Judge, 1911-09-30 · page 4 of 23
Judge — September 30, 1911 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes American obsession with record-breaking and danger. "As of Yore" mocks aviation stunts—despite crashes and deaths, aviators continue pursuing records. The cartoon implies this recklessness reflects broader American culture. "Look Out for This Fellow" depicts a man yelling "Fire!" in a crowded building, referencing the famous legal principle that falsely shouting fire is unprotected speech. The text criticizes someone in Canonsburg, PA, for doing exactly this, suggesting the legal principle offers no protection for dangerous panic-mongering. "How Alaska Is Being Treated" criticizes exploitation of Alaska's resources by politicians and industrialists. "Dr. Taft Puts a New Label on the Democratic Tariff Idea" attacks President Taft's tariff policies, suggesting he's disguising unpopular legislation under deceptive labeling.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AS OF YORE. In all the sports Americans are said to be ‘‘ record-mad."" are simply crazy to hold the records for fast horses, for fast boats, for fast autos—in fact, for about everything else, including fast li ing. In almost every case an attempt to break a record is later record of a break. Probably the most daring of the would-be rec- ord breakers are the aviators who are trying to make world records in altitude and long-distance flying. It is all one grand flirtation with death. Recently an aviator was killed simply because he feared the jeers of the crowd. It had paid its money to see a flight, and demanded that there should be one, even though the en- gine of the aeroplane was in poor working order. It saw the flight, and it also saw the aviator fall to his death. Unless there be a change in the spirit of American sports, undertakers will be establishing world records. HOW ALASKA IS BEING TREATED. Unfortunately Alaska is just now receiving a severe thrashing at the hands of editors who dip their pens in rainbow inks. If the pot of gold is to be made available for use, it will not be through the editorial writers on yellow papers, but rather through practical business men who know how to develop natural resources. It is too bad that Secretary of the Interior Fisher could not have taken along with him on his recent Alaska trip the immense amount of “* hot air '' sent out by the yellow press. It would doubtless have raised the temperature up there several degrees. LOOK OUT FOR THIS FELLOW. ‘The most dangerous man in any community is not the man who sets fire to a building, but the man who, on the least provocation, yells ** Fire !'’ in a crowded gathering. The terrible loss of life at Canonsburg, Pa., is an illustration to the point. At a moving picture show in the opera house of this village the machine devel- oped a slight defect. There was a little ‘‘click,"’ but no explosion, flash, or even the faintest sign of fire. Nevertheless, some fool foreigner yelled ‘'Fire,"" and a stampede for the exit ensued. The result may be seen in the twenty-six newly-made graves in the cemetery of that village. It might be well to make it a criminal offense even to yell" Fire’? in case of the real thing. Fires can be fought, but nothing under the sun can stop panics. DR. TAFT PUTS A NEW LABEL ON THE DEMOCRATIC TARIFF IDEA. It did not take President Taft long to see that the tariff tinkering of the last Congress was ‘tariff for politics only.'" Americans are said to love fair play. What would be thought of a judge who would allow a verdict to be rendered by a jury before evidence was presented? Yet this is exactly what was done by Congress. It simply would not wait for the testimony of the expert witnesses who are now investigating the tariff question. All lovers of fair play— regardless of politics—concur in President Taft's yeto of the recent tariff legislation. comicbooks.com