Judge, 1915-07-24 · page 11 of 28
Judge — July 24, 1915 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical humor about early 20th-century American life: **"A Difficult Operation"** satirizes the challenge of medicating a reluctant child. The anecdote describes a family's chaotic attempt to force medicine down their young, sickly nephew Postlethwait. The joke reveals the humor in the child's violent resistance—he manages to injure multiple family members, destroy property, and escape. The satire targets both overzealous parenting and the child's physical weakness (he's described as unable to attend school). **"The Waiter"** is a brief comedic poem by Russell F. Briggs complaining that despite waiters being "named" for waiting, customers actually do all the waiting. It's a simple pun on job titles and customer service frustrations. **The top illustration** references "Hark Flaw, of Flaw and Flivver," apparently a musical comedy producer who hires chorus girls at beaches—poking fun at entertainment industry practices and exploitation. These pieces represent Judge's typical blend of domestic humor and mild social criticism aimed at middle-class readers.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
2 chap over there is Hark Flaw, of Flaw and Flivver, the musical comedy producers. He spends his summers at the beach selecting girls for the chorus.'’ The Waiter GIVE my order to the waiter And get it thirty minutes later; Then ponder on a question grave, The while my hunger sating— Why thus are waiters named, I crave, When I do all the waiting? A Difficult Operation X. Cze brother and a neighbor boy who —— Hf FIENDISH uproar which had dropped in to see the fun sat on his \ emanated from my resi- hands. Another brother held his head down. dence and aroused the en- _! rode astride of his chest to manipulate the tire neighborhood last Spoon. His mother carefully filled said evening,’ explainedGrout | SP0on with medicine, I seized him by the P. Smith, ‘‘was caused by a united endeavor upon the part of most of those present to make my nephew, Postlethwait, aged nine, son of my niece, Samuella, take a dose of medicine. “Soon after the family moved over there from Pruntytown, it was discovered that Postlethwait was so run down that, while he could still eat very well, go fishing and the like, he was utterly unable, by his own testimony, to attend school, where, as a new boy, he encountered the profound con- tempt of the old-timers, nor to Sabbath school so long before Christmas. On this account it was finally decided that he needed a course of blood purifier and body builder. “After a lively preliminary skirmish we overwhelmed him by sheer force of num- bers, bore him triumphantly to the floor and Proceeded to dose him in this wise: One of his loving sisters knelt and held his right foot, and the other held his left, as he lay on his back, spread out like a capital letter throat with one hand, thus forcing his mouth open, and carefully advanced the spoon thereunto with the other. Russell F. Briggs. “*He immediately had a con- vulsion, during which he man- aged to knock the spoon from my hand and its contents into my eyes, kicked both sisters in a most ungentlemanly way, smote his brother and the fun- loving neighbor boy heavily, smashed the bottle and thereby well-nigh ruined a rug, tore loose from me, darted from the door and fled with horrible yells over to his grandma’s, where, of course, he was safe. Tf he had not been an invalid, I tremble to think of what he might have done to us!’’ —Tom P. Morgan. SS as PA Gratitude is a noble senti- _——— es Qe ane: a ment which we feel toward one * who is about to do us a favor. PROVIDENCE comicbooks.com