Judge — December 28, 1901 — page 19: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

## Top Cartoon: "How the Name Increased as the Intellect Dwindled" This satirizes social pretension across three generations. The first figure (1839), "John Smith," is a plain, dignified man with a briefcase—apparently successful and honest. His son (1880), "John Baxter Smith," adds a middle name and displays himself more ostentatiously in fashionable checked pants. The grandson (1901), "E. John Baxter Montgomery Smith," wears an exaggerated dandy outfit and carries a cane—his name has grown absurdly elaborate while his apparent substance has diminished. The satire mocks how descendants abandon practical virtue for hollow gentility and pretentious naming conventions while losing intellectual rigor. ## Bottom Cartoon: "Hard Hit" A young man observes a woman and remarks admiringly about what a fine wife she'd make. The commentary appears skeptical of his judgment—"hard hit" suggests he's been struck by romantic foolishness rather than wisdom.