Judge, 1900-10-06 · page 6 of 16
Judge — October 6, 1900 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* satirizes upper-class pretension through the mishap of Mr. Figgerby-Biggby, a wealthy but physically delicate man who invents an elaborate labor-saving contraption to avoid walking to his bathroom. His mechanical device—controlled by levers—was meant to deliver a filled bathtub to his bedside automatically. The joke: When he demonstrates his invention to office colleagues, he pulls the wrong lever. The tub launches into the room with Mrs. Figgerby-Biggby still inside it, causing chaos and scandal. The "crowning feature" refers both to his pride in the invention and the humiliating exposure. The satire targets Gilded Age excess: wealthy industrialists' obsession with labor-saving devices and comfort taken to absurd extremes, combined with the social embarrassment of public failure. The accompanying "Foot-Ball" cartoon and other vignettes are separate humorous pieces.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE CROWNING FEATURE. CLOUD of gloom envelops the elegant new home of the Figgerby-Biggbys on Severalth avenue, and it is all the result, so Mrs, Figgerby-Biggby tearfully declares, of a most reprehensible laziness on the part of her husband. As a matter of fact, Figger- by-Biggby can afford to be lazy if he wishes to, and Iam inclined to the belief that the fair lady does not really mean it when she says reprehensible. She is, to put it plainly, somewhat disgusted with her husband's latest labor-saving device, and her words must not be taken too seriously. Figgerby-Biggby is not so lazy as he is delicate in physique, and he discovered that the exercise of walking from his warm bed to the bath-room each morning was aggravating his catarth, ‘Therefore he conceived a device by which the time during which his bathing surface was in contact with the naked air might be reduced to a minimum. When FOOT- BALL. Going through the line for four yards. time he reached the bed-chamber, with his delighted friends trailing in his wake. yw,” said he, “I want to show you the crowning feature of it all.” He waved his hand gracefully and pulled the second lever. He did not consider it necessary to fill the tub. The bath-room door swung open, there was a startled scream, and the tub sailed into the midst of the astonished party with Mrs. Figgerby- Biggby in it. The reader may imagine the sensations of the gentlemen, also of the lady. The cloud of gloom and Mrs. Figgerby-Biggby’s disgust are plainly un- derstandable, I think, without another word being written, DRUM AND TRUMPET, [F YOUR ear-drum has met with mishap Do not irritate, worry and thump it, But seek some auricular chap And buy your ear-drum an ear-trumpet. TOO EARLY TO SAY. Mas. FArMer—I suppose you have a hard-luck story, like all the rest?” Weary Wittie—"' I kin tell better after I eat dis grub, mum.” the device was completed he had only to pull a lever at the head of his bed and the tub in the bath-room was filled with water of the proper temperature. Another lever opened the bath-room door and propelled the tub to the very bedside. Figgerby-Biggby was naturally very proud of the contrivance. One day he brought a number of gentlemen friends from the office for the express purpose of showing them over the house, and in due THE FULL TEA-POT. Eprri—'‘And after the proposal he said I had made him the happiest man in MasntA nuLt-poc—"Oh, I'm so glad you've got another the world. patch for me! This will jest finish my new crazy-quilt.” Brotner Jack—"Ah! Then you refused him?’ comicbooks.¢éom es NS eet