Judge, 1918-02-02 · page 11 of 36
Judge — February 2, 1918 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon, by Benjamin De Casseres, depicts a confrontation between a young woman (labeled "Art") and a Prussian military officer (the Kaiser). The woman pleads she never harmed him; he responds that merely "shaming" him constitutes harm "to a Prussian"—a satirical jab at Prussian honor and militarism. The accompanying essay collection titled "Shrapnel" uses sharp aphorisms to mock Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm II during World War I. It attacks German military arrogance, U-boat warfare, and the Kaiser's vanity. References to "three kinds of ruins—ancient ruins, just ruins, and German ruins" and characterizations of Germany as intellectually shallow ("scholastic jungle and no depth") reflect wartime Allied propaganda. The piece equates German conduct with theft and destruction, positioning the Kaiser as a predatory "shoplifter" in world trade.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
An—Why destroy me? I never harmed you! Kaiser—No? but you shamed me, and that is harm—to a Prussian. SHRAPNEL By Bexyyiy Dr Casseres y and laid them down between Calcutta and Jerusalem. England was “to be brought to her knees” by the U-boats in three months; but it seems England has an old habit of winning wars on her kne Unbeatabl England, the st There are pools only ankle-deep in which the foliage of the trees around them cast such dark shadows that they seem to have great depth; that is the German mind—all scholastic jungle and no depth. If Russia repudiates her debts she will find Gencral Boycott in supreme control of the Allies. In the department store of World-T'rade the Kaiser is the shoplifter. Slogan of the Allies’ Fl first, fly, fly again. There are three kinds of ruins—ancient ruins, just ruins, and German ruins. Ev dead Frenchman and Belgian is a bayonet pointed at the heart of the Kaiser. Can we, who stand the war so well, survive the memoir- writing era of the kings? Satan is smoking up the human race and using Europe as his ash-tray The most astonishing sight in the world would be the Kaiser in an opera hat and evening clothes. ing Corps: If you don’t succeed at