Life, 1883-10-04 · page 4 of 16
Life — October 4, 1883 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 160 The main cartoon by Culmer Barnes depicts two figures in a railway carriage—one wearing a top hat (appearing to be a gentleman) and another (seemingly working-class). The caption's dialect humor ("By the powers! Bridget, that chlock beyant is muddlin' me brains") satirizes Irish immigrant speech patterns. The accompanying text discusses Jay Gould (a prominent 19th-century railroad magnate) and Samuel Tilden, examining their moral character and business practices. The satire criticizes Gould's reputation as ruthless and morally questionable, while defending Tilden's integrity. The page represents *Life*'s characteristic social commentary: mocking immigrant accents and Irish stereotypes while simultaneously critiquing wealthy railroad barons' business ethics—reflecting class tensions of the Gilded Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CULMER BARNES Pat: By THE POWERS! BRIDGET, THAT CHLOCK BEYANT IS MUDDLIN’ FIRST AID TO THE IN- JURED. Lecture I.—Drowntnc.* I Go through his pockets. + 2. If there are any trees round hang the subject up by the legs to let the water run out. If you are in a city use a lamp post. 3. If the subject be a small man pummel him with your fists to start the circulation. If he be a large man give him a shock with a gal- vanic battery. 4. Endeavor to start respiration by blowing in his nostrils with a pair of bellows. If you can't geta pair take one. 5. Pour down his throat a mix- ture of 4.76 brandy, 2.29 ipecac, 1.07 paregoric, 1.00 ammonia, .88 Winslow’s Soothing Syrup. Be very careful to get the exact pro- portions. 6. If the above remedies produce no effects, as a last hope, sing “Wait Till the Clouds Roll By " to him, or read him a funny article from Punch. If he then shows no signs of writhing let him be. He was born to be drowned. 7. Go through his pockets again. If you live on the coast learn the above di- rections by heart. If not, paste them in the back of your watch for ready reference. A CRYING evil—street-venders. ME BRAINS. WHIN WE KEM ABOARD IT STHRUCK TWO, AN' IVER SINCE 'T 1S ONLY WAN, WAN, WAN! warps, I’p Know? Do THE CHLOCKS IN THIS COUNTRY GO BACK- A WHINE-MERCHANT—a dealer in bad spirits, GREAT many people think that Jay Gould is a bad man, and some even express doubts of the moral excellence of Samuel J. Tilden ; for it does not seem unreasonable to suspect that the great worldly success of these gentlemen has been won at some cost to their moral natures. It would be interesting to know what they think of themselves and their chances in another state of existence; but Mr. Gould, when lately he told so many things about himself, left this out, and neither to Mr. Dana nor to Mr. Watterson has the Sage of Greystone confided his anticipations. Some data in the matter are afforded by the facts brought out in an informal yacht race on the Hudson on Thursday between the Afa/anta and the Yosemite, in which the latter craft, carrying Mr. Tilden and 120 lbs of steam, came in ahead, and it transpired that 70 Ibs was the limit Mr. Gould allowed the Afa/anta’s boilers. Hence we discover that Mr. Gould's eagerness for the unknowable is to that of Mr. Tilden as 70 : 120; and thence conclude that Mr. Tilden’s conscience is almost twice as comfortable as Mr. Gould’s. But it is not absolutely safe to jump at this conclusion, because it is possible that the figures given only attest the su- erior firmness of Mr. Tilden’s nerves ; and further it is hinted and may be true that Mr. Tilden did not know how much steam his engineer was carrying ; though even in this case it is in the Sage'’s favor that, unskilful as he is in the details of the stoker’s craft, he should trust himself to his engineer and take his chances.