Judge, 1931-01-03 · page 9 of 36
Judge — January 3, 1931 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains three satirical pieces: **"Strange Language"** (top): A judge struggles to understand criminal slang used by a witness testifying about a defendant arrested with stolen money. The defendant claims he didn't commit the crime he's charged with, but the judge finds the witness's vocabulary ("yeg," "auto-heist guy," "bum beef") incomprehensible. The satire targets the gap between judicial authority and street vernacular—the judge cannot effectively administer justice when he cannot understand the testimony. This reflects early 20th-century anxieties about urban crime slang and immigrant communities. **"City Fellow"** (right): Contrasts a countryman who enjoys fishing and outdoor activities with urban indifference. A city dweller refuses to appreciate a frozen river suitable for skating, preferring his warm chair. It's gentle social satire about urbanization and lost connection to nature. **"Hide your cards, boys"** (bottom): Depicts what appears to be a card game interrupted by authority ("the foreman"), suggesting illegal gambling. The humor relies on shared understanding of underground gaming culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE Strange Language stickup. The dicks made him, frisked “ . hi nnd theee J' por, UM admit [ve been a safe robber, a motor-car thief and a ured it was swag. Then they threw him in the can. He says he doesn't want vou to hand him a rap in stir for a job he didn't do.” confidence man. But this charge ainst me is not justified, When the ieers arrested me Twas not conten ay robbery. ‘The detectives “Oh, so that’s it? Well. well. who walked up. searched me, found three would have thought it! Cry Jonson gi .< Lay “This ix a h— of a time of night bring me seats for “Green Pastures’! City Fellow TT" river is frozen over And rings with the clink of steel, Where once ona bank of clover Psat with my red and reel ‘The river's a mass of action, Alive with a skating: swan: But offers me no attraction, Vd rather sit where it’s warm The river of ice is waiting And beckoning me to share The thrill and the chill of skating, Bat Pd rather sit on a chair Cannorn Cannon. ICT { ly i >, i) “What if you are a Russian—can 1 ouse somebody what don't look Russian?” thousand dollars in iy possession, concluded it way money 1 had ac nd took me into custedy. Please do not com quired by unlawful means mit me to prison for a crime of which I am innocent. “Mr. Interpreter, will you kindly help out? 1 don't seem’ to under- st 1 this years T have presided) in crimin cases I've never heard such peculiar lang trans un's testimony. Tn all the ge used by a witness, Will you te what he said?” ae “Okay, judge. He says it’s j that he's been a yeg; wuto-heist guy anda bunc, Butt lop isa bum beef. He says the night he was nabbed he wasn't on the prowl for a ae is Ww ” “Hide your cards, boys; here comes the foreman! 7 comicbooks.com