The Washington times., 1922-02-23

bANKER.IN
DESPAIR
IN PARIS
Allentown Man Appeals Fran
ticaIly to Lawyer Here
aar for Help.

r.-.r'H'f w rsbOsPs q
A batch of letters purporting to
have been written by Martin E.
Kern, who purchased the Bosch
Magnetic Company from A. Nit
chell Palmer, as alien property Gus
todian, has come into the posses
sion Of special Attorney General
Grim. .... ...
A Despondent Fugitive.
These remarkable documents give
- interesting insight on the char
Hcter Of Kern. They reveal him as
. respondent fugitive afraid to re-
turn to America.
MY house of cards is crumpling
and oh! what a crash"
Thus Kern expresses himself In
one of the documents that are now
part of the record in an official in
vestigation Of his purchase Of the
vast properties of the Bosch Mag
neto Company for $4,150,000. He
writes from Paris where he is under
surveillance Of United States secret
service men pending orders for his
return to America.
Had Forged Passport.
According to Kern's letters he ar
rived In Paris January rs. He is
charged with leaving this country on
q forged passport.
One of the letters purporting to
have been written by Kern on the
stationery of a Paris hotel and which
follows, is of particular interest. be-
cause in II he attempts to account
for his whereabouts during the years
when Il Is alleged he was in jail
under the name OF Edward Kern.
He has never given any detailed &C.
count of his movements between 1895
and 1905.
Tells Of Past Life. .,.-
The letter follows:
Hotel Meurice,
Paris, Jan. 81, 1922.
My Dear Lawrence-Wrote to
you today and Also yesterday, and
here / am writing again. AS per
cable to you of this afternoon, Muir
ray seems much more alarmed and
he says situation more acute. Wants
me to give him dates OF birth of
brother and myself by cable, also my
employment place in 1895. and 1896
and 1902. a..
The two former dates cannot
give at any price because, J. don't
know. Had those days never any
steady employment, out of work
three-fourths Of the time and almost
q bum. Drifted from town to. town
all through the u. 8. A. :" 1t sounds
almost impossible, but 1t is true.
I'm 1909 was in CANDIDA and
AlaslxA In 1904 and had just grit
enough to hang on without any
particular employment. The few
y n L. u 90,
day and forgot them the next day
in Oregon and California and down
in Mexico. Was working but a few
days at a time in any one place.
In 1905 started in the life
insurance business in a small way
and drifted from place to place until
! rot into the Mutual Life in Easton.
From there I came to Allentown.
Fears Coming Back. :,
Maybe you and-can bring mother
over here unless they find a way to
take my citizenship and make me
como back. ....- ..... .-..
"a man without country.
Call Griffiths in. You can trust
him. OF course, he wants to look out
for himself. He always does. Sure.
tnSTo Inubt pc boiiiC woy " hhoNS
the Attorney General see reason.
Larry. have not slept but few
hours since landing. I am complete
" beside myself. Sincerely always
yours, MARTIN.
The ''Griffiths" mentioned in the
letter Ii supposed to be Howard c.
Griffiths, who acted as agent for
Kern in the transaction by which
he got control of the Bosch COM
pany.
The Murray" referred to is Ar
thur Murray, who was made presi-
dent Of the American Bosch Mag
neto Company by Ken.
Investigation Pushed.
In the meantime the investigation
into the sale of the Bosch Magnetic
plant by the former custodian of
alien property is being pushed by
Government officials and the Dis