Judge, 1903-02-14 · page 8 of 16
Judge — February 14, 1903 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical illustration critiques American military spending and imperial ambitions in the early 1900s. The cartoon depicts a massive cannon being tested at Sandy Hook arsenal—a real 16-inch gun developed circa 1902. The figures below appear to represent ordinary citizens or soldiers dwarfed by the enormous weapon. The text's detailed specifications emphasize the gun's staggering cost ($100,000 construction plus expensive machinery) and operational expense ($1,100 per discharge). The satire likely mocks the era's arms race and the fiscal priorities of American military expansion, particularly during the Spanish-American War aftermath when the U.S. was asserting naval dominance. By juxtaposing tiny human figures against this colossal instrument of war, the cartoon suggests the disproportionate resources devoted to military hardware versus human needs—a common Progressive-era critique of American militarism and government spending.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The largest.and most powerful gun ever. built was recently put through a successful firing-test at Sandy Hook. This greatest war-weapon of all time was constructed at the Watervliet, New York, senal at a cost. of one hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of the expensive machinery especially de- signed for making it. It is of sixteen-inch calibre, fifty feet long, weighs more than one hundred and . thirty tons, takes a charge of six hundred pounds “of powder, throws a projec of over twenty-four hundred. pounds, and has a range of twenty-one ~ miles. The muzzle velocity of this colossal cannon _ is twenty-three hundred and’ forty-five feet per sec- ond, and its striking power is ninety thousand foot tons. The stoutest battle-ship could hardly withstand this tremendous impact. The cost of each discharge is ‘about'eleven hundred dollars. ae COPYRIGHT 1902 BY JUDGE COMPANY OF MEW YORK comicbooks.com