Judge, 1919-08-02 · page 14 of 36
Judge — August 2, 1919 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous comic strip narrated by a character named "Chawlie" describing a disastrous weekend hiking trip across the American prairie. The story follows his misadventures: starting 1,000 miles away, boarding a train with false promises of free service, encountering a tortoise he mistakes for shelter, attempting to ride it, praying to survive, and ultimately being struck by a train's backfiring cylinders. The satire targets early 20th-century railroad advertising and travel promotion—the "New Hope" train and its exaggerated service claims. The humor derives from the character's malapropisms ("Chawlie," "boson" for boatswain), physical slapstick with the tortoise, and the ironic ending where he's knocked unconscious and returns home "somewhat in cog" (condition unclear/damaged). The strip spoofs both romantic prairie adventure narratives and unreliable transportation companies.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘Chawlie” Recounts a Week-End Hike Across the Prairie Z I a) wen NEW HoPE \ 2 SPRUNG UNTO MY “ | [2 BOSON en SAW A LF THIS, 19 8 THROUGH TRAN AND F Panic diTaey|| ERVICE. vit SS ome WENDING ITS © You! 1g }y SAYS 1? a “1 WAS WEARY AND FOOTSORE_ AND WAS SEEKING A PLACE OF REPOSE — ‘BEST RECK= sONING WE COVERED AT LEAST 4 30. THE FIRST LEG OF ouUR JOURNEY OUR ROLLING BARC = HEADED FoR THE = Ze-—_— AND Just AS | fRocKIES, —— SETTLED DOWN TO DREAM OF ” y HOME AND “OFFERING Piz =], - om MOTHER= A LIGHT, IS y = r 7 - ONE COURSE | EVENING | THATS WHY 5] te RETURN- | ‘ = HOM AFooT AND SOMEWHAT iN COG.” ionedollar ten-reel release, “The Faithless Chore Boy.’ ) 4 comicbooks.com