Imperial Valley press., 1922-09-23

She wanted to know what it was like.
she wanted to undergo some of the
mental shocks meted out to character
about whom she was to write. Her
/ experiences were so vivid and over
whelming that she sought release after
serving three days of her 10 day SEN
tence.
Miss Macpherson Is a well known
scenario writer for Cecil b. DeMillie,
famous motion picture producer. When
Mr.. DeMille decided to utilize Alice
Duer Miller's novel, "Manslaughter, .
for his next paramount picture, Miss
Macpherson left Hollywood and, by
means of h petty theft, had herself com
mitted to the Detroit House of Correc.
tion.
The young writer was so overwhelmed
that she has written an account of he!
stay in jail for the benefit of thosf
interested in the lives of prisoners. II
is thrilling contribution to prison
! literature.
The film, Manslaughter, will be
shown at the Palace theatre next week.
By JEANNE MACPHERSON
Ihave been i'll hell!
] have plumbed the utmost depths Of
human degradation.
| I have seen women's S souls stripped
stark naked.
[ have been face TO face with human.
ity at its worst.
! And | have met with the most per
feet kindness and sympathy it has ever
been my lot to experience.
l have been i'll jail.
/ did not visit the Jail as privileged
guest. | went as a criminal, srrving
sentence. | was arrested, charged with
simple larceny, tried, convicted and
sentenced to 10 days in prison. I serv
ed three days and three nights of that
sentence-three depressing days and
three horrible nights. / wore the prison
garb and ate-or tried to eat-the pris
on fare. And | know, from personal
experience, just what "prison hysteria -
is.
I am a scenario writer. Complete
knowledge of my subject is a requisite
of nv work. II was in search of this
knowledge that [ went to prison. l
found it.
Tells Horrors of Prison
In the pnotoplay that | was writing
for Cecil b. DeMille' s production, the
chief feminine character is sentenced
to prison for manslaughter. 'Man-
Slaughter is the title of the story.
The girl goes to prison selfish egoist
She energies completely changed. III
order that / might understand the in
fluences at work on this character dur
ing her prison stay /, too, went to jail.
When | decided to make this experl-
ment, | selected the Detroit House OF
Correction as the institution that would
} best serve my purpose. The name Is !;
misnomer 1t is not reform school.
! Instead it is a penitentiary-a penlten
tiary that has the unique distinction
of housing Michigan s federal feminine
offenders of every type of crime-Stat1
prisoners, county prisoners and the city
of Detroit s municipal prisoners and
doing all this in a fashion that COM
pares favorably with the Middle Ages.
There were several reasons for this
; choice. One was the sinister reputation
of the institution. The second was
that this is the only jail in the country
where petty criminals are confined with
those serving sentence for mansaughteI.
Another was that my family numbers
among it's friends-a man formerly
prominent in the administration of the
Detroit prison. This individual was.thc
only person whom / took into my con
fidence. l wished to have his aid III
securing my release, should the expert
ence become unbearable.
With the exception of this man, no
one connected with the experiment
knew that | was not in fact "Angie
Brown 1t was under this name that
| "operated' - when | stole fur neck
piece of nominal value from a woman
of my family acquaintance who was
living at the Hotel Statler. She re-
ported her loss to the house detective
and | was arrested before L had left
the building.
Hailed into court, 1 gave my name as
Angie Brown from San Francisco, and
was charged with simple larceny. |
plead guilty to the charge and was
sentenced to fine of $40 or the alter
native of 10 days in the Detroit House
of Correction. On my statement that
| did not have the money to pay the
| fine, | was turned ever to a police
officer with instructions to commit me
to Jail.
Friendly Cop Offers Aid
Just at this point, all my plans were
threatened by a big, fatherly Irish po-
liceman who was detailed to conduct
me to the prison. On our way down to
the alley where the patrol wagon was
to meet us, he said:
''This is your first time up, little
girl?"
| assured him that it was.
''Isn't there anyone you know who
will put up the money and keep you
out of jail?''
There was no one, declared.
81 hate to see you go to that place
You wait right here, and he pushed