Life, 1885-04-30 · page 12 of 16
Life — April 30, 1885 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 250 **Main Article: "The Roller Street Railway Company"** This is satirical commentary on a proposed New York street railway system. The scheme humorously proposes equipping horses with roller skates (the invention of company treasurer J.G. Green) to pull cable cars faster along Broadway. The article deadpans technical details—smooth asphalt between rails, a training rink for roller-skating horses, double-strength brakes—presenting an absurd idea with mock seriousness. The satire targets both the ridiculous "innovation" and the prominent New York citizens (including roller-skating rink managers and ex-Senator Roscoe Conkling) backing it. **Cartoon (top left):** Two men discuss plans; one claims it's 3 o'clock, the other insists it's 8 o'clock in London—a joke about time zones and absent-mindedness. **Other brief items:** "The Difference" contrasts strong historical "foremammas" with modern girls concerned only with manicures; other short jokes about smoking and bicycles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: “HALLO, OLD MAN, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU GOING TO pO?” ONLY THREE O'CLOCK !" “I KNOW, MY BOY, BUT IT'S EIGHT IN LONDON.” THE ROLLER STREET RAILWAY COMPANY, HE Broadway Surface Railway Commission has been sitting for several weeks and hearing arguments for and against a street railroad on Broadway. Various schemes have been proposed, among them a cable road, a horse road, and an underground road; but there are | strong objections against all of them. The horse railroad scems to be the best plan, although it is much slower than the other plans. A new competitor will appear in the field next week which, while possessing all the advantages of the horse cars, will add swiftness to their movements. A company has been formed with a million dollars capital to push the new invention, and the stock is already quoted at twenty per cent. above par, and hard to get at that. The board of directors numbers some of the most promi- nent citizens of New York, including the managers of the largest roller-skating rinks in this city. There will be no change in the usual equipment of the road, the only difference being in the road-bed of the track. ‘The rails will be laid in the ordinary way, but the space between the rails will be laid in smooth asphalt. The horses, instead of wearing shoes, will be shod with a patent roller skate, the invention of Mr. J.G. Green, the treas- urer of the company. These skates have but two small steel rollers, placed side by side, and are attached to a horseshoe frame by steel cross bars. The horseshoe frame is nailed to the hoof in the usual manner. A training rink for horses will be opened near One Hundred and Thirty-fifth street, and no horse will be put on the line until thoroughly skilled in the use of the skates. It is expected that one horse will be able to do the work of two, through the assistance rendered by the skates, besides being able to pull the car twice as fast as at present. The brakes on the cars used will be twice as powerful as at present, because on this line the horse as well as the car will have to be brought to a stop. The company is prepared to offer the city a larger percent- | age than any other line for the privilege of using the. street. The Roller Street Railway Company has already made con- tracts to introduce their system on other street railroads in this ci It is said that ex-Senator Roscoe Conkling will argue its case before the Commissioners. No doubt is entertained but that the application will be entirely successful. W. R. Benjamin. THE DIFFERENCE, “ foremammas” were strong and tough And much work could endure ; O”’® But now our girl's find work enough Their nails to manicure! War CLoups—Tobacco smoke in the parlor. IN crossing the Kushk River, the Russians have un- doubtedly gone a steppe too far. MRS. SPRIGGINS can very well understand how a man can ride on a bicycle, but when it comes to “one o’ them one- wheeled municipals, she 's dumthundered.” MOVING DAY. comicbooks.com