The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-11-08
COnvictS Cheering
A Convict Play

Alias Jimmy valentine" in the past
will be at least interested to read
that that stirring play of convict life,
which on so many occasions has
warmed the hearts of law-abiding
citizens of the land, was as much of
thriller to nearly 1000 prisoners
at the San Quentin Prison in Cali
fornia some two weeks ago. The
prisoners, of whom nine had been
convicted to die, cheered rampantly
the exciting elements of the play,
and when at the end the hero's par
don is finally secured, their joy made
itself known for miles around. The
Governor of California was himself
an interested spectator and, though
visibly affected by the scene, refused
to make comment or to admit that he
proposed pardoning any of the con-
demned men. The following ac-
count of this unique performance is
Evening Post of October 5. 1t re-
counts that:
Sitting with their heads barred in
the sunlight of the prison yard, with
condemned row" as the lobby of
their open-air theatre, 1851 prison.
ers-nine of them condemned to die
-unfolded one of the greatest
dramas of life to-day as "Alias
Jimmy Valentine" the great convict
paly, was enacted by the same COM
pany that has been appearing before
San Francisco audiences.
The production of the noted play,
which carries with it a mighty lesson
to all humanity, marked one of the
most remarkable incidents in the his
tory of prisons. 1t was the first time
in history that a professional play,
with all it's scenery and original cast,
was ever given inside the walls of an
institution where men and women
are denied the rights of associating
with persons of the outer world be-
cause of their crimes against society.
1t was the most unique audience
that ever gathered to witness a play
and the rows of men in their stripes
of shame and the women prisoners
in their blue dresses furnished a
scene that has never before been wit
messed.
1t was the drama of life revolving
about the drama of the stage, and as
the regeneration of the stageland
burglar was unfolded, the enthusiasm
of the convicts waxed warmer and
warmer until it ended in a mighty
cheer for the character that showed
them their inner selves as they wish
ed to be known when outside the
walls of the prison.
But for the stripes on every hand
one would have forgotten that he
was in a prison. The convicts were
not treated as outcasts of society," but
as men of the world, There were
speeches, extolling the virtues of the
stageland burglar who turned
good"
When the noon hour approached
the prisoners were taken to the pris-
on yard, where everything had been
arranged for the great show. They
took their seats, even as you would
take your seat in a "frst-come-frst-
served" theatre. The prison band
played the usual overture and then
the curtain of canvas was raised and
alias Jimmy Valentine" with his
message of hope to the poor souls
denied their liberty, was theirs.
The audience was composed of
prisoners with the nine condemned
men sitting close by the fifteen wom-
en-, who were the special guests of
Warden Hoyle. No outsiders, be-
yond newspaper men and prison at
taches, were allowed inside the
walls.
The play which dealt with a con-
vict's struggles for reformation was
presented on a convict-built stage,
with part of the scenery painted by
convicts. A convict band furnished
the music. The stage was in a cor
ner of the prison yard and the play
ers' voices echoed back from the
windows of the death-cell.
When seemingly the last convict
had been seated on slope looking
over the walls, nine cell doors clank-
ed open and as many men, condemn
ed to death, clattered down the iron
stairs and lined up at the foot, with
George Figueroa, happy-faced boy
who is to die for the murder of his
wife in Los Angeles, at the head.
Mrs. Hiram w. Johnson, wife OF
the Governor of California, with a
member of the State Board of Par
dons and his wife, were the only
civilian guests present, although
high officials for three days past in
terceded for themselves and their
friends to obtain admittance.
The first scene, we read, was most
realistic:
1t showed the Office of the warden
in the play and the furniture was
taken from the office of Warden
Hoyle.
Then as each scene was unfolded
the prisoners compared it with their
own life, and that the experiment
was telling one could be gathered
from the expressions heard on all
sides. All agreed that the show was
good one. Some of the men, prom
inent in the days before their crime
made them outcasts, reviewed the
show with the stoicism of the man
of the outer world.
Others not so we'll groomed in the
| advance of the drama talked of it as
a child with some new toy. They
could not review it with the same
light that the others had, but its
moral sank all the deeper, and foI
the time they forgot that they were
looking and hearing only the artif.
cial life of the stage and lost them.
selves in its story as though they
were watching the game of life.
From early morning there was
l - l.