The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1920-01-19
GRAY BROTHER
STORY A MYTH
WardenOsborne, Of thePorts-
mouth Prison, Makes De-
tailed Statement

Eurth.r correspondence has been ex.
changed between Warden Thomas H9$,
osborne, Of the Portsmouth >. NJ
naval c-isou. and. Warden }. q.
regarding the Cray Brother anu s
..i:cr's alleged purpose TO huIns"1
,hr W.st virginia prnitentiary anu Ger
TAN other institutions. through plAc-
.ng his fortune" in the hands OF CON
mlnd.r osborne. Already The lntelii-
cancer has gwen publicity to Commsna.
o. nsborne's telegram OF denial. AND tho
lAtte.s that follow amplify his previous
statement In the mcartimG The III
rc,NSerccr is cndearorinS 10 secure =
r,atcmsai from n" Boston News
Bureau from which i received the
tory. The letters follow;
Commander Osborne 70 WArdeu fsrrsn
Portsmouth. y. n.
January II. 1880.
Warden ". "a. resrtentiary,
Muundsv'lls. West Va. ~.
Pear SIR: Your letter Of January TN
- rrre:ved relative 10 dispatch puo-
nshnd In the Wheeling lntrlligencer pur-
nortinr 10 como from Portsmouth. "
IL. and stating. according to your let
ter. That an eN-conHtct gong unae. Sne
non -plum'' OF the Gray Erothrr mas
rendered you his fortune 10 place several
psnitentiariss--among them this instite-
tion--on humane basis.
Your letter continues: Assuming
that YOU are responsible for this article.
I uish 10 state that so far as the West
Virginia Prnltnnliary il concerned. you
and YOUR friend the Gray Brother
AIther do not know what you are talking
about. or else you are parties TO most
malicious and slanderous falsehood.
Do you not think il would have been
right. before proceeding upon Inc
,"snmp,ion that I am responsible for
such a ridiculous article, TO have founo
out whether or not such was the case:
The fact is that not only am / not re-
Sponsibls for the article, but am nov
acquainted with any such osrson nx - e
fortune" l have learned onry through
the newspapers.
The whole thing Is a preposterous lie.
me purpose OF which can only Surmise-
Yours is not the only case OF the Klno'
During the last few days l nave oeen
hooded with kilograms from all over the
conDtry asking about similar articles
which apparently have been sent out
from RnstoN ~ various newspapers.
specifically mentioning in each case the
local s'ats prison or penitentlarF. OF
sonic Of those institutions | nave never
Cvcn heard.
\ rnu;n.n,'> reflection. !; seems to mo-
~ho:.!i hav- been enough TO show the
vh.urdity g. The whole story. AsSun,
.. DE rNis:ru",. Of The gray brother
:,nd his Fortune "a pretty severe strain
h. M, i,r,.i--In i;sNIf> how could
..a,...r ac,.uu2.!iyh anything OF value.
a-fr.,unr.rC .oudly: Behold: am
:lpv -r:au tn :'i"r:" tbs dreadful peiS-
un'' IN ynu Imagine anything more
id,l;"" AuH hing more apt u arouse
the srcHr Of NOT only the wsrdens. but
- m" prisoners?
may re wrong in my theories OF
PRISON mama cmen; ,-t although my loud
- rrIt.c> s"cm 20 be those who nave
rc,cr r"ad ny books. have never oecn
70 y prison under my management. ana
Know liltle or nothing OF the metaods
employed thcrc) but however mistaken
| may b. 10 one can ever justly accuse
nc "f ,r'':c.z.ng any institutions apou'
which have had no reliable intorma-
r:nr. T. did rot take me long 70 realize
that accuracy of statement Is essential
IN dealing WITH prisons. So seldom
maze any statements outside my own
,sus," ~ observation or experience
Nh.n do quote from another source
state what that source Is. II my in-
formation comes from ex-prtsoners or
crooks" | state that fact and leave IT
f,r ry bearers ~ believe II or not: ana
I'yr my own reasons FOR believing IL
If | thnN Il trustworthy
In regard 10 your institution, ! have
noyc- mentioned Il publicly nor discuss
I'd ;, privately. know nothing what
eyer about L: have never come in con-
"a. wiki onrone who claimed 20 know
.ryrhinr about H. unless in the brief
'alk | pn"s had with budding toefore
- became = "dcctor') he may have
mentioned II.
This seems 20 BE- one OF the cases
where We swallow eagerly stories that
are perfectly absurd-merely because
hey arc printed in the papers. Had
anyone given that story 20 you verbally
YOU would probably have dismissed II
with the statement that osborne may
have very poor judgment and Is pos
sbly as black as his enemies paint hum
bu, after all he is not a drirelinG idiot.
and no one else would ever go to work
d bring about reform in the prisons in
any such way as described.
7 think. as reasonable man. sach
would be your attitude. You close your
lrtier BY stating that IT will be given
the same publicity AZ the article re-
ferred 10. and that II l want 10 BE- fAir
; I will certainly make n retraction.
Were responsible for the article 4
should certainly want TO make retrAc-
ton: as II Is I think II is distinctly up
20 others 70 explain. Something Is due
to ne for the publication OF an article.
~