The Washington times., 1912-03-22
.LIFERTOBEP PAROLEO
FTER SERVING q
YEARS IN PRISON
"BIack Bart Cured of
Criminal Tendencies BY
: An Operation.

MARQUETTE, Mich, March 22.-The
law enacted by the State legislature
last winter, which extends the benefits
Of the parole law to conviCts undergoing
life sentence, WILL 1t Is confidently eX-
peCted, enable Raymond Holzhay, more
widely known as BLACK Bart life
prisoner with a sensational criminal
record, to obtain his release on parole
from the Marquette prison, where he has
spent nearly twenty-three years of his
life for murder. Holzhay, who has
been a model prisoner for many years,
expects that under the new law his SEN
tence will be commuted to one OF forty
Years, and that he will be released on
parole shortly after the communication of
his sentence.
Holahays career was extremely sensa-
tional and interesting from crimino-
logical point of view. He was born in
Austria and came to the United states
when quite young. But little Is known
of His early life, scarcely more than
that he was illiterate, of great physical
strength and courage, and had strongly
developed criminal tendencies. He was
still i'm his teens when he began TO
work in the Wisconsin pineries. The
life of lumberman did not satisfy
Holzhay's adventurous nature; lie ae-
criminal career by holding up a stage
coach in the lumber district.
His success was encouraging ana
Hoizhay, single handed, held up ana
robbed coach after coach, until the
mere mention of his name struck terror
TO the hearts of travellers in the lumber
region. His boldness was astonishing.
While lodging the officers OF the law
who were pursuing him, BLACK Bart
walked boldly into the lumber camps,
asking for food and obtaining 1t, no
man being willing to take the risk ot
making an attempt to seize the outlaw
Wanted More Excitement.
After a while. finding the robbing OF
stage coaches too tame, Holzhay took
to holding up trains.
After having held up and robbed a
Wisconsin Central train near Cadott,
Holzhay went to the Gogebic region,
where he held up a stage coach near
Lake Gogebic. One of the passengers
was a Chicago banker, named A. E.
Fleischben, who carried considerable
amount of money. The banker drew
his gun, but before he could make
use of it, Holzhay shot and killed him.
Another passenger also tried to resist,
but Holzhay shot him also, and after
having robbed his victims, he made his
escape.
Five days later. however, Marshal
Glade and Justice Weiser saw Holzhay
in one of the streets of the town of
Republic and arrested him. He tried
to make use of his gun, but was knocked
down and overpowered before he could
do so. Holzhay was tried, convicted
and sentenced to Marquette prison for
life. During the first year Holzhay was
moody and rebellious, and not inclined
TO submit to the prison rules and dis
Cipline.
Holzhay remained uRtractable and
finally he was sent to the asylum for
The insane at Ionia, where the doctors
decided to perform an operation on the
prisoner, to remove piece of bone
which pressed upon his brain. The OPP
Grafton was successful, and after his
return to prison HolzhaY was a changed
man. He became a model prisoner, be.
gan to study, and gradually acquired
q good education. Through the warden
who took great interest in him, Holzhay
invested his earnings in copper stock
and accumulated a handsome fortune
He was made the librarian of the priS'
on, edited the prison paper, and did al
the Photographic work required. 1t Is
believed that the operation on his brair
mas transformed HOlzhay into nor
NAL and law-abiding individual, free
from criminal tendencies.