In order to thresh out the scandal which broke loose in the high school Thursday when Professor J. P. Cudihy, teacher of the commercial courses, and Seely Hall, the 17-year-old son of Court Hall, and a pupil in the commercial class, engaged in a fist fight in the main corridor of the school building, the school board will cause both contestants and as many witnesses to the affair itself and the actions which led up to it as can be found to appear before it at the regular meeting tonight.
    According to the findings of Superintendent of Schools U. S. Collins, who investigated the occurrence shortly after it happened, the blame seems to lie equally upon the shoulders of both of the contestants. Both today exhibited discolored eyes.
    In speaking of the happening this morning Mr. Collins said:
    "Thursday afternoon Hall came to me and told me that he wished to place a spotlight in position on the stage of the opera house for the use of the junior class when they give their annual skit tonight, so I wrote him out an excuse from the first class of the afternoon session. He went to the opera house and, finding that he would not get the use of the stage, hurried back to the school and, although somewhat late for the recitation, hurried into the classroom. According to what I am told, in pulling a chair into place, he allowed it to drag along the floor in such a way as to make a noise, whereupon Mr. Cudihy, the teacher of the class, remarked: "This is no basketball game," and told the boy to do the whole thing over again, but with less noise.
    "This started talk between the two with the result that Cudihy ordered the boy from the room. He obeyed, but in doing so replied: 'If I leave this room I go for good,' and Mr. Cudihy followed him out.
    "In the corridor, Hall, I believe, took up a stand alongside of the wall and Mr. Cudihy, walking up to him, put his hands under the boy's chin to raise his downcast head. The act caused Hall's head to come in contact with the wall, probably causing considerable pain, whereupon the boy shot his fist out and landed a blow on Cudihy's forehead that cut the flesh over the eye. Cudihy returned the blow, and I understand struck Hall several more times. They broke apart and Hall rushed into my office, closely pursued by the teacher. Their faces were covered with blood and I made them wash and then tell me their story. Just as soon as I had heard Mr. Cudihy's side of the story he returned to his class and then, in order that he might hear of the affair while it was still fresh, I took Hall to the office of Mr. Cochran, a member of the school board, and let him recite his story there."
    As soon as Hall returned to his home his father, upon hearing the story, caused a complaint to be issued against the teacher, with the result that the scrape will be given an airing, besides in the presence of the school board, before Justice of the Peace Henry G. Dox in Jacksonville. The case will probably come up for hearing this afternoon.
    At the hearing before the board tonight Miss Jessie Purdy, a pupil in the school who witnessed the encounter in the corridor, will be summoned, as will any others whose presence in the immediate vicinity of the battle might fit them to know something about it.
    About a month ago Meno Davis, another pupil in Cudihy's class, had an encounter with the teacher which resulted in the filing of charges against the latter before the school board by Arthur Davis, the boy's father. It developed then that Cudihy had chastised the boy with a section of an automobile tire, cut into a piece resembling the the "razor strop" of Grandfather's early days and wielded in true historical style. The board decided the matter, sustaining the teacher in some things, but in a manner satisfactory to the parent. The ruling was laid down then that any of the pupils old enough to know how to deport themselves who violated the rules should be ordered from the classrooms. This method was invoked by Cudihy upon the Hall boy, but by mutual consent, once the corridor was reached the rules of the board were substituted for those bearing the name of the Marquis of Queensbury.
    Ever since the trouble with the Davis boy the commercial class has been divided, pupils against teacher, and each carrying a "chip." The affair yesterday came as the culmination, and the manner in which it is threshed out by the board will define the future observation of discipline and the limits to which its enforcement may be carried out.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 3, 1911, page 1

