Judge, 1904-11-12 · page 3 of 16
Judge — November 12, 1904 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This comic strip satirizes a character called "Nervy Nat," a scheming con artist who exploits naive people through various tricks. The narrative arc shows Nat using a hansom cab (horse-drawn taxi) as cover for his schemes: 1. He tricks an old gentleman into hiring a buggy 2. He claims to need cab fare money for a supposed "Hay Rube special" 3. He deceives a deacon with flattery about his daughter 4. He orchestrates an elaborate scam where passengers encounter planted "evidence" (fake glasses/beard) 5-6. The con culminates in theft—Nat steals money while his accomplice distracts the victim by overturning the carriage The satire mocks urban con artists' manipulative tactics and the gullibility of their victims. It reflects early 20th-century concerns about street crime and dishonesty in American cities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
L Nerv Nat—"* That cab seems to say, ‘ Nervy, you can drive a horse, Id chap! Come on!’ The careless and trusting gentleman who owns the outfit must be sampling some wood-alcohol in some near-by public house. Thus do hard drinks make soft snaps for the other fellow." 2 Nervy Nat—"''Tis about time for the ‘ Hey-Rube special’ to be In, 1 will lay for some bpd ewe with a roll, come to town to see the sights. I'm just about out of clgareet money.” Tue oLp centLeman (from Olean)—"'1 wanter hire yer buggy ter take me ter my darter's, She lives on Fifth avenoo, How much ye goin’ ter charge me?” Nervy Nat—" Fifth ave.? Let's see; that will only be twenty dol- lars, sir. Jump right in!" THe OLD GeNTLeMAN—" Wa-al, thet dew seem a powerful sight o° money; but they told me ter hum ez how I'd hev ter loosen up in Noo York. ‘Guess I'll go ‘long with ye, The next man might say fifty.” 5. Nervy Nat—‘ Now, Deacon Peppercorn, we'll get down to business. You can begin now on the good advice the folks at home gave you and loosen up. Hey! I'm talking to you—you with the Grand Rapids on your chin. Come out of your nap and make a deposit. In another minute I'll hand you one in the ""— 4. Nervy Nat—"' His daughter lives on Fifth ave. Isn't that just like your gentleman from the provinces—goes Into detail so? So afrald you ‘won't know the right address he bores you with these minute and super- fluous directions. "I'll drive out to Dobts ferry and make him disgorge.” Derective Suick—"'I'll take off these giasses and beard. I've got that ‘Nervy Nat’ dead to rights, Been trying for a month to catch him at some of his games.” 6 Detective Suicx—" Will you, my boy—will you? Got up against the real thing this trip, eh? Now, get back on your perch and drive to the central office—to take effect immediately. You're wanted!" Nexve Nat—" Suffering sleuths! that’s a mean trick to play on me— and | had the money all spent. Now | owe myself about seven hundred dollars."* NO. 48.—NERVY NAT AND THE HANSOM CAB, ‘ comicbooks.com