Judge, 1908-12-05 · page 14 of 44
Judge — December 5, 1908 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks newspaper production deadlines by telling a sentimental Christmas story that gets deliberately cut short for practical reasons. The narrative follows a classic Victorian trope: a poor match-boy selling wares on Christmas Eve encounters a wealthy gentleman who, moved by sympathy, reaches into his wallet to give the boy substantial money. However, the story abruptly ends mid-scene with the cry "COPY!"—indicating the newspaper's deadline. The satire's punch line reveals the real villain: not poverty or indifference, but editorial necessity. The writer explicitly states the story was cut short because "a reporter had to cut his copy short in order to satisfy a waiting compositor" before press time. The accompanying elephant cartoon titled "An Inquisitive Mind" appears unrelated—likely filler content. This works as satire on how *Judge* magazine itself operated: sentimental stories took backseat to production logistics, and readers got interrupted narratives. It's self-aware mockery of the publication's own constraints.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
n those of By To brighten h Oh, Muses, fill my But elusive, yet, ‘To fill Oh, Peg I wish I wo The Reporter’s By FP. T WAS Christmas Eve! | Snowflakes were falling thick and fast, In front of an old rustie church, boxes of matches in his » hands, stood a boy. nding. there 1 little wi He had bi nd to rs, but no one se ny h n st pay any attention to his feeble ery of ** A boss?” The little fellow in the tattered garments was passed by unnoticed, Poor lad! ‘There he was out in the cold, while other little boys h la- 4, surrounded by happy + loaded with costly gifts, thought and friends, with a big Christm: And he cold stood an honest little fellow, whos was to earn a few pennies with which to make his mother’s lonely heart happy on this eventful night. on AN INQUISITIVE MIND. “TL wonder what that ball is down there?” 3 ULE Wh But I won And editors are rather we And Polly wants a phonograph abode How do you start an ode? My brain is full of gems in rough, Oh, how did Byron write h silken stocking? us, ope wings a plumber! The Bard at Christmas By B. J. DASKAM , in pageant bi is more ple er if Lord Byron g nt s day; n the mode), n pent and mocking. vuygh Christmas Story PITZER ‘The poor match-boy ha ing down the street, a well- a high silk tile, the lor khan collar of a costly overcoat. On reaching the boy he stopped. At last the shivering little man met one who sympathized with him. My boy, why are you out in this treacherous weather, selling almost despaired, when he ed man, his head conc buried in the warm astra- The man’s heart cold s. He put -t, extracted therefrom a fat wallet, and was about to hand the youngster a crisp ten-dollar bill, when there came a ery of --* COPY! Accordingly the writer of this st 8 it was almost time for the y had to cut it short aper to go to press abruptly, and all speci d to go in at once, And thus a poor boy was robbed of a large sum of money, simply because a reporter had to cut his copy short in order to satisfy a waiting compositor. ich is fate! » think that such a thing she How can respectable people allowed look at it comicbooks.com