    The jury in the case of the state versus Professor J. P. Cudihy for the assault on Seely Hall, March 2, was out twenty minutes last night and brought in the verdict of guilty. The judge will pronounce sentence today. The case was called at 10:45 yesterday at Jacksonville, and the following jurors were accepted: John Dunnington, E. A. Thompson, John Beavenue, Alex Norris, Charles Bayse and F. M. Tungate.
    District Attorney B. F. Mulkey stated that the prosecution would prove that Cudihy not only struck the first blow and followed it up, but also that Hall had not created any serious disturbance and had merited no rebuke.
    Attorney F. J. Newman for the defense stated that he would prove that the boy, Seely Hall, had acted disrespectfully and had refused to leave the room when ordered to go; that when he left Mr. Cudihy had followed with an intent to give a lecture and not to chastise; that he only struck Hall after the boy had hit him and then in self-defense.
    Seely Hall was the first witness called, and he gave a statement that other witnesses substantiated. He said that he had made no great noise when entering and that Mr. Cudihy asked him to leave the room, and he asked if he had done anything to merit it. Hall stated that he was struck first and then he hit Cudihy, Cudihy doing all the punishing thereafter; that as he went into Superintendent U. S. Collins' room, Cudihy struck him at the base of the ear, hurling him across the room.
    Mrs. L. B. Canfield testified that Cudihy struck the boy as he entered Mr. Collins' office; that Cudihy was enraged and attempted to strike again; that he looked positively vicious and cruel.
    Alice Forbes testified that she saw Cudihy striking a blow.
    Superintendent Collins told of the condition of Hall and that he saw Hall propelled into the room from a shove; that he did not see a blow struck. He said orders had been given to teachers not to chastise but to send pupils to the principal, who would either adjust matters or send them to the superintendent for expulsion; that this order was given after the Mino Davis case. He characterized Mr. Cudihy's action with Seely Hall in the office as a "rough demonstration."
    Miss Jessie Purdy testified to Cudihy striking Hall and telling Miss Mears.
    Miss Irene Smith told of Cudihy taking Hall by the collar, bumping his head and striking the boy in a scuffle. When asked by attorney Newman what was the difference between fighting and scuffling, she said:
    "When both are exchanging blows and each hitting the other it's a fight. When one does it all and the other cannot protect himself it's a scuffle."
    This produced a laugh.
    Dolph Phipps and Ned Vilas testified that Seely Hall made no unnecessary noise on entering the room; that the boy took a chair from under the table, which caused a scraping sound; that Hall was not "sassy."
    Cudihy, taking the stand, stated that he had asked Hall to leave several times; that the boy had made a great disturbance; that he was not angry nor had lost his head, and that when he had followed Hall into the hallway and attempted to lift his head so the boy would look at him, Hall struck him over the eye. He said he then sallied in to defend himself. He said Hall had ducked and dodged and attempted to "lick" him, and it looked for a time as though he would. He said Collins had told him to run the roost and he had.
    Dee Wallace testified that Hall had made some noise on entering, but that he was lame and that caused the heavy walk. He said the chair incident was not extraordinary.
    Miss Alice Woodford testified that she had heard Hall say, referring to the Mino Davis case, "I would not take such treatment." She knew of nothing regarding the Hall case.
    Miss McDermott, teacher of domestic science, and Mrs. Frost, teacher of manual training, testified to Cudihy's even temper and cool-headedness.
    The jury went out at 6 o'clock.
Medford Sun, March 8, 1911, page 6


    Hall finally escaped and ran into the office of Superintendent of Schools U. S. Collins, where, just as he crossed the threshold of the door, Cudihy landed another blow upon the back of his neck which precipitated him across the room. Further punishment, the witnesses said, was only averted when Collins stepped between Cudihy and the boy.
    Two witnesses at the hearing, Miss McDermott and Mr. Frost, both members of the faculty of the high school, testified to Cudihy's usual even temper and cool-headedness, but the verdict brought in by the jury points to the belief among its members that the teacher had allowed his temper to get the better of his judgment when chastising the Hall boy.
    The jury which tried the case was composed of John Dunnington, E. A. Thompson, John Beavenue, Alex Morris, Charles Bayse and F. M. Tungate. District Attorney B. F. Mulkey appeared for the prosecution and attorney F. J. Newman represented the accused.
    As the result of the decision rendered yesterday, [the] Superintendent of Schools this morning ordered the commercial class of the high school closed until the school board takes action. J. E. Watt, president of the board, will probably issue a call for a meeting of the board tonight when that body will be given an opportunity to either uphold the action of the criminal court and discipline Cudihy or take issue with the decision of the jury in Justice Dox' court and uphold the teacher.
    About a month ago Cudihy gained considerable notoriety by chastising David Meno Davis, another pupil in his class, with a "spanker" fashioned from a section of an automobile tire. In endeavoring to maintain his hold upon the boy's collar with one hand, as that the energy devoted to the propulsion of the other bearing the "whacker" might not be wasted, he caused several scratches to be made upon the boy's throat, giving him the appearance of having been choked. The matter was called to the attention of the school board and, although details of the hearing were suppressed by the school board, it is believed that the matter was settled to the satisfaction of the parents of thr boy.
    In view of the attitude shown by the court, the question of disciplining the teacher, if such is decided upon, may not have to be brought up before a meeting of the board. If in the opinion of president Watt the facts already proven warrant such action, the authority vested in his office permits of his instructing Superintendent Collins to secure the services of another teacher for the commercial branch of the school.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 8, 1911, page 1


    Seely Hall, in his 1913 Cadillac Six, made a record run from Bend, Or., to Medford, covering the distance of 215 miles in fourteen hours, leaving Bend at 1:30 a.m. Saturday and arriving in Medford at 3:30 p.m. In all this distance the engine was not stopped once or water put in the radiator.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 6, 1913, page 6