Judge — May 14, 1904 — page 20: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two satirical cartoons from Judge magazine (copyright 1903). **"Rather Suffer"** (top) depicts a sick child refusing medical treatment, preferring the disease itself. The humor relies on child dialect and stubbornness—the parents' exasperation that the patient would rather suffer than accept the doctor's remedy. **"Doubly Correct"** (bottom) is a riddle joke about the Boer War in South Africa. A British father owns a "Boer laager" (a fortified camp used by Boer fighters) and must divide it equally between two sons. The punchline—dividing it "arf an' arf" (half and half)—works as both a solution to the riddle and satire: it mocks British colonial attitudes toward South Africa by reducing a genuine military conflict to a children's wordplay joke. The "Master Nipper" character's English accent emphasizes the British perspective. Both cartoons use dialect and children's voices for comedic effect typical of early 1900s American humor.