Decorah public opinion., 1911-03-01
Interesting Sketch of Great Play
Coming to DecOrah This
.AOnth.
SERIAL siORY OF THE PLAY.
First Installment Outlines Openin.
of Play and Gives Insight
Into Intense Situations
to Follow.


we have never seen this attempted
in the state, but it has occurred to
us that to print a serial sketch of
THE Third Degree" one of the
most intense plays ever written, will
be of much interest to our people.
The play will be presented at the
Grand in few weeks, and we win
devote a part OF two or three is
sues to the Following serial story
of the play by Lucy France Pierce:
In writing The Third Degree"
Charles Klien arraigns the sweat
box method of extorting confession
of crime, now generally employed by
the police of every large city in the
country, and by means of which
many persons, driven by hypnotic
suggestion, confess. to crimes of
which they are wholly innocent. 1t
is a powerful play, abounding in
tense, well built scenes embracing a
group of strong and interesting
characters.
Howard Jeffries, Jr., an aniable,
but weak man, the scion of a veal
thy family, has met and married
against his fathers wishes, a young
woman of the laboring class, known
as Annie Jeffries, the daughter of
convicted criminal who died in
Jail. This mesalliance has been not
only the source of great unhappi-
ness and public humiliation to JEFF
fries family, but has been the cause
of complete rupture between faith
er and son. The misery of the sit
uation has driven Howard to drink,
and on the night of the tragedy
which is to bring him worldwide
J notoriety as murderer he stumbles
into the rooms of Robert Under
wood, college friend. The latter
game himself, has just been discov-
cred and cornered as a swindler,
who has been preying upon society
by the sale of bogus antiques. How
ard, hard up for money and begging
for, a loan, continues to drink in
Underwood's apartment until he be-
comes maudlin, A strange bond be-
tween the two men is the fact that
Underwood had once loved Howard g
young step-mother, but she had
: thrown him over in favor of the
! richer and older man, Jeffries, Sr
Driven to desperation by pressing
debts, by the lack of patronage from
h.rs Jeffries' own circle, and by heI
complete contempt for his diShoneS-
tys he has threatened to kill him
self. She calls there in reply TO a
threat he has sent, and reaches the
!, apartment shortly after. Howard
has fallen into a drunken stupor
Though she pleads with Underwood
to refrain from so rash an act as
suicide, she refuses further to be-
friend him, to sacrifice her friends
to him. or her self respect to his
overtures. She has scarcely left
and kills himself.
One hour later, Captain Clinton
and Sergeant Maloney of the district
detail, confront Howard Jeffries in
Underwood's apartment and accuse
him of the crime. In the presence
of Doctor Bernstein, summoned to
examine the body of Underwood
they ply the drink-stupefied brain OF
Howard with a bombardment OF
searching questions which gradually
undermine his protestations of in
nocence, and he breaks down finally
and weakly echoes Clinton's state
ment that he shot Underwood. Clin-
ton knows woman named Jeffries
had called just before the pistol shot
was heard, and when Annie Jeffries,
Howard's despised young wife comes
to him, Clinton turns the terrible
searchlight of his merciless cross
examination upon her. The eleva-
tor attendant fails to identify Annie
as the woman who did call, and to
his chagrin he fails to get single
statement from Annie to incrimin-
ate either herself or her husband.
Jeffries, Sr, the boys father, not
only fails to display a particle of
sympathy for his son, but refuses
to defend him.
Il only want to ask you not to
desert your son at such a time,
Annie pleads when Jeffries faces
her; whatever he may have done
to deserve your anger, don't, don't
deal him such blow. You can't
realize what it means at a critical
moment like this. Even If you only
pretend to be friendly with him
you don't need TO be really friends
with him, but don't you see what
the effect will be if you, his father,
publicly refuse him support! Every
body will say the boy is no good (;
he can't be any good or his father
wouldn't go back on him, they'll
say-you know what the world is,
it will condemn him because you
condemn him, and they won't even
give him hearing. Oh, don't, for
Gods sake don't go back on him
now"
"Of course. you realize" Jeffries
grow1ed. shutting her off that you,
above all others, are responsible for
his present position"
"Responsible-me? she cries,
well, all right, I'm responsible, but
don't get back at him"
Il could have forgiven him every
thing but"
But me-yes, ] know-don't you
suppose | feel il, too, and don't you
suppose it hurts?" The girl turns
away despairingly.