Judge, 1884-01-12 · page 4 of 16
Judge — January 12, 1884 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Law and Order Society Detective" This six-panel satirical sequence mocks a self-righteous "Law and Order Society" detective pursuing a moral crusade against illegal liquor sales ("excise law violator"). The humor escalates as the detective's investigation unravels into farce. The narrative involves a wealthy woman named Galatea (likely a "Shoddy" — satirical term for nouveau riche Americans) preparing to marry an English lord. During his three-month courtship, other unmarried women scheme to seduce him. The detective, conducting his pompous investigation, inadvertently discovers himself at a disreputable establishment rather than finding the intended lawbreaker. The satire targets both moral-crusading reformers (presented as bumbling and self-deluded) and the social-climbing pretensions of wealthy American women seeking titled European husbands—a common Gilded Age satire theme. The "detective" becomes the joke's ultimate fool.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE JUDGE. 1, Detective in search of excise k intoxicating. turn of the L sojourn. never wer some unfo which left our h and each succe entire female De interrupted single ble of virg ness. found the progeny in un- On one of these byegono memorable sum- 2. Finds the hack door open. 5. At least, so the policeman thought. mers, Gal: returned from Long Branch, and, sounding the matrimonial tom-tom, gave notice far and near of her approaching entrance into connubiality with a thoroughly English lord. N: all the unmarried female Shoddyites were correspondingly envious. For three months prior to the ceremony his lordship honored the house of | his future mother-in-law by making it his | THE LAW AND ORDER SOCIETY DETECTIVE. 6. And found himself at the of the sale home; restrictedly upon his bank -like females of Shoddi- fascinating charms to lure his lordship into their meshes. town put forwar To the mortification of Galatea, it is related that the insidious Aphrodite McGulligan, whose charm lay in being the only daughter comicbooks.com