Judge — February 20, 1909 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This comic satirizes workers' compensation insurance fraud. Mr. Boggs, apparently a state employee, deliberately injures himself to collect insurance payouts—first seeking "a bubble" when wanting money, then contriving accidents (a fractured skull, claiming six-cylinder forty-horse power). The final panel shows a park keeper catching him on the grass picking flowers instead of working, exposing his scheme. The caption's punchline—that instead of the insurance company supporting him, "Mr. Boggs works for the state"—suggests he's defrauding public/state insurance by feigning injuries. The satire targets both corrupt workers and the vulnerability of government insurance systems to exploitation.