Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, July 1922 · page 13 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #35 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine features rural humor typical of early 20th-century American comedy. The main joke mocks a college-educated farm boy ("Alf") who returns home with newfangled "rubber tired spectacles" (likely early eyeglasses with flexible frames). When asked to translate "fork, manure, and cart" into Latin, Alf produces absurd pseudo-Latin words ("Forkabus, Manurebus, Cartibus") by simply adding Latin endings to English words. His father, the Deacon, sarcastically responds by speaking in the same mock-Latin, ordering Alf back to farmwork. The satire targets two things: the pretentiousness of college education that disconnects youth from practical labor, and the contrast between urban sophistication and rural common sense. The joke suggests that education produces nothing of real value when confronted with actual work. The "Barnyard Filosophy" section reinforces rustic wisdom over learned foolishness, warning against trusting appearances and emphasizing practical morality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
12 Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang “Wal, it may be all right,” responded Brother Schultz, “But I should think they’d a put it on a sasser.” * * * DEACON MILLER’S son Alf came home from college a couple of weeks ago wearing a brand new pair of rubber tired spectacles. While the Deacon was out in the barnyard he asked Alf how he would say “fork, manure and cart” in Latin, to which Alf “studiously” replied— “Forkabus, Manurebus, Cartibus!” “Wal,” remarked the old Deacon wrily, “Ef you don’t take that there forkabus and throw that there manurebus in the cartibus I’ll be forced to break your lazy backabus.” * * * Barnyard Filosophy Because nature is true and instinct real; Trust not a dog’s tooth, nor a horse’s heel. * * * He that only steals a pig, Will steal an ox ten times as big. * * * When tricksters grow troublesome, call the police; When the fox preaches, take care of the geese. * * * If you the news in town would know, Then out in the country you should go. * * * The most insidious poison known is: “I love you,” whispered into the ear of a pure woman by an unscrupulous cad.