Judge — February 4, 1905 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two satirical cartoons mocking labor and social hierarchies of the era. **Top cartoon ("His View of It"):** Shows an "Empire State Express" train operated by working-class characters (Ruffles the engineer and a conductor). The joke satirizes workers' priorities—the conductor suggests that without money, one must resort to manual labor like cutting wood or building sawbucks, reducing human worth to economic survival. **Bottom cartoon ("Why, the Idea!"):** Depicts a wealthy white woman (Miss Gorwealth) asking a Black domestic worker (Dinah Jones) to do her laundry. The satire critiques entitlement: Dinah refuses because she has a music lesson—inverting expected social deference. The "idea!" expresses the employer's shock that her employee won't accommodate her demands, suggesting Judge's satirical commentary on class presumption and servant exploitation during this period. Both cartoons employ period-typical dialect and caricature to highlight social inequality.