Judge, 1912-07-27 · page 6 of 24
Judge — July 27, 1912 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes "dog days"—the hot summer period (July-August) when, in era folklore, dogs supposedly went mad and rabies spread. The main poem, written from a dog's perspective, mocks the panic this caused: dogs faced confinement, abuse, and societal suspicion simply because of the season, not actual behavior. The satire works on two levels: it ridicules the *irrational* fear of dogs during summer, and uses the dog's mistreatment as social commentary—comparing how baseless suspicion treats both animals and marginalized people unfairly. The accompanying jokes about women and suffrage feel disconnected, suggesting multiple satirical pieces on one page. The top panels show a girl leaving home (suggesting a plot development, perhaps unrelated to the dog material).
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
This little girl went away for the summer— The Dog's Soliloquy. I SOMETIMES really wish I knew Just who Invented that fool boogaboo Called dog days! Whate'er his breeding, station, birth, Or worth, He planned for dogs a hell on earth With dog days! To terriers, bulldogs, hounds and curs, Kind sirs, This statement equally refers— At dog days: Where any harmless hound appears, Great fears Arise, and women flee in tears In dog days. They lock us up in kennels hot, Or swat And drive us from each shady spot In dog days. The thought that hydrophobia’s curse Is worse ions of a hearse In dog days. Brings constant vi AnJ humans, with wild thoughts un- checked, Suspect Each canine, howsoe’er correct — In dog days. By LIDA KECK WIGGINS. Few men have pity on the clown Who's down, And who must face the lowering frown Of ‘dog days!"’ He is a ‘‘suspect’’ of the law Whose maw Opes for him, and his slightest flaw Brings “dog days THE TIMP, THE PLACE, AND—WHERE I8 SHE? So, tho’ a dog I pity can The man, Or dog, beneath suspicion’s ban— In ‘‘dog days."* And if humanity should hark This bark And should forget traditions dark Of ‘‘dog days,”” If each would winnow out that chaff By half— Then dog and men alike would laugh At dog days!”” Too Sensitive. “There is absolutely no use to talk to me about woman suffrage."’ “Really, old man, I cannot under- stand why you oppose it so strongly.’” “Well, I'll tell you. 1 was ina cloth- ing store last week looking at some neckties when a woman came in and told one of the clerks she wanted to buy a collar for her dog.’” Ah, Yes, Too True! “T can’t understand why you wish to lavish your affection on a dog. Why don’t you adopt a child?” “Oh, I should be afraid to become fond of a child. If it should die one couldn’t have it stuffed and put in a cor- ner of the library, you know."’ comicbooks.com