Life, 1886-04-01 · page 3 of 16
Life — April 1, 1886 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 185 **"A Tale of Two Cities"** presents a dialogue between Uncle Jack and "She" about Philadelphia versus Boston. Uncle Jack has just returned from Philadelphia, which he describes as depressing—business is bad and the city seems gloomy. "She" counters that Philadelphia isn't uniquely troubled; Boston similarly experiences periodic downturns. The joke satirizes regional rivalry between major American cities, with both claiming to suffer economic hardship. It's gentle social satire comparing East Coast urban centers. Below, "A Scene at a Funeral" is sentimental verse about a widow, her son, and a clergyman at a funeral service—unrelated to the cartoon above. The "Ungallant" brief note mocks Senator Jones of Florida for wanting to marry a Detroit girl, calling him insane for pursuing an out-of-state romance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES. She: YOU SEEM IN UNUSUALLY GOOD SPIRITS, UNCLE Jack. Oncle Fack: YES; 1 HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM PHILADELPHIA. She: PHILADELPHIA! IT HASN'T THE REPUTATION OF BEING EXHILARATING. Uncle Fack: \— 18 1F YOU WORK IT RIGHT. WHEN I BECOME CHRONICALLY CAST DOWN AND DEPRESSED I GO THERE FOR A WEEK, PHILADELPHIANS ARE NOT ESPECIALLY BRIGHT, YOU KNOW, AND I BEGIN AT ONCE To FEEL, BY CONTRAST, THAT I AM A GENIUS. She: BUT DOES N'T IT END IN YOUR BECOMING FRIGHTFULLY CONCEITED? Uncle Yack: SOMETIMES; BUT THEN A DAY OR TWO IN BOSTON ALWAYS TAKES ME DOWN AGAIN, A SCENE AT A FUNERAL. His smile grew more intense,—still no one spoke, The scene and the surroundings stayed their speech, The son burst into laughter—then he stopped, And all the watchers saw him lean, and reach HE while the wind did moan among the trees, And all the sky looked desolate and gray, A worthy clergyman with solemn face Preached o'er the corpse of one who'd passed away. With clenched fist out to his mother's face, , 5 And strike her fiercely on her tear-stained cheek, His broken-hearted widow sat and wept, | | Shall I go on? or shall I simply add : His eldest son near by, at her right hand; | The eldest son was one year old that week, And while the solemn services progressed, ‘ A smile of satisfaction, only fanned | | UNGALLANT. By each succeeding word the pastor said, | ENATOR JONES, of. Florida, has been declared insane Spread o'er his face, and round his mouth did creep, | because he wants to marry a Detroit girl. This is And those within the church who looked that way, | rough on Detroit, and the young woman there is becoming Remarked the sight, preserving silence deep. | decimated. comicbooks.com