Judge, 1896-12-19 · page 33 of 46
Judge — December 19, 1896 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This multi-panel cartoon satirizes military discipline and the consequences of desertion during wartime (likely Civil War era, given the period style). The narrative follows two soldiers who desert, get drunk celebrating their escape, then encounter characters named "Roadside Ike" and "Fuller Sand." These men swap clothes with intoxicated soldiers, apparently planning to disguise themselves. However, a provost guard (military police) mistakes the disguised deserters for actual soldiers and arrests them anyway. The satire's point: the deserters' attempted escape backfires through "mistaken identity"—they're punished despite their scheme, illustrating how military justice operates indiscriminately. The subtitle "A Case of Mistaken Identity" emphasizes the irony: they tried to evade capture but ended up arrested regardless, facing "severe penalty" for desertion. The drunk dialect and comedic tone typical of Judge magazine frame this grim military consequence as darkly humorous.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Judge. First DeserTer—'‘ It's kind of dangerous business, pard, but —{ Two hours later}—"' Rah | we won't go home till mornin'—(hic).” you kin bet we'll have a good time ‘fore they ketch us anyhow.” Roapsipe IkE—'* Hello, what's dis ! soldiers ott duty? What * Roapsioe Ike—' Now, den, forward march !—bum—bum— yer say if we swap clo'es wid "em—dey's dead drunk 7” bum, bum, bum "—but— FULLER SAND—"* Good ! I’m in it.” —untortunately they ran into a provost-guard, who mistook them for the deserters and marched them off to the guard-house, and—— SEVERE PENALTY. A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY.