The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-10-06
ARMY DESERTERS
Much IN Trouble
Scores of Renegades and Draft
Evaders Linger Abroad.
OFTEN GET INTO POLICE NEWS

ed the American colors in 1917 and
9 L are still at large. The records
In the War department show hat
many of these men are scattered In
all parts of the world, and there is in
formation that some of them are not
having a happy time of it.
How many American deserters and
evaders there were In the wal years
will perhaps never be told, for no man
knows. More than 100000 men were
carried on the government list as
slackers or renegades when the var
ended; but when the names were re-
leased for publication it was quickly
found that thousands of these men
had served with credit, and that the
government, in listing them as delin-
quents, had done them a grave injus-
tice.
When the names of those unjustly
branded are eliminated, the total of
the deSerterS will still be far up In
the thousands. Who they are and
where they are now would take weeks
to ascertain. Hundreds are back in
the United States, some are under in
dictment or facing court-martial, and
q Wv IT. - l DOOAi
and have served or are serving prison
sentences.
America was beginning to forget
that such a person as Grover Cleve-
land Bergdoll lived when the cables
brought the news hat he had killed
one Of a group of men who tried to
kidnap him from a hotel in Eberbach,
Baden, I'M had wounded another nan
who figured in the effort. Bergdoll,
one of the heirs Of a Philadelphia
brewer, fled from draft duty in 1917
and escaped to Germany, leaving be-
hin him his American citizenship and
also his share. valued ut $1,3O0,OOO,
of his fathers estate. AS the aSe
stands, his only chance to regain
either of these desirable things is to
return, go to trial, serve his time and
trust to the clemency of the American
government.
Whether or not Bergdou is enjoying
his liberty IN the land Of his fore
fathers is a question open to specula-
ton. Various attempts to kidnap him
are made from time to time. The man
he killed the other day is said to have
been in the employ OF Americans.
mother is with her son in
Baden, but his fortune remains here
In the hands of the alien property GUS
Descrters in Mexico.
1t is said that 10000 of the men Of
fighting age who deserted the Ameri-
can flag rather than do their part in
war took refuge in Mexico. Among
them was Lyon E. A. Gale Of New
York, once a clerk in the state assem-
bly, at Albany. A man of education
md ability, Gale became one of the
of his country's enemies. In
he last year of the war he edited the
most severely anti-American paper
published in any part of the world
Gales Magazine of Mexico City.
This deserter took up the Bolshevist
in Mexico and led a radical
that grew to sue serious
proportions as to become an issue both
n Mexico and in the United States.
crossing the border by wading
he Rio Grande neal Laredo, Tex, he
United with other Americans OF his
status in representing the Russian idea
n Carranza's republic. His paper ap-
feared regularly for two years and wa
with abuse of his native country
nd It's patriotic leaders, among them
PRESIDENT Wilson and Colonel Roose-
-elt.
Gale became so powerful in the dis
urbed land of his adoption as to adj
ress a bold letter to General Obregon,
rging that popular Mexican to do
or Mexico what Lenin did for Russia"
Obregon, on assuming the presi- :
ency, did what he could to suppress ;
he foreign agitators. Gale was cap
ured at Laredo in 1921 n is now
CRYING a sentence of seven years in
'ort Leavenworth. Appeals to the :
White House to win a pardon for him .
ave met with no response. l
President Obregon has managed to |
rive most of the American deserters l
ut of Mexico, but the movement start !.
by Gale and his fellow turncoats l
)ntinues to give much trouble to the
uthorities. Among Gales associates \
ere Charles Phillips, a New Yorker
no deserted from Camp Upton, and :
ne Irwin Granich, said to have been
,nnected with certain radical publfca-
here. Phillips and Granich are :
ill at large, as are most of the in :
orious 10000 who Ned beyond the :
border. .
oen&e picturesque Deeerters. .
A notable desertion vas that Of nd <
ard J. Ressier, formerly Of New York. 1!
eter taking unof1eial leave from
amp Dix and being recaptured, he r
as allowed to have a second chance /
make good, and went to France with 6;
e Ono Hundred and Ninth Field ar ir
lery, only to desert again on reach
g the battle-trainsng area. He was In
ptured q second time and sentenced tc
fifteen years In prison. IT
An affair that attracted interest in q
my circles was that Of John G. Cot q
alias David L. Gordon. once In