Life, 1884-05-22 · page 2 of 16
Life — May 22, 1884 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine, May 22, 1884 - Content Analysis The page contains editorial commentary rather than political cartoons. The masthead illustration shows "LIFE" with classical imagery. The editorial criticizes the appropriation of General Grant's name for financial gain—describing how his name was used to raise millions for supposedly honest business purposes. The piece sarcastically attacks the "nation's defender" being reduced to lending his reputation to commercial ventures while living as a private citizen. Additional items mock Wall Street financial scandals (mentioning thirteen firms with $27.7 million in capital but $27 million in liabilities), satirize a voting-machine invention, and include cryptic gossip items about Ward and General Grant. The tone is sharply critical of financial corruption and the exploitation of Civil War heroism for profit during the Gilded Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MAY 22p, 1884. 1155 Broapway, New York. Published every Thursday, $5 a year in advance, postage free. Single copies, 10 cents. Back numbers can be had by applying to this office. Vol. I., 20 cents per copy; Vol. II., at regular rates. . Rejected contributions will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped and directed envelope. I T seems to us slightly out of season for a sanctimonious snuffle about the national honor taking the angel shape of an appropriation for our great captain, until the ways and means by which fourteen millions of honestly acquired money dis- appeared in the direction of that bourne known technically as a hole-in-the-ground. We may be blind, but the interest on a quarter of a million, added to the generous gifts made him by corporations, governments and individuals, is to our feeble and commercial eye a tolerably weighty testimonial for the services rendered. There is no lack of patriotism in those who wish that the nation’s defender had rested on his martial laurels and civic wealth, and contented himself with the honorable and honor- compelling life of a private citizen whose record was his most precious fortune. Slender, indeed, must be the sympathy which can be extended to one who, after proving victor on the greatest field ever fought for, descended to the joust for dollars in the Wall Street pit. It was at best the very pitiful ambition of the gambler who hazards all upon a die. Our general had more to lose than money. He had the reputa- tion of the greatest soldier of his time in the cast. It is sad to think that he placed it in the hands of two reckless sons and a scapegrace partner to play ducks and drakes with. Men's hearts are in their pockets these days, and the loss of fourteen millions makes a gap in nature. It is to be fervently trusted, for the sake of history, for the sake of the nation, for the sake of the shining example we all of us hoped would pass down to generations yet to come, that the honor of this great soldier is still untarnished, and that the blame for that misdeed by which colossal fortunes were swept away by trickery, will not be found to rest upon the shoulders where once rested the safety of the nation, But, mean- time, let us not play at catch-penny, nor prate of an appro- priation. * * * T is acommon thing for man to kick a sufferer. When the Seventh Regiment passed Wall Street during the height of the excitement, Mr. Gilmore ordered the band to play ‘ Wait Till the Clouds Roll By.” UR alarming contemporary, the Suv, publishes a terrible telegram with the following head : ‘© Explosions AT WOOLWICH ARSENAL.” Now, in the name of everything combustible, what harm is there in explosives being in an arsenal? Is an arsenal a refrig- erator, or a place to store cheese or mackerel, or is it not, of all places on earth, just é#e place for explosives? But we read fur- ther : “‘Lonpon, May 14.—A Shrapnel shell filled with shot, with fuse: attached but without powder, was found to-day at Wool- wich, Great Scott !_ O'Donovan has turned loose again, and the skir- mishing fund has found a vent. Whutroo! But is all this rubbish worth the present rates charged for news by cable? * * * 66 7 NOTICE that a man has invented a machine for counting votes, which he says is absolutely reliable. This mayall be true, but I should like to see it work, ence."—S, FT. I have had some experi- * * * T would appear, from the brief mention given in the daily papers, that there has been some little trouble in Wall Street. Some thirteen firms, with an aggregate capital of $7,720,000, have announced that their combined liabilities are $37,050,000. The discrepancy between the two represents the difference between a bird in the hand and two birds in the bush. There is a powerful moral in Wall Street just now, but exactly how to frame it puzzles the will and makes bankrupts of us all. * * * 67 TELL you, boys, there is nothing like a clear head and a partial loss of memory. That’s Ward’s the matter in Wall Street."— U. S. G. * * ® “V wrong ? HERE am I now? Does anyone speak of me? Am I mentioned? No. Why? Give itup. Anything No, Iam simply dead.”—Butler, * * * ENERAL GRANT has been in his day a great wire puller, but of late he has failed to manage even one Ward. * * * CANADIAN divine has had a vision in which he saw 4 clearly the coming of the Day of Wrath on the 13th of August, 1887. Before this great event is to come the gathering of the Jews to either Jerusalem or Saratoga, the annihilation of the Pope, the burning of London, the destruction of New York by an earthquake, and the complete depopulation of the United States by cholera. This cheerful forecast was made from the pulpit, and the Canadians are now gathering their asbestos un- derclothing and salvations ready. comicbooks.com