Judge — September 19, 1903 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This September 1903 Judge cartoon satirizes delays in the Panama Canal project. The central figure appears to be "Isthmus of Panama" (labeled on the banner), depicted as a chaotic, multi-armed creature juggling various conflicts and obstacles. The smaller figure on the left likely represents the United States or American interests, appearing frustrated or impatient. The caption's pun—referencing the long wait between drinks—suggests the canal's construction delays are frustrating American commercial interests eager to complete the waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The cartoon mocks the tangled complications hindering progress on this major engineering project, a significant political issue of the Roosevelt administration's early years.