Judge, 1913-11-08 · page 5 of 26
Judge — November 8, 1913 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge magazine page satirizes an unnamed politician (labeled "As Olympias Escuttet"), depicted as an overly serious public figure obsessed with minutiae. The cartoon jokes that he's so preoccupied with trivial details—like preventing ball theft at stadiums—that he neglects serious governance. The dialogue reveals the satire's target: a man so concerned with micromanaging every affair that he constantly asks "What does Mr. Higginbotham think?" about everything, eventually assuming responsibility for national administration and foreign policy. The joke critiques a particular political figure's anxiety-driven, detail-obsessed management style and his apparent uncertainty about decisiveness. The "stadium" setting provides an ironic backdrop for discussing weighty matters of state finance and international relations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Edythe—\| wonder why there are so many policemen here > Anecdotes An Olympian Encounter HE WAS a very fussy little person, and back home in Squantumville he had been for years not only the main ex- hibition, but all the side shows as well. Unfortunately for himself he lacked a sense of humor, and consequently he took life almost as seriously as an undertaker in the face of a low mortality rate. In church affairs it was commonly believed that if Mr. Higginbotham were not to be 7 found in his pew, blow- ing his nose like a trum- pet blast at a certain period of the service, on Sunday morning, it was asure sign that Gabriel ~ would soon be along with the ultimate honk, summoning the world to judgment. At the IN THE STADIUM That Might Hy JOUN KENDRICK BANGS bank nobody could borrow a dollar with- out his approval, and it had been said, with what truth I know not, that neither could anybody draw out a cent of his own money by check until the paying teller had caught his eye and secured his tacit approval. And as in church and bank, so was it in all other affairs of Squantum- ville. It was always, ‘‘What does Mr. Higginbotham think?” ‘‘What does Mr. Higginbotham say?’’ ‘‘Where does old Higginbotham stand in this matter?’’ From all of which it naturally came about that in the small detail of nerves Mr. Higginbotham soon came to be twin- brother to the Frazzle; and when at last to his other responsibilities he volunta- rily added those of the national adminis- tration and felt it necessary for the sal- vation of the republic that he should write his views on foreign questions to Ethyl—1 don't know, unless it's to keep the players from stealing the ball. Have the Secretary of State, communicate by lettergram with the Secretary of the Treasury on the whole duty of finance, and send open letters through the press to the ministers of war, navy, justice, interior, agriculture, commerce and labor Been comicbooks.com