Judge, 1908-02-15 · page 15 of 16
Judge — February 15, 1908 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page announces Judge magazine's "Taft Limerick Contest" results and publishes a lengthy submitted poem about William Howard Taft's ancestry. The poem, signed "R.W.T.," humorously traces Taft's genealogy back to an ancestor who sailed from Scotland, through Massachusetts colonial history, to Ohio, emphasizing the Secretary's (likely William Howard Taft, who served as Secretary of War) family lineage and connections. The satire works on multiple levels: the absurdly detailed and meandering genealogy parodies Victorian genealogical obsession, while the poem's awkward rhymes and forced meter mock both ambitious amateur poetry and the pretensions of public figures. The contributor explicitly hopes this flattering ancestry poem will help secure Taft as a political candidate, making the satire simultaneously a commentary on political patronage and self-interested praise. The magazine presents this as entertainment while subtly mocking both Taft and the contest participant.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
~wlskey LTH FOR: RE Subscription Agents are constantly being added to the list of special representatives now | enthusiastically pushing Leslie’s Weekly, Judge, Judge’s Quar- terly, Judge’s Library, and Sis Hopkins’ Monthly. Not alone se of the popularity of these fcially produce the and bouguet of beca publications, but of the liberal | propositions given. Write now for terms and samples. the guvd okt he est Kentucky way. Each bottle Judge Company bears th miment “Green Fifth Avenue and Madison Square ve meurarce ‘Diouf aod quantity. New York City Sunny Brook Distillery Co. Jetierson Co. ky. By James Montoomery Flace Pictures By Jamet Montgomery Flage Copyenglit, ager. by Jintge Co. ANOTHER BRIDGE SCANDAL Send 8 cents for our illuarated catalogue of beautiful prints 2: : HOLDING HANDS. Puutogeavare in sepia, 14219 JUDGE COMPANY, 225 Fifth Avenue, New York Judge’s Limerick Contests received in the Taft contest, which accurately out- ine e genial Secretary’s ancestry. lines the genial Secretary EXT WEEK will be published the re- sults of the Taft Limerick Contest. The work of sorting the answers is now being done. In the meantime we take pleasure in publishing a poem THE: original Taft the ox Sailed from the Caledon In a rather indeterminate year We know that the cav Was a thing to him most 4 With at harge-sized ocean threw For he was a Puritan, ultra blue, And wasted no love on Charles the TE sasintly. seen between; Some time when the latter was holding down 1 brow, Our progenitor « nal ‘Taft, plain Robert by 1 ‘Turned up smiling, unknown to far In sixteen hundred and seventy-cight In Braintree town in the Old Bay State; (Book seven Of Suffolk r two seven-six ards this fact doth tix;) in M And looked for jobs in the carpenter line, jon in "79 Now Rol Or rather his wi Scattered the whole broad 1 known on the antipe Will, on his flying trip xoes down to the sea in ships), was (For he often Hobnobs with re overs And busts the pants on his buyeny knees (2) OF sons had they All of them very And they had sons and sons Followed, like sands on the ocean's shore, And thus 1 our pedigree From two of the five on our family tree Down from the next te the younge Came Aaron, two Peters, then Alpl Who left Vermont at an early: date Out to Ohi And he made yood inv Besides setting Foraker in at ¢ Mixed with politica! fever to emi 1 chill, By being the father of Cousin Bill! ‘Thomas was Robert's oldest son, Beazer, Aaron, Aaron they run; Elijah, Russell, and then, by GL Another Russell, and that is met (Of course the grammar is out of joint, But the rhyme is the really important point.) por, E thus, as 1 ought to do, ship te you. Tat sheyed y rick, postage paid, Explaining why Bill is my candidate Wf this, aur ship of states asa favor that you'll tell Bill “That he of them xl will, And if F poke fu girth and size It is only becuse’ expect the prize, For the limerick is a “bird” 1 know, (The clerk of our city court told: me so). For your k And send Would you kindly do this much for me? Yours very truly, R. W. comicbooks.com