Judge, 1913-05-24 · page 7 of 24
Judge — May 24, 1913 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two satirical pieces reflecting early 20th-century domestic anxieties: **Top cartoon ("Puzzle Picture"):** Shows a drawing-room scene where Mrs. Porter (a wealthy customer) and Mrs. Bunner (her dressmaker) clash over a foreign servant—an "Infant Prodigy" whose identity readers must deduce. The joke satirizes class tensions and xenophobia: Mrs. Bunner, exhausted by the man's constant chatter in multiple foreign languages (Cingalese, Malay, Portuguese), complains bitterly. Mrs. Porter initially demands sympathy but gradually recognizes their shared frustration with the incomprehensible foreigner. The satire mocks both the servant's unintelligible behavior and the privileged women's condescension toward immigrant workers. **Bottom cartoon ("A Truthful Girl"):** A young couple in a hammock engages in flirtation. The girl's claim that this is "a new hammock" is her excuse for why only now she's alone with him there—a coy defense of propriety, suggesting previous romantic encounters elsewhere. Both pieces reflect contemporary anxieties about immigration, class mobility, and courting customs.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PUZZLE PICTURE Find the parents of the Infant Prodigy. determined as Mrs. Porter was patronizing. Mrs, Bunneren- my duty, Mrs. Bunner, to tell you what I think of this matter.”” deavored to remove the waist lining from Mra. Porter’s keeping. The dressmaker fiercely interrupted her. ‘‘But I hate him! The customer suddenly became a stone I worse than hate him! My husband has forced him on me!"’ S~~ woman in pose and rigid clasp as along Mrs. Bunner seized the waist lining suddenly, and Mrs. Porter ay\ Z\ wail of entreaty penetrated the room. In dragged it from her in repugnance. co the deep silence which followed, she hur- “T marvel at you, Mrs. Bunner! I thought you were a eed riedly wiped a suspicious moisture from her Christian woman, who could be appealed to in moderation."’ eyes and spoke quickly. ‘Mrs. Bun- ner, I have dealt with you for many years. Now, with a natural sympa- thy for all who suffer, I ask you to get that coffee.”” Mrs. Bunner stopped fitting. “Mrs. Porter,’’ she said, ‘I will not! I listen to him all day long. He chatters, chatters, chatters. He has me crazy!’ Mrs. Bunner ceased to Speak as a succession of crisp, staccato words in a foreign language came hurling through the closed partition and charged the atmosphere to an electric attention, ‘*He Swears something awful!’’ said the dressmaker, shaking her head in a hopeless manner. ‘‘He's swearing in Cinga- lese now,’’ added Mrs. Bunner. ‘‘He swears in Malay and Portuguese, but he doesn’t know much in English, which is a blessing.’* Mrs. Porter was conscious of astonishment, and then of a strange sympathy. The old man was alone in a for- eignland. She could at least sympathize with his provo- cation, if not with his language. Besides, he used a for- eign tongue, which in itself palliated the offense, No one A TRUTHFUL GIRL usarstood him)and be corrupted po. morals. Mrs: Forter Melvin—Dear, am I the only one you have sat with in this hammock? decided to come to his aid and spoke once more. ‘‘It is Melvina—Yes. This is a new hammock. ™ ww comicbooks.com