File:The American Adventures of Marmaduke Squeezledene, Baronet (number 2).jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Original file ‎(1,408 × 4,610 pixels, file size: 2.64 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Summary

[edit]
Description
English: in 1904, newspaper cartoonist Claude Shafer illustrated (and maybe wrote?) a series of humorous vignettes about the fictitious "Marmaduke Squeezledene", a baronet visiting America from the United Kingdom. There were 10 entries in the series, of which this is the second.
  • Text: I have been introduced to the American sleeping coach or "sleeper," as it is known. I have been told that it was designed to afford comfort in traveling. However that may be, I feel that I have experienced the sensations of a jar of marmalade on a shelf of a cupboard during an earthquake. Clever line, the last one. Think I will send it to Punch, haw, haw!
When first I entered the beastly "sleeper" I saw nothing but long rows of seats with white tablecloths stretched over them. I was greatly disappointed, and prepared to spend the night seated and wrapped in steamer rugs.
Presently an Ethiopian person came along and I was amazed to see him pull a section out of the roof, revealing a cavity filled with lumber and bed clothes. He took article after article out of this cavity until I was actually puzzled, don't you know, by the similarity to the performance of a conjurer in Drury Lane pantomime, who pulls yards and yards of ribbon out of a hat borrowed from some gentlemen in the audience.
The dusky person proceeded to make a bed ona shelf, formed by the lid of the cavity, which was suspended by chains in a horizontal position. Then he took the tops off the seats below and made another couch there. Finally he screened the whole from the aisle with curtains. He told me that I had "Upper No. 1," I said: "Thanks awfully, but how do I get into it, my man?"
The sable individual procured a small stepladder and I started to disrobe, but he stated that it would be better if I continue the operation in the berth. So, with much misgiving, I mounted to my terie and attempted it. What with the swaying of the coach and the contracted space of the berth, I received several severe bumps on the head.
I shall write to the Times regarding this.
Just then my attention was distracted by a commotion of the curtains, and looking out I saw a lady getting into the berth below mine.
Very embarrassing, don't you know, I shall write to the Times about it.
I had composed myself from slumber when I suddenly realized that I was becoming ill. I decided that I would arise rather than endure such misery, and called loudly for the porter. He came and I told him to release me immediately. He handed me what clothing I had left on a seat and told me to put it in a netting that was hanging by the wall, and began laughing.
"Why, mister," he said, "no wonder you is sick. You sure is riding backwards." He told me to lie with my head the other way, which I found afforded great relief.
However, I shall write to the Times about this.
During the night I slept little, being kept awake by the grinding wheels that seemed right under my head, the constant rattling of lamp globes, the stuffy atmosphere in the coach, the jars of the starting and stopping of the train, with ever and again the squeals of a load of swine in a stock train on a shunt track.
In the morning I found great difficulty in dressing, and was glad to avail myself of the democracy of the washroom to complete my toilet.
I shall POSITIVELY write to the Times about this.
MARMADUKE SQUEEZLEDENE, Bart.
Date
Source http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085187/1904-05-16/ed-1/seq-3/ (The Tacoma Times)
Author
Claude Shafer  (1878–1962)  wikidata:Q35860798
 
Claude Shafer
Alternative names
Claude Schafer / Shaf
Description American cartoonist
Date of birth/death 7 January 1878 Edit this at Wikidata 24 May 1962 Edit this at Wikidata
Location of birth Marietta
Work period 1901 Edit this at Wikidata–1956 Edit this at Wikidata
Authority file
creator QS:P170,Q35860798

Licensing

[edit]
Public domain
Public domain
This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1929, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation.
United States
United States
This image might not be in the public domain outside of the United States; this especially applies in the countries and areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada, Mainland China (not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland. The creator and year of publication are essential information and must be provided. See Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Copyrights for more details.

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current19:53, 12 May 2016Thumbnail for version as of 19:53, 12 May 20161,408 × 4,610 (2.64 MB)DragonflySixtyseven (talk | contribs)User created page with UploadWizard

You cannot overwrite this file.

There are no pages that use this file.

Retrieved from "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_American_Adventures_of_Marmaduke_Squeezledene,_Baronet_(number_2).jpg&oldid=514898436"