Judge, 1923-09-15 · page 8 of 36
Judge — September 15, 1923 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Dodging My Duty" by Walt Mason This satirical piece critiques middle-class parents who sacrifice everything for their children's unrealistic ambitions. The main story mocks neighbor Hewgag, who mortgages his home and denies himself basic necessities to fund his daughter's singing lessons—despite her having no genuine talent. The narrator acknowledges he should "lecture" Hewgag about this folly but avoids confrontation, thus "dodging his duty." The opening cartoon shows a parson complaining that donations have dropped to $1.92, forcing him to "curb sermons on economy"—mocking clergy who preach financial restraint while resenting reduced congregant wealth. The final cartoon, "White Collar Man's Kids," depicts children wishing their father were a prize fighter rather than an office worker, suggesting resentment of white-collar respectability and modest means. Together, these pieces satirize early 20th-century anxieties about social aspiration, parental overindulgence, and the gap between ambition and realistic prospects.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Parson (to usher)—Eh, only a dollar ninety-two in the collec- tion? Tut! Tut! DODGING I'll have to curb my sermons on economy. MY DUTY by Walt Mason down on every kind of strife that sinful. men enjoy: the wrathful words of angry foes, the thudding swats upon the nose, but peeve me and annoy. Thave no longing for the fray, I'd rather spend the passing day beneath my upas tree, my pipe and book and timbrel near, I LIkE to lead a peaceful life; I'm cy) “Round two.” and flagons of denatured beer, and eke my fiddlers three. My neighbor Hewgag has a girl; her singing makes my whiskers curl, her voice would file a saw; and now and then they seck my shack to split some music up the id make my nerves all raw. ‘This toils to beat the band; he carries . he labors with a ves his daughter ging gives my soul a pain, will make all records fade. That she may beat the Melba bunch he does with- out his midday lunch, he drinks from babbling rills; he buys the cheapest grade of weeds, and goes without the things he needs, to pay her music bills. H® PUT a mortgage on his home, he soaked his priceless borrows far and near, tha the path of Art and sing wild songs that break the heart, and rend the aching ear. And some one ought to seck him ou! and kindly say to him, “Old scout, you policy is wrong: your daughter's buill to ply a mop; she'll surely never rea the top, the shining peak of song. A hisenit shooter she'd excel; as chamber maid in some hotel sl doubtless mah a hit; there are a dozen avenues wherei positions she might choose, and find job to fit. “But she can’t sing for musty prunes she slaughters all the standard tunes anid Modern big business man. \ mangles them as well: and if she studied ninety years she still would crucify. the cars of those who heard her yell. You'v« made yourself the village bore, by talk ing, talking evermore of curves your Jane can spring: now Duty tells me T should speak—I'd rather hear a rooster shriek than hear your daughter si Some GENT should follow up this plan. NS) id show this poor vaisguidterl th that all his hopes are tosh, convincing him that Jane should go and curry cows or shovel snow or take in clothes to wash And now and then I feel that T should lecture him and show him why his dippy White Collar Man's Kids—Gee, I wish dad was a prize fighter! 6 exhar boost Bu an al prem robe pink sort, from me v drive Oh lectuy onc will ] of th agri the | kind vain: with who" comicbooks.com