Judge, 1918-03-09 · page 29 of 36
Judge — March 9, 1918 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* (March 9, 1918) satirizes Americans growing wealthy during World War I while soldiers fight abroad. The poem "Fed by the Birds" mocks the implausible success stories circulating in newspapers—men becoming millionaires from raising geese, hens, pigeons, and ducks. The satire suggests these tales are as fantastical as biblical miracles, yet people believe them. The adjacent advertisement from American Telephone & Telegraph Company shifts tone dramatically, presenting patriotic messaging about sending "our best manhood" to war and the company's "proud duty" to support the war effort through coordinated industrial production. The juxtaposition is pointed: while corporations claim patriotic sacrifice, ordinary Americans are actually profiting wildly from wartime conditions. The "birds" metaphor implies these fortunes are easy, almost magical—yet real soldiers are dying. The satire criticizes both the gullibility of readers and the unseemly wealth accumulation during national crisis.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| March 9, 1918 Fed by the Birds By Cnances Invix Jusxis LOVE to read the charming tales About the Golden Fleece; Of Midas, with his golden touch, And eggs, from Golden Geese; And how, in our more wondrous days. Of enterprise and dash, \ man can quickly stow away A barrelful of cash. Two men, somewhere in Mi The Daily Screech declar ‘Three years ago were poor as rats, And now they’re millionaires! ‘These brothers, both, describe their rise, With throbbing, thrilling pen, The one possessed a common goose, The other kept a hen! \ woman out in Tuscalloo (The story’s often heard), Built up a fortune on a bee (A bee that was a bird!); And two in merry Maryland Found mountains of good luck, A pigeon did the trick for one, The other had a duck! Elijah dwelt beside the brook, ‘The ancient story reads, ens brought him food ly needs; scoff and sneer, And call the tale absurd, Because, forsooth, no man could get A living from a bird! Press Notes from the Movie Studios By Georce Ceci Cowtxe PHYLLIS DE MIGNON, the beauti- ful Heartgraft star, has just pur- chased a new roadster, the third this week. Miss de Mignon gets 500 letters a day from farm hands in the middle west. In the new railroad thriller being filmed by the Third Rail Studio, Hickory Hedd, the daredevil leading man, gets off a Pullman without tipping the porter. The Superlative Company is preparing for immediate ase a new split reel educational, “Congo Women Weaving Snow Shoes” and “The Domestic Life of the Australian White Ant.” One of the directors of the Third Rail Company is at work on a new feature showing a western dance hall with a sheriff in it. He believes a novelty like this will take with the fans. Donald Doolittle, who played the soda | squirt hero in “A Strong Man’s Love,” has left the P. D. Q. Studio and signed with one of the topical weeklies to lay cornerstones and christen battleships. Maisie Grasse, the hoydenish ingenue of Punch Pictures, is knitting a pink sweater for a soldier. She says if it don’t fit the soldier she will wear it herself. She created the réle of the apple in the met Punch release, “The Apple of His Geoffrey Frotheringay, the popular juvenile of the Superlative Studio and the The battle of the Mame halted the rush of the Germans towards Paris. It aroused the French to |superhuman bravery. They fought |as if led by the spirit of the Maid of Orleans herself. The Marne was a demonstration of the power of patriotism with its back against the wall, sacrifice of self, the same love of country and unity of purpose that inspired the French people must in- spire us, and we must win the war. One Policy The same ¢ The Miracle of the Marne We are sending our best man- hood to fight for us. They must be armed, fed and clothed, cared for through sickness and wounds. This is the work of every individual as well as the Government. It is the proud duty of the Bell System to coordinate its purpose and equipment to the other factors in our national industrial fabric, so that the manufacture and move- ment of supplies to our boys abroad be given right of way. AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES One System Universal Service first actor in the pictures to wear a decol- lette shirt, is dead, aged 73 years. His last part was the crippled newsboy in the recent Superlative feature, “The Bowery Toad,” a sequel to “The Lost Turnip.” Patriotism vs. Hunger By Orsox Lowett HE loyal S| ts cut out the fats; although they're both Carnivorous and keen. The Price AN Arkansas negro preacher labored hard in offering “free salvation” to his congregation. At the close he took up a collection. An old brother in the back seat said: “See here, brudder, if salvation is free why are yo’ goin’ ter take a col- lection?” “Brudder, de watah in de ribber am free if yo’ go down aftah it; but if yo’ have it piped up to yo’, yo’ must pay fo’ de pipin’.”