Judge, 1920-02-14 · page 7 of 44
Judge — February 14, 1920 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Cartoon Analysis This page satirizes the opportunistic tactics of insurance claim agents. The narrative follows Joe McDuffy, who survives a streetcar collision but is severely injured. While recovering in a hospital, a claim agent from the Metropolitan Traction Company approaches him with a settlement offer: $300 in cash in exchange for releasing the company from all liability. The satire targets the company's strategy of exploiting vulnerable accident victims. By offering quick cash while McDuffy is incapacitated and in pain, the agent pressures him into accepting far less than he might deserve. McDuffy's desperate question—"How soon can I have this money?"—reveals how financial desperation trumps his ability to negotiate fairly. The upper cartoon (drawn by John Coxacien) provides context: a fire alarm causes chaos at what appears to be a public venue, suggesting the broader accident-prone conditions of urban life that benefit insurance companies. The satire critiques corporate greed and the exploitation of injured working-class people.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Drawn by Joux Coxacien a * Of course in the final shuffle, a sudden thrill shot through the room: * Bulls!” ‘The effect was instantaneous. Chairs were shoved back in quiet haste, there was a silent rush for the exits, the lights went out. Upon the stairway door thundered blows from-an ax, and a part of the panel became matchwood. McDuffy, groping in the dark, came to a promising window; but, seeing policemen on the fire-escape, he quickly found another, which, being without a fire- escape, was unwatched. He was considering the ques- tion of emerging therefrom, when the door caved in; a captain of Sean ott police and a dozen men_ bolted a Lae into the room. The electric light wires had been cut, but sundry sounds ad- vised McDuffy that arrests were being made, withal. He thought “#* of remaining where he was and surrendering to the law; then he remembered Peter, and, lifting the window sash, he swung his body over the sill and dropped into the black void below. . . . He opened his eyes in an Hen—H'd just lov emergency hospital. He wore a | inherited such a fe Drown by Lave Camporese ! What do you bandage around his head, his right wrist was shattered and his left leg was broken below the knee; while he was thinking of these and other disagreeable matters, a businesslike young man paused beside his cot. “Joe McDuffy.” : “At your service.” “Were you a passenger, Mr. McDuffy, on a south- bound Willow Avenue car when it collided, at half-past six last evening, with an east-bound Logan Street car?” “T was,” said McDuffy. “You seem to have suffered a bit from the collision; but perhaps we can alleviate your distress. 1,” said the affable young man, producing a legal-looking document and a fountain-pen,“am a claim agent for the Metropolitan Traction Com- SJ pany, and I am authorized to offer you three hundred dollars in cash if you release my company from all liability for your injuries.” A minute dragged slowly by. At last: “What time is it?” McDuffy. The claim agent glanced at his watch. “Two minutes of ten.” earn’how:t0 skate; but “How soon can I have this dread of the wat money! sees BY coc VSI Ss oem BO AES TAKS Ne comicbooks.com