Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 41 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine contains humorous poetry rather than cartoons. The content reflects post-WWI American anxieties: **"In Memory of Pedro, the First"** is a mock-heroic elegy for a dead bull, with classical allusions (comparing the bull to Jove's mythological form). It's absurdist humor treating farm livestock with overwrought dignity. **"It Goes For the Sailor, Too"** is more pointed social commentary. It depicts a disabled veteran with a wooden leg seeking government aid, only to be rebuffed by "the Country" (personified as a stingy woman). The Country blames him for not saving money from his daily wages instead of demanding a "bonus"—likely referencing the heated post-WWI debate over veterans' bonuses. The satire criticizes government stinginess toward disabled soldiers while they struggle financially. The final couplet appears to reference opium smoking ("bamboo tree," "sniff"), possibly critiquing recreational drug use. Overall, the page uses irreverent humor to address serious themes: rural life, veteran neglect, and social inequality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 39 For while my cave-companions snore I soothe my soul with lyric lore. As sable streams of silence flows Into my den of dream-repose, I stretch my silver sail and glide Across the foam to Fancyside. * * * In Memory of Pedro, the First By K. F. Richards. Dear Whiz Bang Bill, my heart is full Of grief that you have lost your bull; The only bull that your farm had, Now all your widowed cows are sad. Deep is the wail of beastly wife To see her partner snatched from life; But he—the husband of a score, Ye gods, the grief is more and more. A bull as noble, firm and fair As that which aided Jove to bear Europa from the flowery glade Where she, amidst her maidens, played. So get yourself a youthful beast, That widowed eyes on him may feast. And who to mourning cows may be All that a Whiz Bang bull should be. * * * It Goes For the Sailor, Too There was a young soldier, and he had a wooden leg; Not a bit of work he landed, and no bonus could he beg; And there was an old Country that was crafty as a fox, And she always had spondulix in her old spondulix box. Said the soldier to the Country, “will you give me a lift?” Said the Country to the soldier, “stand aside or you’ll get biffed; If you’d saved up the dollar that I gave you ev’ry day, You could have a wife and kiddies, and need no bonus pay.” —By Ermon Miland Peck * * * What is the diff, If we all get a sniff, Under the bamboo tree?