Judge, 1920-10-02 · page 5 of 32
Judge — October 2, 1920 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of "The Persistent Deacon" The cartoon depicts a social scenario rather than political satire. It shows a clergyman ("deacon") persistently courting a young woman while a man (possibly her fiancé or suitor) and another woman observe. The deacon extends his hand toward the couple despite their clear disinterest. The humor lies in the title's irony: the "persistent deacon" ignores social boundaries and the woman's obvious unavailability, continuing his unwanted advances regardless. This satirizes hypocritical clergy who publicly preach morality while privately behaving inappropriately—a common Victorian-era critique of religious figures. The accompanying story "Broken Barriers, or Red Love on a Blue Island" by Stephen Leacock addresses similar themes of social transgression and unexpected romantic entanglements, particularly shipboard encounters that override normal social conventions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Draven by Cauvent Sire Tue Perststest Deacon Broken Barriers, or Red Love ona Blue Island The Kind of Vhing that Replaced the Good Old Sea Story of an Earlier Day By Sterursx Leacock Editor's Blurb: If you were shipwrecked and cast upon the sullen sea on a raft, and you were feeling lonely and hungry, and suddenly the form of an excruciatingly beautiful maiden drifted alongside the raft, and you fished her out and discovered that T was on a bright August afternoon that [ stepped on board the Steamer Patagonia at Southampton, outward bound for the West Indies and the port of New Orleans. Thad at the time no presentiment of disaster. I remem- ber remarking to the ship's purser, as my things were being carried to my stateroom, that I had never in all my travels entered upon any voyage with so little premonition of acci dent. “Very good, Mr. Borus,” he answered, “you will find your stateroom in the starboard aisle on the right.” [ dis- tinctly recall remarking to the captain that I had never, in any of my numerous seafarings, seen the sea of a more limpid blue. He agreed with me so entirely, as I recollect it, that he did not even trouble to answer. Had any one told me on that bright summer afternoon that our ship would within a week be wrecked among the Dry Tortugas, I should have laughed. Had any one informed me that I should find myself alone on a raft in the Caribbean $ I should have gone into hysterics. We had hardly entered the waters of the Caribbean when a storm of unprecedented violence broke upon us. Even the captain had never, so he said, scen anything to compare with it you loved her, though you were already married, what would you do? This is the delicate problem propounded in Mr. Leacock’s stirring narrative. Read how he manages the thing and thank God you are not his hero. For two days and nights we encountered and endured the full fury of the sea. Our soup plates were secured with racks and covered with lids. In the smoking-room our glasses had to be set in brackets, and as our steward came and went we were, from moment to moment, in imminent danger of seeing him washed overboard. On the third morning just after daybreak, the’ship collided with something, probably either a floating rock or one of the dry Tortugas. She blew out her four funnels, the bowsprit dropped out of its place, and the propeller came right off. ‘The captain, after a brief consultation, decided to abandon her. The boats were lowered, and the sea being now quite calm the passengers were empticd into them. By what accident I was left behind, I cannot tell. [had been talking to the second mate and telling him of a rather simi lar experience of mine in the China Sea, and holding him by the coat as I did so, when quite suddenly he took me by the shoul ders and rushing me into the deserted smoking-room said, “Sit there, Mr. Borus, till I come back for you.” The fellow spoke in such a menacing way that I thought it wiser to comply. When I came out they were all gone. By good fortune L comicbooks.com