The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-03-04
FAMOUS PERSONS ARE
CONVICTED At The u
JOCULAR JUDGMENT AGAINST j.
J. HILL STILL UNPAID.
George Washington, Knute Nelson,
Ralph Wheelock, Sarah Bernhardt
and Numerous Others Prominent in
Life and Fiction Are Assailed in the
Mock Trials.

Docketed in the office of the college
clerk of courts in the university law
building, unheralded by the press ard
unknown to the members Of the Min
nesota bar, are unsatisfied judgments
against Sarah Bernhard, Knute Mel
son, David Harum, James. Madison,
Tom Moore, James j.. Hill and Mrs.
Wigs Of the Cabbage Patch.
This announcement will come as a
surprise to Minneapolitans who are
outside the university circle, but an in
vestigation Of the college court records
will SHOW that interesting private
chapters in the lives of American citi-
zens, varying in prominence from
John D. Rockefeller to Cole Younger,
have been unfolded by the undergrad
uate practitioners. =.
Only yesterday tall, authenticated
fyoung man took the stand in the uni
versity courtroom and swore that he
was Ralph w. Wheelock, private Sec
| rotary Of the mayor Of Minneapolis and
that he had been assaulted and az
rested by an East Side policeman. Mr..
| Wheelock went 50 far as to describe
his ride to the station in the police
patrol wagon, but jury of unbiased
students, after due deliberation, gave
it as their opinion that the word of the
mayors private secretary should avail
nothing against the oath of Mike -
Ryan, the university policeman. and
the college "copper" was cleared of
the charge of assault. -.
| Indict Prominent Persons.
There is little frivolity in the trial
of case in the university courtroom.
Members of the faculty are present to
see that the young lawyers conduct
being argued before a faculty member
the jury with all the formality of a
Hennepin county court The students,
however, are disposed to vary the
monotony of the trials by choosing for
plaintiffs, defendants and witnesses
characters whose admissions and con-
fessions, if true, would create some
thing of sensation in public circles.
A jury made up Of senior law stu
dents found Dick Ferris guilty of be-
ing instrumental in the loss Of Ethel
Barrymore right eye, but to the sur
prise Of the prosecuting attorney the
jury placed a valuation of $50 on the
expressive optic Of the gifted actress.
In the trial Of the case it developed
that Mr.. Ferris had been digging
asphalt with a pickax and Miss Bar
rymore, passing by, had been injured
by flying. piece Of the Minneapolis
pavement.
David Harum Convicted.
) David Harum, who sold blind horse
to Mrs. Wigs, was assessed one cent
by the undergraduate jurists and there
tanglement On record. Hamlet has been
, both convicted and acquitted Of muir
der and his guilt or innocence is still
a question of campus discussion.
Some time ago, when David Harun
and his horse trades engrossed the pub
lie fancy, David figured as the most
prominent party in the university dis
trict court calendar. In one suit hi
. recovered $40 from George Washing
!, ton who, while conducting a shoeshin
o ing stand in the West hotel, refused
@ to shine Harum g shoes.
| Seniors in the law school take
3 great deal Of interest in the work Of tn
: college court and the cases are Tough
t to win. Jurors are challenged and Sc
9 lected with care but it is rather sig
{, nifcant fact that men who are IN
s popular with their classmates, ever
i tho they. possess a good knowledge 0
}. the law, are seldom awarded verdicts
Il =
n ,..a. q. Make Comic Errors.
Many amusing mistakes are made b.
J; the young lawyers when they appea
n in the college courtroom for the tria
9 Of their first case. At one time thi
- year an objection to- the admission o
y evidence was made on the ground tina
it was incompetent, unmaterial an
y unrelevant,' and one of the seniors ha
~ been known to ask for the g costs an
e disbursements Of the action'
- The court work of the members G
~ the senior class consists of practice /
~ justice court, district court and s,
re- preme court. There is student she
a iff, student clerk and a studer
bailif, and not only are complete re-
ords fled away in the clerk s offic
but the trials are conducted with a
+ courtroom appurtenances. The jury
led from the room in custody of IL
sheriff and confined In the jury-roo