was
unable to pay the contractors who
built a magnificent villa for her near
Munich, and she only escaped be-
cause first Mr.. Gaffney and then Mr..
Gerard deposited s50,000 in cash
with the Bavarian authorities. The
money came from their own pockets,
of. course.
Mr.. Gaffney also is in England
now and will obtain from Lord Port
man certain securities for $4,000 to
carry back to Mr.. Gerard. The Sc
curities will be deposited until the
war is over, because Lord Portman
would not be allowed to pay money
to an alien enemy now.
Mr.. Gerard originally directed Mr..
Gaffney to go to England and inspect
the British detention camps and
make a report in order to allay the
apprehensions of the German govern
ment. Mr.. Gaffney inspected the
chief camps in Germany to qualify
himself for a similar investigation
here, but on his arrival in London
he was informed by the embassy that
Chandler Hale had just completed a
tour of inspection of every camp in
the United Kingdom, and that the
British government was averse to
having further visits made unless
they were absolutely necessary. Mr..
Hale's report was already in Berlin,
but Mr.. Gerard was unaware of it
when he sent Mr.. Gaffney here. How
ever, Mr.. Gaffney's time was by no
means wasted, because he had con-
ference with Lord Portman and his
daughter and completed arrange
ments for safeguarding Mr.. Gerard's
loan for the duration of the war.
Miss Portman had been resident
of Munich for seven years. She is
very talented violinist, and her love
for music was responsible for her
residence in Germany's musical CEN
tre. Several months before the war
began she signed contracts for the
construction of a country home at
Garmisch, near Munich. 1t was to
cost 100000. At the outbreak of
the war she had paid half the amount
due and was quite ready to pay the
remainder, her only desire then be-
ing to get out of Germany, but she
could not get the money from her
bank owing to the moratorium, and
her father was unable to send the
amount to her because under the act
forbidding trading with the enemy
he was not allowed to settle with the
German contractors.
The builders got out warrant for
Miss Portman's arrest for the =
payment of their bills. She appealed
to Mr.. Gaffney, who accompanied her
to the police station, where both Of
them remained for five hours until
Mr.. Gaffney was able to get $4,000
in cash to deposit as bail for her.
This sum he had to leave in the
hands of the police for ten weeks to
save Miss Portman from being locked
up.
Meanwhile Lord Portman had ap-
pealed again and again to the British
war office for permission to send the
necessary amount to Munich, and
had even left the money with AM
bassador Page here, which, however,
the Germans refused to accept as Sc
curity. Finally Mr.. Gaffney, follow
ing a further heated demand from
the contractors for payment in full,
conferred with Ambassador Gerard,
who volunteered to advance the en-
tire sum to Miss Portman, and only
when the gold was actually in the
hands of her creditors was she per-
mitted to leave Germany.