Life, 1885-07-09 · page 4 of 16
Life — July 9, 1885 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 18 This page contains satirical commentary on early 20th-century American social and political issues: **"Perplexed Pluvius"** is a humorous poem about Pluvius (the Roman rain god) struggling to satisfy clergy prayers for rain during drought while farmers simultaneously curse wet weather. **Political Items** mock: - Baron De Worms' appointment as Trade Board Secretary (suggesting incompetence) - New York society's adoption of "steel ornaments" (unclear reference, possibly mocking nouveau riche fashion) - Philadelphia's social pretensions **"Pictorial Shakespeare"** caption "How now he cat-e" illustrates a pun on Macbeth, showing a cat with prey. **The Boston Advertiser critique** ridicules Smith College for conferring A.B. degrees on women, sarcastically questioning whether women should receive traditional academic credentials given they lack experience with "base-ball, or rowing." The page reflects era anxieties about women's education and changing social roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PERPLEXED PLUVIUS. AN EPIC POEM DEDICATED TO OUR CLERGY. WE "VE reached that season of the year, When scorchéd grows the grass ; And farmers all are terrified, Lest dividends shall pass. The parson and his congrega- Tion, one and all together, Do get upon their knees and ask For rainy weather. And long before the prayer has reached ‘The vane upon the steeple, Another one is offered up, For all the wayward people, Who happen to be on the sea, In Neptune's briny grip, That they from wind and rain be safe, And have a sunny trip. Now what can Mr. Pluvius do To please a congregation, That asks him first to squirt and then Withhold his irrigation ? We give it up. But if we had The nozzle to direct, We'd send the weather where ‘t would make The people circumspect, And know just what they wanted ere They prayed for one or t’ other— And, oh !! the Parson 'd be so wet He would n't know his mother ! . * . HE Queen has appointed Baron De Worms Secretary of the Board of Trade. We should think De Worms would be more needed in the House of Commons for de-Bait. . . . HILADELPHIA takes a back seat now. The reign of New York's Liberty Belle has commenced. ISS CLEVELAND wore a steel ornament at a recent Saturday afternoon reception, and a fashionable lady left the White House, with her nose in the air, saying : “ Steel ornaments! Just think! She'll have to get over that.” One would think that Washington society had got used to all kinds of “ steal” by this time. SCIENTIST says that a very strong solution of salt applied boiling hot will preserve wood. This is important to those whose wood-pile has to be pro- tected by a spring gun. “c HY do the Germans make the moon masculine ?” asked D'Israeli. We give it up, unless it is because he, she or it is not in- frequently full. ‘ . WO weeks ago the question of the hour was, “ Who is to be Collector ?” It has now resolved itself into, “ Who z's Collector Hedden?” . . . EV. T. DEUM TALMAGE has joined the ranks as a Prohibition candidate for Governor. Good! We'd rather see him prohibited from governing than any man we know of. . . . PICTORIAL SHAKESPEARE. How Now HE CAT-E.—Macbeth. . . . M®. SPRIGGINS thinks that the Austrian government showed a great lack of 40 voyage, in declining to receive Mr. Keiley on the ground of his wife’s religion. We seldom dare to correct our estimable friend, but we think Mrs. Spriggins meant “jew d'esprit.” . . . HE Boston Advertiser thinks it undignified to give the title of A. B. to girls who appear in the Smith College catalogue as Nellies, Carries, Jennies, Vergies and Annies, and intimates that their names ought to be up to their titles. True, indeed. A Bachelor of Arts should be a Billie or a Charlie, or something masculine. The idea of a woman being a bachelor ! What right has Smith College to confer A. B. on girls, anyhow ? They don’t know anything about base-ball, or rowing, or being tough. comicbooks.com