Judge, 1911-09-30 · page 8 of 23
Judge — September 30, 1911 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a short story by Ellis Parker Butler titled "Princess Fifi," illustrated with period line drawings. It's not primarily political satire but rather humorous entertainment fiction. The narrative follows a circus manager recounting his experience with a performer named Sue Maxon, who performed under the stage name "Princess Fifi." The story describes her act: an optical illusion where she appeared "sawed in half" at the waist on a trapeze—actually achieved through mirrors, not actual bifurcation. When their equipment broke, Sue proposed returning to her earlier specialty: snake charming. The humor derives from early-20th-century show business culture and the absurdity of the "bifurcated lady" act. A small cartoon at bottom titled "Toujours la Politesse" (Always Politeness) appears unrelated—showing two figures with one yielding to another. The story continues across the page, setting up a comedic adventure involving shipwreck and stranded performers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PRINCESS FIFI. By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER, Author of “Pigs Ii Pigs.” REMEMBER meeting a snake killer once, in the forest of Fontainebleau,” said the man with the beard, ‘‘and I asked him—he was an old, old man— what he got for killing the vipers, and he said half asou apiece. Now, half a’’—— “Speaking of half a sou and snakes,’’ said the stout, bald-headed man, ‘‘reminds me of the time I was managing Princess Fifi. That was her stage name, and when I took her up she was doing the bifurcated lady act. It was a good act. Pull aside the curtain and there she was—just half a lady, sawed off at the waist— swinging on a trapeze. It was a great hit in those days, until all the side shows got them. Her name was Sue—Sue Maxon. That's how the mention of half a sou happened to make me think of her. “Of course, you understand, she wasn’t sawed in two. ‘That was an optical delusion, done with mirrors; and a good act it was, until our mirrors got broken in the wreck at Con- nersville. So I talked it over with Sue—we’d been married a couple of years then—and she said, ‘Chuck it!’ She said the bifurcated lady act was played out, anyway, and her idea was to go back to snake charming. “(In the old days Sue had been a star snake charmer. Not one of these modern petticoats that stand up and sort of slosh round a toothless old snake or two, but the real thing. She didn’t care what snake you gave her. She would take a new rattler, fresh from a hot rock, and make it act like a tame kitten. Oh, she was the real thing! SIGHTS AND— TOUJOURS LA POLITESSE. Stout and cautious gallant—"* You first, madam !"" “Princess Fifithat was the name she charmed under in the old days. So when we had our mirror outfit broken, like I said, Princess Fifi said, ‘Tom, let’s chuck this show and the bifurcated act. I’ve got a hunch we could make a hit in Australia or Austria or some new place with the snake act.’ I was willing enough. I had enough in the bank to get a good bunch of reptiles and pay our fare and get a swell rig for Sue, and we took passage on a steamer for Austria. Australia was too far away for me. Rew BS . MISS LADY BUG CREATES GREAT EXCITEMENT AT THE BUGVILLE POLO MATCH WITH HER LATEST PARISIAN GOWN, “Well, luck seemed dead against us. First the wreck of the train, and then a shipwreck. It was a terrible night, and when Sue and I came ashore —for you bet I wasn’t going to let Sue get far away, if I had to follow her to the bottom of the sea—we had no idea where we were, and we hadn’t a thing but the clothes on our backs. “**Sue,’ I said, ‘this beats the Dutch, doesn’t comicbooks.com