Semi-weekly herald., 1913-08-25
IMPRISONMENT PROVES
GOOD THING FOR MAN

CANON CITY, Aug. 21.-"Impris.
onment in the penitentiary has been
a good thing for me. 1t has straight
ened me up; it has broken me of the
terrible drug habit that landed me
here"
After having served three years of
life sentence behind the bars of the
Colorado state prison for crime he
now says he never committed, I. M. Il
Gerbrick, still has this to say regard
ing his incarceration. He is seeking
release through the state pardon board
and if his application is granted he
says he will devote as much time az
ne can from earning livelihood to
aiding in stamping out the use of
drugs in this country. Gerbrick says
he will never regret the three long
years in prison. His story is thrill /
ing one and Colorado prison officials
point to it as an argument that the
state penitentiary not only Furnishes
but reforms.
The crime of which Gerbrick was I
convicted was the wrecking of the
Santa Fe train near Fowler, Colo,
in October, 1908. Shortly after the
wreck, John Devine, hobo, friend
less and penniless was found wan
dering near the scene of the tragedy.
He was arrested, identified by several
persons as a man seen acting sus-
piciously just before the wreck near
where it occurred. He was tried at
La Junta, Colo, and convicted. The
whole proceedings were hurried
| through in record time. Within few
weeks after the wreck Devine began
serving a life term.
The man Devine never uttered a
word after his conviction and sentence. i,
He never either denied or admitted
having wrecked the train. After six
years of Imprisonment he died felon.
This was on Nov. 20, 1909.
A year later sailor named Gerz
brick, or Gerubrush as he then calledy
himself, left training ship at Port
land, Oregon, and while drunk and
under the influence of cocaine Dragged
that it was he who had wrecked that
Santa Fe train seven years before.
"l'm tine man who wrecked the San
ia Fe train at Fowler, Colo.," he said
'Pm the man some other man is doing
time for. Pm the man who pulled
tba cy,ilr ha
of October 81, 1908. Pm the man the
Colorado officials want"
Gerbrick had numerous clippings
from newspapers containing stories of
the wreck and of the arrest and con.
viction of Devine. Despite the fact
that he was known to be dope fiend
he was extradited to Colorado, tried,
convicted, and sentenced to life i'm
prisonment. AS he says now, it was
the best thing that ever happened to
him, despite the fact, as he claims, his
sentence was grave miscarriage of
justice. Steady habits, hard work and
the substantial food at the prison I'VE
made new man of him andy the
poison and the desire for Snow" have
left his system.
~ can prove that Pm not the mani
who wrecked that train," said Ger
brick today. "If they will only bring
man here from Michigan he will
tell the pardon board that on the day,
the wreck occurred was working fof
him hundreds of miles away from the
scene of the wreck.
~ do not know who Devine was. |
never heard of him before 1 read his
name in the papers. l was drunk and
full of dope when l said l was train
wrecker The cheap notoriety the
story brought me pleased me at the
time and l liked to see the officials
listen to me as l posed as man who
wanted to serve life sentence to clear
the name of dead hobo.
After the dope began to leave
my system and while l was desperate
ly fighting the craving for it, real
lied that if l went free then would
return to the old life of drug dreams.
l was determined to say nothing until
l knew, until l felt that l had been
cured of the habit. Only God knows
what the keeping of that resolution
has cost me. But it has remade me
and now l want to prove my limo.
cence."