Judge, 1930-03-15 · page 11 of 36
Judge — March 15, 1930 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This page satirizes newspaper editors brainstorming absurd assignment ideas for an explorer named Russell Owen (a real polar explorer of the era). The top cartoon shows two men at a table in what appears to be an editorial meeting, with the visitor making an Irish drinking joke. The text presents four editors competing to propose the most ridiculous expeditions—sending Owen to explore under an ice rink, study polar bears during mating season, or spend years in cold storage plants. The joke is that they're treating these dangerous, impractical ideas as actual journalism assignments. The punchline ("Just a cub reporter") suggests Owen is inexperienced enough to actually accept such nonsense. The bottom cartoon shows tenement residents running from a street fight, unaware of danger. The sidebar jokes mock Prohibition-era drinking culture, dangerous driving, and a disease called psittacosis—typical satirical commentary on contemporary social problems.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ms coasters yaaa JUDGE Visiton—If there are no snakes in Ireland, how can you tell you've been drinking too muc “We Vave dent to the New York Times.’ Th if we ran out of cash, we could h: Owen discover a method of keeping celery crisp and fresh, and call it the Rockefeller Range,” said the sporting editor enthusiastically. The telegraphic editor handed a boy some copy to rush through and said: “We might find Russsell a berth in the composing room, only we'd have to get him some electric fans and ake of ice to sit on while he set up his story.” “TIL bet he could do a swell job if we created the proper atmosphere. Why not shut off the light for six months and feed him on moss and pemmican?” suggested the managing editor, The city editor said: “How about 1 survey of Gunther's cold storage plant, or two years in Gorton’s frozen- fish house? When he was ready to come out, we'd wire the Norwegian xovernment to send a trawler and the Navy could send him admiral’s bars for a Christmas present.” “On Thanksgiving Day,” added the sporting editor, “he could make a dash rr to the Knickerbocker ice-ho ere he would drop the American flag and go on a vacation in Hudson Bay. off whin we commence to see Orangemen.” The managing editor handed a boy . to rush through and said: been curious to know whether there was a continent under the Iceland Skating Rink on Fifty- second Street. Don’t you fellows think we could send Russell over there with some fishing li sinker before the Antarctic ni in and th aters become too rough for exploration? Maybe he could dis- cover the Charles Bob Mountains or a stenographer who wasn't chewing gun. “This is the mating season of the polar bear,” said the sporting editor, handing some copy to rush through, “and I don’t know but what we should send Russell Owen back to Little America to study the habits of young bears.” The four editors looked at each other knowingly and nodded. “Just a cub reporter,” they all agreed. Jack Ciuetr Frequently it isn’t the ice that makes people slip; it's the stuff they put the ice in. There’s an added danger of getting hurt nowadays if your car throws you into a ditch on the side of a road, You're liable to get cut by some of the bottles there. Psittacosis is bad enough to pro- nounce, but to get it and then not be able to tell people about it must be terrible. Finst Cert—Phicat are yez runnin’ away for? “There's a fight started around th’ corner!” 9 comicbooks.com