Judge, 1915-12-25 · page 10 of 29
Judge — December 25, 1915 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes contemporary American attitudes toward nature and progress circa early 1900s. **"The Last Buffalo"** is the main piece—a mock-serious lament about Medicine Lodge, Kansas planning to slaughter the last state buffalo for their holiday meal. The satire targets philistinism: people who disrespect historical/cultural treasures (comparing such diners to those who'd drink Nelson Sherry in gulps or sit on the Pyramids). The text argues the buffalo deserves a "noble" death in the prairie, killed by wolves or starvation, rather than becoming a menu item—ironically treating a wild animal's death with more reverence than its actual preservation. The humor lies in this inverted logic. **"Fit and Fine"** jokes about a bookkeeper caught embracing a typewriter—the boss's pun about his "head for figures" plays on double meaning. **"That New Leaf"** puns on New Year resolutions: a poor man's "new leaf" is literally writing checks (cheques) instead of financial reform. **"The Point of View"** is a marital joke about a husband noticing what a woman *isn't* wearing rather than what she is.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
keeps its collective hat on in the pres- ence of the Venus de Medici; of these are those who laugh in- the mention, in con- nection with clarity, of Pittsburgh, Pa. The last Buffalo! The Jast Bufialo! Dead, dismembered —his memory en- SPECIALS FOR TODAY The Last Buffalo KAssas was in a furore of indignation because the inhabitants (or is it members?) of Medicine Lodge were going to eat, for their holiday meal, the last buffalo in the State. There are those who have no re- spect for antiquity; who would drink Lord Nelson Sherry in gulps; who would use the Mona Lisa as a skin-food advertisement; who would sit on the Pyramid of Cheops, with their feet on Gizeh, and tell the story of how the sailor ate eggs while the rest of the crew was starving— when, leaving the pyramids out of it, the hoariness of the joke alone should command uncovered heads and tears of sympathy. It is of such that those who shout ‘‘Go up, bald-head” are recruited; of such is the class which “Gosh, Mandy, this is almost as good as seein’ it at the Movies. shrined not in ever- lasting bronze, but in that flesh which is grass! His sepulchre a paunch, his monument a stomach-ache! Ci ns of Kansas, let not this prof- anation take place. If the last Buf- falo must go, turn him out on your boundless prairies, and let him perish as he was meant to perish. Better, far better, to be pulled down by wolves (are there wolves in Kansas?), or even to die of starvation, than to serve as a pitce de résistance! Ay, carve him into chops and steaks! Long has be held his place; And many a heart has thrilled to see This remnant of a race. . . . Treat with respect his shaggy hide; To hunger’s voice be deaf, And give him to his rightful fate— The buzzard, not the chef. Fit and Fine “T happened in your office yester- day, when you were out, and I caught your bookkeeper with his face buried in the shoulders of that statuesque typewriter of yours.” “Ob, he has a wonderful head for figures, that fellow has.” That New Leaf EW YEAR has come; With undue grief I gently thumb A brand new leaf; For Christmas took My bottom cent, And T must look For cash for rent. Thus we explain The leaf, by heck! “Tis what we deign To term a cheque. —Jesse G. Glare. The Point of View Mrs. Flubdub—Did you notice Mrs. Brownsmith’s décolleté gown at the reception? Mr. Flubdub—Can’t say I did. Mrs. Flubdub— Just like you men! i vhat she had on? ,to tell the truth, I was too busy noticing what she had off. HARTMAN ©