Hadley Luzerne High School - Hi Lights Yearbook (Lake Luzerne, NY)

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The. Cose, of-Hie. Ni «teeVi Escapes or fV ecxV HoM'Ay BesV PoUcy Cf UDGE STEWART presided at the hearing of Hadley-Luzerne Central School versus the Senior Class £ r of 1951 and the crowded courtroom gave evidence that the public realized only too well the underlying significance and far-reaching effects of this hearing. The school was represented by District Attorney Stuart M. Townsend, and the gifted orator and lawyer, Arthur Brown, represented the class. Attorney Townsend arose and said, “Your Honor, while 1 realize that it is somewhat unusual to make an opening statement yet, inasmuch as most of our evidence will be circumstantial, and it seems quite evident from the number of witnesses subpoened and preparations made by the defense that an at- tempt will be made to throw this case out of court at the end of the hearing, I want the jury to under- stand what we are trying to prove. We intend to prove that the Senior class of 1951 is not eligible to graduate in June of this year. The judge then asked Mr. Brown if he wished to say anything, but he didn’t. “Very well. The prosecution will call its first witness.” The prosecution called Mr. Charles Herman, who introduced evidence that the class of ’51 had been passably good, and had participated in many different activities. It was pointed out that they had not done too well in sports, which was a serious case against the class. “You may cross-examine,” the D.A. said. “No cross-examination.” Mr. Townsend next called a student, Robert Ziegler. Mr. Ziegler stated that during the Sophomore year the class had lost several members, but it had also gained some new ones. He further added that the class had helped the class of ’50 make a success of their pageant. This evidence was obviously very much in favor of the Seniors. The next witness for the prosecution was Shirley Mudge. “Miss Mudge,” Mr. Townsend said, “Do you recall when you first went on a paper drive?” Her answer was a definite “Yes, Your Honor To this Mr. Townsend asked,“Don’t you feel that you should have left that for the Senior class? Don’t you think that it was rather selfish taking their money-making project from them?” “No, I don’t feel that it was selfish. They gave it to us because they didn’t want it.” Mr. Townsend then quizzed her about the Junior Prom and how she had scrubbed the floor. He asked her if she didn’t think this rather unladylike, to which she replied, “It had to be done, so I did it !” “Cross-examine,” Townsend said. Mr. Brown said very quietly, “Miss Mudge, wasn’t this a rather messy job? Wouldn’t you rather have done something like decorating?” “Yes, it was a dirty job, but so were some of the others. Our class is noted for pitching in and getting done what needs to be done whether it be pleasant or otherwise.” “That’s what I wanted to know,” replied Mr. Brown. At this point it looked rather black for the prosecution, so District Attorney Townsend called to the stand a surprise witness, Mrs. DeVere Varney. “Mrs. Varney, do I understand correctly that you gave the Seniors some magazines for their paper drive ? ’ ’ “Yes, that is correct. I told Margaret where they were and not to take all of them. That was on a Fri- day. On Monday morning, I found that they had taken many valuable books,” replied Mrs. Varney. “You may cross-examine.” Is it correct that you didn’t show them exactly which ones not to take?” “Yes, that is correct, but I thought they would know better than to take those books.” “That is all.” The next witness called to the stand was Margaret Bullis. Mr. Townsend said, “Miss Bullis, did you attend the last Lion’s Club basketball game?” “Did you cheer for the Lion’s Club?” “No, I did Not.” “Weren’t you, Miss Mudge, and Miss Cranston cheer-leading for the Lion’s Club along with Mr. Brown?” “Yes, we attempted this feat, but it was only in fun. We were cheering for our team.” “That is all. You may cross-examine.” “No cross-examination.” “The defense rests its case then,” Mr. Townsend said. “Please call Mr. Orlin Tremaine to the stand,” asked Mr. Brown. “Mr. Tremaine, would you please relate to us briefly about the Junior’s pageant?” “Well, the Juniors wanted to put on a pageant, but they didn’t have enough people in their class to play all the parts, so they asked our class to help out. We assisted by lending Irene, Clara, Bill, Gladys, Celia, Barbara, and Norma.” “Thank you, Mr. Tremaine. You may cross-examine.” “Mr. Tremaine, do you feel that your class really put this pageant over?” “Not exactly, but our class certainly helped in putting it over.” “That is all.” “I did.” 15

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CLASSES