The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1921-02-11
VOTE TO PROBE
BERGDOLL ESCAPE
House Committee to Demand
Full inquiry.
HOW S12,5OO WAS SPENT
They Seek Light on Why the United
States Treasury Gave Stacker Gold
When Supply Was Being Conserved.

! Washington, Feb ll.-Devoloping
some of the high spots In the ease of
! Grover Cleveland Bergdc!l. the house
| military committee decided 10 ask con
! gress Tor authority to find out how tll,
rich Philadelphia draft dodgcr "scap-
ed from Il military guard and made
! his way |" Germany, the coUn,ry hs
! bad refused To fight.
The committee voted to 20 to the
! bottom of the case after hearing Dis
| tict Attorney Charles -. McAyny, vi
| Philadelphia. who declared there was
| no evidence to justify the charge that
any body connected with the war de-
partment had been corrupted with
| E"rgdoll money. rhe name of r..
Clarence GibbOney. counsel for Berg
| Gnll, was brought into the proceedings
and McAv0y was quite positive in as
sert;ng the belief that Gibboney was
drowned iii Mexico, despite an anony-
NOUS report received by he committee
tG,,t he was alive.
Chairman Kahn, Who introduced q
resolution last May providing for ap-
| conduct the Bergd0ll Investigation. an
| n"unced that enough evidence had been
developed TO indicate the necessity of
action at this time Recent statements
| c;hled from Germany 1y The former:
military convict prompted the commit
j@t 10 renewed effort, in view Of the
| anyways charge that he had obtain
- hn i.
concealed in the woods SiU5, 900 in gold
/ 10 be used In effectiFg his release
Trough bribery of government off
cials
Leaving aside multitude of details
@onnected with Bergdoll'S escape, the
committee will seek 10 ascertain what
influence enabled Bergdoll to obtain so
| much actual gold from the treasury at
| Il time last year when the supply was
| Icing conserved. The more important
| thread to be followed, members said
was the ability of the prisoners law
!erS to obtain his release under guard
for the purpose of proceeding TO the
end Of a rainbow in the Eills of Mary,
land, to find and dig up his pot of
gold. 1t was while he was out on the
golden chase that Bergd0ll, stopping
over in Philadelphia TO visit his moth.
cr, Indicted with him, GUIDED his SOL.
dier guards and slipped away in the
same automobile he had used many
times for highway speeding.
McAvoy testified there was no doubt
of the fact that Bergdoll got the gold
from the treasury. Expressing belief
| that no high officials of the war de-
| partment had been corrupted, he said
he was equally positive that the draft
dodger hau not escaped through politi-
cal influence.
Describing the legal tactics of the
former prisoners mother, McAvoy In
dicated that a Philadelphia lawyer,
wise enough to solve any court prob
lem, could not satisfy the woman, who
constantly traded one attorney for an
other. After Mrs Bergdoll had paid
out S12,5O0 in fees she quit cold, he
said, and left Grover alone with his
| plan of buying his freedom.
From McAvoy the committee obtain
ed a definite statement is to disposi-
tion of the S12,500. Five thousand of
this amount, he said, went to Samuel
T. Asnell, former judge advocate gen
eral of the army; $4,000 10 Gibboney,
| the sum of 1920 to former Judge J.
w. Westcott, of New Jersey; little
| to an alienist, and Il little less to a
lawyer in New York. McAvoy said
he was convinced that the lawyers had
been grossly deceived, and declared
they stood to win more by obtaining
his release than by permitting him to
eyade sentence