Judge, 1926-01-09 · page 8 of 36
Judge — January 9, 1926 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis for Modern Readers This Judge page contains three distinct pieces of humor: **Main Cartoon (top):** A parody of Sherlock Holmes stories. The joke: Holmes deduces the obvious suspect (Gorson) based on overwhelming evidence—bloody hands, knife, fingerprints everywhere—then admits "This can't be one of my stories" because real detective fiction requires obscure clues and surprising solutions. It's satire of mystery-story conventions where the obvious answer is never correct. **Illustration (center):** Shows the surreal hallucinations someone might experience at 3 AM while reading mystery stories, versus the mundane reality of struggling to put a cat outside on a cold night. **Poetry & Limerick (right):** Sentimental Victorian poetry ("Came the Dawn") contrasted with a humorous limerick about a woman wearing three garters—one would suffice to hold up stockings, but three cause traffic disruption, presumably because of the spectacle. Light sexual humor typical of the era. The page mixes literary satire, domestic humor, and light verse—characteristic Judge content targeting educated, urbane readers familiar with popular fiction tropes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Watson, the Needle! HERLOCK HowMes was at it again. He had seen the suspect, Gorson, shortly after the crime. Gorson’s hands were bloody and they held a still bloodier knife. The deceased had been stabbed, it seems. Gor- son’s fingerprints abounded around the scene of the crime. Holmes had interviewed the ser- vants, the deceased’s wife, a sus- picious looking chief of police, a couple of stray cats, and Gorson. “Holmes,” asked Watson, “whom do they suspect of this dreadful crime?” “The culprit is Gorson,” an- nounced Holmes. “But,” ejaculated Watson, “he can’t be. All the evidence points to him.” “T know,” said Holmes. “That's the queer part of it. This can’t be one of my stories.” it isn’t Parke Cummings What you expect to see if you look up from that Mystery Story about 3 A.M. Morphia™ “Pm _morphia for life.” How it seems when you are trying to put the cat vut on a cold night. a m\\ Came the Dawn Tx frosty dawn is stealing through The window and beside me, you Are sleeping unaware Of searching eyes that fain would trace Some softened look on that stern face Upon the pillow there. A violent trembling o’er me creeps, A chill, cold fear, within me leaps, A premonition dire, And still I ask you, as my due, Awake and tell me, dear, will you Get up and build a fire? S. M. Hager Limerick A Lapy of figure seraphic Wore three pairs of garters in Maffick. Just one, we suppose, Would have held up her hose, But the three of them held up the traffic. Mona Williams comicbooks.com