Life, 1885-04-09 · page 12 of 16
Life — April 9, 1885 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine, April 6, 1885: Page Analysis **Main Content: "How to Beat the Genesta"** This is a humorous letter proposing that the *Clermont*—Robert Fulton's historic 1807 steamboat, now used as a henhouse—race against the *Genesta*, a modern English racing yacht. The writer (General B.F. Bustler) suggests this as a patriotic rejoinder to English yacht-racing dominance. The joke satirizes American technological pride: an ancient, decrepit steamboat is pitched as America's secret weapon against cutting-edge British naval engineering. The piece mocks both American overconfidence in outdated technology and the national obsession with beating the English in competition. **Bottom Cartoon: "Clad in Glory"** A child (Lizzie) responds to her mother's promise that good girls become angels in heaven by expressing concern: she hopes to be "better dressed" than the depicted nude cherubs. The humor comes from the child's practical, propriety-conscious priorities overriding spiritual aspiration—a gentle satire on Victorian concerns with modesty and proper clothing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Fliegende Biatter. SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR SHOOTING JACKETS, HOW TO BEAT THE “GENESTA.” OTHE New YorK YacutT Cvus: Having heard ru- mors that the Englishmen are going to try to win back the Queen’s Cup, I have a proposition to make, to which I trust you will give due consideration. Iam part owner of Robert Fulton’s original steamboat, “Clermont,” and what I ask is that I may be allowed the privilege of trying whether the consummation of English naval science, in the way of a racing machine, can beat the old steamboat that the Yankees built eighty years ago, before they knew anything about the laws of resistance, power, or any scientific nonsense. The “Clermont” .is laid up at pres- ent, being used as a hen-coop, but I believe that her lines be- low the keel have not been changed, and are the same as when she made her famous run from New York to Albany in two weeks and a half. It is true that she is a steamboat, while the “Genesta” is a single-sticker, but if arrangements could not be made to race them in their original rigs, I could make a sloop of the “Clermont” in two hours, with the help of a clothes-pole and a couple of sheets. The “Clermont” has been in but one race in seventy-five years, and on that oc- casion, not being in racing trim, she was defeated by a steam canal-boat, but I have never yet seen the yacht (not having been where there were any) that could beat her in a twenty mile run to leeward with a strong tide and no wind. I donot propose that my boat shall be chosen by the N. Y. Yacht Club to defend the Cup, but only that, in case the “ Genesta ” beats all the yachts of your club, she may sail a race with the most famous boat that America has ever produced. Such a race would arouse the deepest interest in both nations, and there would be something really sentimental in the idea that the cup which the schooner “ America” won thirty years ago, from the fastest English schooners of her day, the “ Cler- mont,” the fastest American steamboat of almost a hundred years ago, is still able to defend against the fastest of modern English cutters. Yours very truly, Couoes, N. Y., April 6, 1885. General B. F. Bustler. CLAD IN GLORY. Mamma ( pointing to some unclothed cherubs): Liz- ZIE, IF YOU ARE A GOOD GIRL, YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN AND BE LIKE THOSE LITTLE ANGELS. Lizzie (who has a strict sense of propriety): WELL! I HOPE I'LL BE BETTER DRESSED THAN THEY ARE. comicbooks.com