Life, 1884-09-04 · page 4 of 16
Life — September 4, 1884 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 130 The cartoon depicts a working-class man with a Jersey bull, captioned with dialogue about the animal's gentle temperament. The joke plays on class humor—a rural farmer defending his bull's docility to a city friend, using folksy speech patterns ("He does that all right for me...but the trouble is he don't mind when I tell him to go away"). The "Boomlets" section contains political satire mocking 1880s candidates, particularly **James G. Blaine** and **Grover Cleveland**. References include Cleveland's alleged murder of his grandmother, water safety debates, and campaign cleanliness. The satirical telegrams mock diplomatic negotiations and Republican efforts to "buy Maine" politically. The satire attacks both candidates' credibility through absurdist humor typical of late-19th-century American political magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
130 A FEW STATISTICS. : A' the urgent request of several interested readers, | LiFe’s statistician was to work to discover as far as possible how many of the original Greely survivors there are in the country to-day, and to how great an extent they have been honored by a grateful people. He reports as follows : Of the six original survivors, I discover that there are seven- teen employed in the Dime Museums of New York ; forty- two have obtained pensions from the Government, sufficiently large to support their own and wives’ relations, as well as to enable them to contribute largely to the campaign fund; six are still in the army and navy, while the rest, three hundred in number, are engaged in this city and others as valuable adjuncts to a sensational play, in which they depict their own sufferings very vividly, nightly climbing over paste-board ice- bergs and eating rubber tubing, so disguised as to resemble the choice cuts of sealskin coats, old boots and fellow-sufferers, thus eliciting the applause of the orchestra circle, and causing untold enthusiasm among the gods, It will thus be seen that everything has been done to enrich the heroes who so nobly espoused our cause in the North, and Philanthropic Citizens need take no measures for their imme- diate relief. Amateur Farmer (showing pet Jersey bull to friend from the city, who obstinately persists in staying on other side of the fence): “He's perfectly gentle, George. See him come to me when I call him.” Friend from City: “ Oh, yes, he does that all right for me, too, but the trouble is he does n't mind when I tell him to go “BUT THOSE BEHIND CRIED * FORWARD,’ AND THOSE BEFORE CRIED ‘ BACK,’ - LIFE: BOOMLETS. OVERNOR CLEVELAND'S professed anxiety in re- gard to the waterways has at last been discovered to be nothing more or less than a bid for the Prohibition vote. * . . UST why the Prohibitionists pin their faith to water is not apparent. It is a notorious fact that water is drunk more than half the time. . . . HE report that General Logan murdered his grand- mother probably originated in the charge of Grammar- icide, to which the illustrious Illinoisyone pleads guilty. * . . UDGING from the number of advertisements of New Publications in our daily papers we have come to the conclusion that Blaine and Cleveland have each more lives than the average cat. * . . “ O wonder this is a dirty campaign,” said Elkins to his friend Barnum. “ We can’t get enough soap to keep it clean.” . * . KAISER WILLIAM UNHORSED. ERLIN, Aug. 28.—The Emperor William was thrown from his horse to-day, while riding in the park attached to the imperial palace at Babelsburg.—. Y. 7rrbune. This is the last convincing proof that Bismarck is no longer the power behind the thrown. . . . “cs CAN the Democrats buy Maine ?” asks the 7ryd/aine. Well, really, Mr. Reid-Law, that is an embarrassing question. However, if Mr. Blaine is as truly a representative of Maine as he is said to be, we think the Democrats can—if they can get soap enough, . . HE following telegrams were picked up on the Beach at Bar Harbor last week : 1. “ EMPEROR HOKI-POKI, Pekin, China: Whloop it lup until I glet in the Whlite Housee, then I'll hlelp you whackee Frenchy. Meanwhlile let evly glood Chinee man vlote flor JIMMIE BLAINEE, Allee Samee. IL. PRESIDENT GREVY, Paris, France. M. le Presidong : Whackey vous le Chinois. Je suis avec vous. M. BLatne. forgeries. . OW is the time for obscure clergymen to make National Reputations. All they have to do is to write to the Republican papers condemning Grover Cleveland, and there they have it. Toujours, It is to be hoped that the above are . . ’ . . ONKLING is going to support St. John !—Er. Conk- ling ? Conkling? Seems tous we have heard that name before. We can place St. John in a moment, but Conkling, what was he anyhow? Ohyes! now weremember. He used to write humorous accounts of will cases for the 7ryd/aine / Queer that we had forgotten Aim. comicbooks.com