Judge, 1908-01-11 · page 10 of 16
Judge — January 11, 1908 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical comic strip about crowd management on what appears to be the Brooklyn Bridge. The protagonist "Nervy Nat" attempts various schemes to control dangerous pedestrian congestion—a real public safety problem in early 20th-century New York. The sequence shows Nat's escalating, absurd solutions: stopping traffic, physically pushing crowds, even considering drowning people in the East River as population control. His companion Algernon questions each increasingly outlandish idea. The satire targets both urban overcrowding and incompetent civic management. The joke is that Nat's "solutions" are comically worse than the original problem, mocking how authorities might bungle public safety issues. The dialogue reveals the desperation of dealing with Brooklyn-bound commuter traffic, suggesting genuine frustration with New York's infrastructure challenges masked in dark humor typical of Judge magazine's satirical style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
{fering snakes! did one A P n and children first. I'm the shoving to be dor 2 va an vi yt a a a ee re eee ee 3. Cuorus or B Nexvy Nat In-the-corner compat of baby-carriages has hit what crimes are committed in thy name!" 4. Nexvy Nat—"* Eternal back teeth are all I gernon, jam the he n! but [can't stand this much longer. 1, worst of all, I'm bound for Brooklyn. Al- starboard, and we'll try another tack."* ieee oe 5. Nerve Nat f just and merciful Providence would Intervene. . O° “So it's punchin’ holes in th’ river yer are fer pastime, Is It, Algernon. we're d for the East River. Can you swim? " ‘ock fer about ten years fer this." ole, | appreciate the logic of yo remarks: only let me add’ that your allusion to ten years fs preferable to ten minutes in Brook lyn, ts my hat on straight?” NO. 32.—NERVY NAT ATTEMPTS TO RE ULATE THE BRIDGE CRUSH. er, 73 cents 10 cents additions NOTE.—The Ftest Sert we fo Avenues New York. evy Nats Ady ie wien OMAN YS comicbooks.com