Judge, 1904-01-23 · page 18 of 18
Judge — January 23, 1904 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon: "A Born Politician"** Two working-class men on a rooftop discuss Dillaney's appointment as corporation counsel at $10,000/year. The joke satirizes political corruption: Dillaney isn't qualified as a lawyer, but that's irrelevant—he'll simply hire an actual lawyer for $3,000 to do the work, pocketing $7,000 as profit. This mocks the practice of political appointments rewarding cronies with lucrative sinecures regardless of competence. **Bottom Cartoon: "At the Museum"** A society woman and a "Skeleton" character reference a poker game with the "Legless Wonder" (likely a circus sideshow attraction). The pun: after winning two jackpots, the Legless Wonder got "cold feet"—a witty play on the idiom meaning to lose nerve, absurd when applied to someone without feet. Both cartoons rely on period-specific knowledge: early 1900s political patronage and circus/sideshow culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A BORN POLITICIAN. + ‘So Dillaney got th’ job av corporation counsel at tin thousand a year? Shure, he's no lawyer.” “No; but he kin hire a lawyer fer three thousand a year thot'll do th’ work betther than Dillaney cud if he was a lawyer.”* RULES FREAKS Must BE IN THEIR CHAIRS ATS. JAM. SHARP. NO FLIRTING. NO GUM CHEWING} BY ORDER. oF THE MANAGER. Sackett WilbelnsLitho & Pig Co New York Corvment 1903 ey JUDGE COMPANY OF MEW TORK AT THE MUSEUM. Fat Lapy—'' So you sat in a poker game with the ‘legless wonder’ last night?" SxeteTon—" Yes; and as soon as he won two jack-pots he got ‘cold feet.”””