Judge, 1903-04-25 · page 5 of 16
Judge — April 25, 1903 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* contains several short humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century American satire: **"His Finish"** mocks materialist philosophy—a professor who argued mind was merely matter turned out to have something mentally wrong with him, an ironic comeuppance. **"Up North"** plays on the term "house-warming" (a celebratory gathering when moving), suggesting northerners misunderstood it as literally warming a house during winter. **"Classing It"** satirizes editorial pretension: a writer pitches a joke about an automobile breakdown being towed by horses, but the editor dismissively calls it a "horseless chestnut"—a pun conflating "horseless carriage" (automobiles) with "chestnut" (a stale joke). **"Good Advice"** contains wordplay on "breath of my life" taken literally. **"Good Cause"** jokes about labor union tactics—the delegate was fired for politely *asking* for a raise rather than *demanding* it aggressively, suggesting unions expected confrontational approaches. All rely on wordplay and contemporary references (early automobiles, labor disputes).
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIS FINISH. “es HAT ever be- came of that professor who was al- ways arguing that mind was only mat- ter?” asked the per- son who did not take the papers regularly. “What became dividual who has time to read about things. “ Why, they found out that there was some- thing the matter with his mind.” ae HE STICKS to her closer than a brother.” “Well, she said she would be a sister to him.” UP NORTH. First Esguistay —* What's all the commotion?" Secon Esquiiau—"' Oh, they were just having a house-warming.”* GOOD ADVICE. Jerrovo—"' Ethel is the breath of my life.” Hoeart—" Well, take it easy till you catch your breath.”* CLASSING IT. 66CIR," began the writer, present- ing himself at the desk of the illustrious edit- or, “I have here a joke about an automo- bile breaking down and having to be pull- ed to the repair-stable by horses.” “ That,” comment- ed the illustrious ed- itor, shaking his head decisively, is a horse- less chestnut.” GOOD CAUSE. SO\V/HY did your union fire its walkin’ delegate ?" + Aw, he asked fer a raise ‘stead uv de- mandin’ it.”