Judge, 1903-01-31 · page 6 of 16
Judge — January 31, 1903 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from **Judge** contains three separate satirical pieces: 1. **"The Casus Belli"** (top): A dialogue between a schoolteacher and Mr. O'Tunder, an Irish immigrant, about a barroom brawl. The satire mocks both Irish-American working-class dialect and pretentious vocabulary—the teacher uses the Latin legal term "casus belli" (cause of war) to describe a punch, while O'Tunder describes a chaotic fight without clear cause. The joke: the fight's origin is as murky as international conflicts. 2. **"All Serene"** (middle): Theater backstage drama where leading actors quarrel viciously but reconcile immediately when the show must go on—satirizing theatrical vanity and the priority of performance over genuine conflict. 3. **"The Automoblist's Sad, Sad Error"** (bottom): Three cartoon panels showing automobile mishaps, including a collision with a furniture van. This satirizes early motorists' incompetence and recklessness on roads, a contemporary anxiety as automobiles were still relatively new. The page reflects early 20th-century American concerns: immigration, class differences, theatrical culture, and automotive dangers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘THE CASUS BELLI ND what,” inquirea the school-teacher, * was the occasion of the disgrace- ful brawl in McGinniss's saloon last night? [have been able to glean but a garbled account of it from the others who were present.” “Well,” explained Mr. O'Tunder, " they was th’ two O'Rourkes, an’ Moike Clancy; an’ Terry Murphy, an’ Pat Casey, an’ wan or two others, in th’ place, drinkin’ this an’ thot, an’ sayin’ this an’ thot, an’ doin’ this an’ thot, an’ finally they got t’ divilin’ wan another, an’ some wan hit wan av thim in th’ shtoomach, an’ from thin on ‘tw: foine foight fer shure. “ Ah!" commented the teacher. “ Then the blow was the casus belli?" “Ye may be roight,” said Mr, O'Tunder, scratching his head in perplexity; “but ‘twas WHAT HE MEANT my undershtandin’ ‘twas Murphy's thot got th’ Seta Perkins —"' They say Josh Haskins has got so fat sence he went tew states congress thet lick.” he has tew hev one o° them vallys tew put on his boots fer him."* St Sorcum—* Reckon thet’s what he meant when he wrote t’ say he was carryin’ all before him.” ALL SERENE. URING the afternoon the leading-man and the lady star had a ter- rific quarrel. Epithets of the hottest nature were bandied back and forth. At last— I will never appear again on the same stage with you !* cried the lady. “ Nor I with you !” retorted the leading-man, “even if you resolved yourself into your natural character of a buzz-saw scene for * Blue Jeans." Naturally, the manager was much perturbed. All his efforts toward a reconciliation came to naught, and the nigh. Wlhtuiuy J ay, F ; Seated in his office, moodily twirling his thumbs, he watched the rig ‘ CS crowd passing into the theatre, and sent a boy back of the scenes to m/. : bring a report from the seat of war. “It's all right," announced the boy on his return ; “they're makin’ : / : war-cloud still lowered as the time for the evening performance drew ( (( ITS WAY. “Pardon me, but is this Smith street ?” RS No, sah; dis am Jones street. Smith street done 1, Mr. Saasner—" There's a furniture-van ahead. Watch me knock the oki lis I bh. aie runs perzackly paralyzed ter dis one, sah. “ ” 3. Te cimcus-wacon priver—"' Yes, Nero; them millionatres was good 2, Wowe-wow! eatin’, but you mustn't expect such rich food every day.” THE AUTOMOBILIST’S SAD, SAD ERROR. comicbooks.com