Judge, 1904-05-14 · page 10 of 20
Judge — May 14, 1904 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate satirical pieces: **"The Progress of Literature"** mocks the self-referential pretension of magazine writing—a writer pitches an article about "the man who wrote about the man who wrote" impressions, creating an absurd chain of literary navel-gazing. The satire targets overintellectualization and the magazine industry's focus on trivial content. **"How Ruby Robert Was Buncoed"** (the comic strip sequence) depicts a con: a character leaves old worn-out shoes in a cart while strolling through town, then returns to find them stolen. "Buncoed" means swindled. The irony—that worthless shoes get stolen—suggests thieves are fooled into taking valueless goods, turning the robbery itself into a con. The other fragments ("Economical Ruse," "Isolation") offer brief satirical observations about frugality and solitude. These are gentle humor pieces targeting urban life, literary pretension, and petty crime.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ISOLATION. HOUGH Crusoe on the isl and Our fancy may appall, The berry in the shortcake Is loncliest of all. THE PROGRESS OF LITERATURE. 6¢G00D- MORNING, Mr. Slingink !" says the magazine editor. * Have you brought your manu- script?” “Yes, sir. Thave writ- ten a sterling article about the man who wrote about the man who wrote his im- pressions of the man who was the author of the book Economicat. Ruse—‘These old uns are “bout fallin’ ter pieces; but put ‘em in the box—we're allus needin’ scraps o' leather round the farm." Rue Rovert—" Well, well! Number nines—just my size, How kind of these jays to buy new shoes an’ leave ‘em round so handy!" Rusy Rosext —* Well, old leath- Mt Pere goes fer yer last voyage on de bosom uv de deep.” Toumaso—" How is your club's amateur production of ‘ Hamlet progressing ?"” But we're having some trouble getting the nine Miss Fetyxe white cats for the g! 3. 5. ** Oh, excellently! host." HOW RUBY ROBERT WAS BUNCOED. THEIR PREDICAMENT. new."” 2 4 6, about the man who wrote the estimate of the man who wrote the story that had such a big sale.” “Good! Let me have the manuscript. Now, will you kindly go into the next room and give a few points about yourself to Mr. Spa- cer? He wants to write us an article about you for the number following the one in which your article will appez Freddie —“ What's a hobby, dad Cobwigger —* A hob- by, my boy, is hard work that doesn’t pay anything ” Economicat Ruse (chuckling)—* No great risk if | leave ‘em here un- der the seat while | saunter round town a bit." Rusy Rovext—"' Here s a quiet spot, so off wid de old an’ on wid de Rusy Rosext—" By all de shades uv velvet. if I'm not buncoed!”* | custom = comicbooks.com