The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-11-07
ARMY DESERTERS
MUCH IN TROUBLE
Scores of Renegades and Draft
Evaders Linger Abroad.
OFTEN GET into POLICE NEWS

had evaded the army draft or deser
ed the American colors in 1917 an
1918 are still at large. The record
in the War department show ths
many of these men are scattered |
all parts of the world, and there is il
formation that some of them are nc
having a happy time of it.
How many American deserters ant
evaders there were in the wal year
will perhaps never be told, for no mai
knows. More than 100000 men wer'
carried on the government list al
slackers or renegades when the wa
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 ~unjust1y
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
a few-only 325-have been convicted
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 that he had killed
one of a group of men who tried to
kidnap him from a hotel in Eberbach,
Baden, and had wounded another man
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-
hind him his American citizenship and
also his share, valued st $1,3O0,OO0,
of his fathers estate. AS the cas-
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 Bergdoll is enjoying
his liberty In the land Of his fore
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.
Bergdoll's mother is with her son in
Baden, but his fortune remains here
the hands of the alien property Gus
Deserters in Mexico.
1t is said that 10000 of the men OF
age who deserted the Amert-
AN flag rather than do their part in
he war took refuge in Mexico. Among
hem was Lyon e. A. Gale of New
york, once a clerk in the state assem-
'ly at Albany. A man Of education
nd ability, Gale became n Of the
Interest of hts country's enemies. In
he last year Of the val he edited the
1ost severely anti-American paper
ubAahsd In any part Of the world
telss Magazine Of Mexico City.
This deserter took up the Bolsheyist
ause in Mexico and led 4 radical
that grew to such serious
AZ to become an issue both
a Mexico and in the United States.
fter crossing the border by wading
Rio Grande near Laredo, Tex, he
with other Americans Of his :
tatus in representing the Russian idea
carranzass republic: His paper ap-
cared E~eseslarly for two years apd 49,
LA with abuse Of his native coYpptry
nd it, patriotic leaders, aan,aQh1 sth4@
resident Wilson and Colonel Ro6S@ I:
1T.
Gale became so powerful in the dis
lrbed land of his adoption as to ad-
'ess a bold letter to General Obregon,
'ging that popular Mexican to "do
r Mexico what Lenin did for Russia"
vt Obregon, on assuming the presi-
,ncy, did what he could to SUPPRESS
e foreign agitators. Gale vas cap
red at Laredo in 1921 and is now
a sentence Of seven years in
'rt Leavenworth. Appeals to the
hite House to win a pardon for him
We met with no response.
President Obregon has managed to =
We most of the American deserters !.
t Of Mexico, but the movement start
by Gale and his fellow turncoats
ltinues to give much trouble to the
thorities. Among Gales associates
re Charles Phillips, a New Yorker
o deserted from Camp Upton, and
J Irwin Granich, said to have been
with certain radical publica-
here. Phillips and Granich are
| at large, as are most Of the in
10000 who fled beyond the
thern border.
Some Picturesque Deserters.
notable desertion was that OF Ed
ID J. Ressler, formerly Of New York.
er taking unofficial leave from
mp Dix and being recaptured, he
allowed to have a second chance
make good, and went to France with
One Hundred and Ninth Field ar
Try, only to desert again or reach
the battle-training area. He was
tured a second time and sentenced
fifteen years in prison.
n affair that attracted interest in