Judge, 1931-08-22 · page 12 of 36
Judge — August 22, 1931 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Some Dew" by Jack Cluett This satirical piece mocks Lady Cynthia Mosley's alarming public statement about a hypothetical "dew of death"—a weapon so potent that a teaspoonful could kill a million people. Cluett uses absurdist humor to expose the ridiculousness of her claims by extrapolating to ridiculous extremes: a powder bomb in a lady's handbag could destroy cities; Professor Piccard's balloon filled with it would wipe China off maps; ten million buttons ironed daily by Chinese laundries would kill millions; toy balloons become weapons of mass destruction. The cartoons accompanying the text show everyday anxiety (motorists, swimmers, sunburned workers) contrasted with this imagined catastrophic threat. Cluett's point: Mosley's scaremongering about a fictional weapon creates irrational panic while ignoring actual social problems. The satire criticizes both her inflammatory rhetoric and public credulity.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lives Lv of motorists remind us, On a Sund: ternoon, some drive as if they liked to Try and end them pretty soon. —R. C. O. The transportation companics are doing a lot of complaini but mat- ters could be much worse. »pose, for instance, that Hollywood, Niagara Falls and Reno were located in the ne county. And you come face to face with an- other problem of surplus when you try on a rental bathing suit. “This might be a good time to ask for that raise!” ano ae | Oo. PIFELE }, 220 &, 70M. “Er—gentlemen; I don't think that hold’s allowed.” SOME DEW By Jack Cluett “Lady Cynthia Mosley tonight told a group of Scouts and Guides of Yo h of a ‘dew of death,’ a teaspoonful of which dropped over a city, she said, would kill a million persons."—Times News Item. [20% Mostey says that a small bomb containing “dew of death,” car- ried in a lady's handbag, could raze London to the ground. A heaping tablespoonful would « ¢ London, Chicago, Newark, and Cohoes, N.Y. if it contains only a powder and eleven cents in change, but even a gentleman couldn't be ex- “I only took the job till I get over this sunburned back!” 10 pected to hand back a pocketbook con- taining “dew of death.” he wouldn’t live long enough to tip his hat. The next won by drop ing the Panama Canal. If Professor Pi If he did, will probably be dies’ handbags on ard’s balloon had been filled with “dew of death” in- have been the stratosphere. feet. gine wipi able to rise gag like China off the map with dropper. Who would mana dries? Ten million butto alone by the Chinese. If th dof hydrogen, he never would 2,000 feet into He would ha ¢ he had gone ten © be- at nation medic kled “dew of death” on these same shirts, 10,000,000 people a day would need no shirts. Death lurks just around the corner for the unsuspec ng. A child with a toy balloon or rubber ball may be more dangerous than a fleet of battle- ships. Uncle S children with toy balloons, war will be won with teaspoons. n ought to scrap all The next If a nation scraps its teaspoons it invites ultimate annihilatior Anyone who ca “dew of death” around with him ought to be punished. Ginger jake is mild in comy If a football exploded in the Yale Bow! 50,000 spectators would be cut down by the Grim Reaper and Dartmouth comicbooks.com