The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-05-14
|BERGDOLL POT
OF GOLD
Neither and Attorney OF Draft
Dodger Got s1o3,ooo in Gold
Coin From Tree ;ury

u..a......: Nay Il. fact va.
established today through ". L. Alex
ander. a clerk in the treasury depart
nlcnt. b. the house comm!ttee 1nVes-
;,igatine the escape OF Grover oieVe-
Sand Ee.gdo.l. tha, the mother OF
the draft c!od2er aad a friend actually
iobtained $l05,0oo IN god from the
treasury il the fan of 1878. But from
/ there Tn trial W;s no1 uncovered py
.i.r committee TO the buried pot IN
! She mountains OF Maryland.
.;:ii.los tomins. formerly police
r2aeiStra,.. OF Philadelphia and now
az;ti;ing sentence on conviction OF
tcrnspir;tc; to :.id G'e@edoli in evadins
the draft. was the agent, Alexander
said through whom $4,000 the first
latch Of 90 4 was obtained and carted
away. on his second trip TO Wash
ingion Ronlig was accompanied by
Mrs. Emma G. Dci&4oll, also await
ing sentence for conspiracy and to-
ceth,r they drove 70 Philadelphia
With 81 .ap0 in gold tucked safely be-
ae:t-ll lcir feet.
W-ilen he Iaade his frs 9isit to the
treasury EonliG found cjss ks nnwili-
ing t. ,urn over even s29#o0 on their
own responsibility and Alexander
sad n~ lun.ed ana ffette'i about the
corridors u:liu bis application was
laid before r. G. Lritn3well, then
ian assistant secretary ana approved!
This ;nount VS. given in exchange
for GOLD certificates out once it had
been p,tca;i within an automobile in
she shadow Of ia. treasury building
itoll!is went b:tca Ior more. There
was some tc,ay according 10 the
witness. clerks refusing 20 make
second exchange or the oile order but
III 1Ea end Ho,n;g got it.
There was no embargo e that time
, on the Withdrawal OF go.ernment
gold bu, The policy Of ;he depart
l!4ent as explained by Alexander, was
10 keep it in the vaults ~ placing
, diplomatic obstacles in me way or
,3copic seeking il.
, Three weeks after his i~'s1 visit fso-
mig returned with Mrs. ;3ersdoil. It
WAS brought out that At the very
moment the woman was at the treas
ury. big posters We're displayed every
l.herc Offering a reward for the cap
n tlilC Oh GcISCOll, me uSrSi eCl.
Rom:g, satisfied with the results OF
his first trip, pushed :, bundle of
bills, almost as big as hey. through
the wicket window. and after some
: delay. Alexander said. and with the
4 approval of the treasurer, struggled
r down the corridor with more gold
$, than a Stevedore could !ift-SGo, 600,
n mostly eagles
e What became OF the treasure after
e the Romig- Bere6oll party left
I Washington was not brought out at
+ the six hour session today. The gold
s chapter was related just after Major
r General March. chief Of staff of the
army, had given his views on the
e subjec. OF getting Bergdo) back from
h Germany to serve his FIVE year SEN
: tencc. and had declareGA that diplo-
= mate moves now were under way to
: get him. Bergdol, was described as
: a bad specimen Of deseiter' by the
!. general. who frankly SAID he would
= not have apologized haG Americans
= succeeded in their efforts to kidnap
him ON German soil
Other witnesses during the day
were Edward S. Bailey. iaw partner
: Of Samuel 7. Ansell, former acting
. judge advocate general of the army
:, and counsel for Bergdoll, and Col.
Il julius A. Penn, assistant to Major
: General Harris, adjutant general Of
> the army.
Z Mr. Bailey, in concluding his tes-
Il timony. reiterated that former Judge
: John w Wescott of New Jersey dis.
T. cussed plans for the expedition to the
}. mountains. prior TO the escape. Judge
{. Wescott had testified that he knew
s nothing of any socalled buried treas
q ure until he heard it in the news
? papers after Bergdoll had eluded his
: military guard at Philadelphia q
year ago.
: Colonel Penn declared he had sug
: gested to the commandant Of the
d disciplinary barracks at Governors
d Island that a commissioned officer
d be placed in charge Of the guard ac-
). companyins Bersdoll to the noun
: tains, and that the suggestion ''prac-
n tically amounted 10 an order" When
Ansell applied to General Harris
o for authority to permit Bergdoll to
!, make the search, Colonel Penn said.
], the adjutant general said it was
6 ''reasona bic request by responsible
lawyer" and the witness added that
it so appeared to him. at the time.
General March declared that when
General Harris brought up the Ansell
: request he only glanced ar it. and
that it vas approved by the latter,
who had full authority in such mat
terS. But when word reached him
OF tic escape. the military machinery
was set in motion ~ once in the Ell
fort to capture the convict.
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