Life, 1886-04-08 · page 7 of 16
Life — April 8, 1886 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 203 **The "Ambition" Cartoon:** This sketch depicts a census official at a desk interviewing a woman. The joke hinges on the woman's stated ambition: "I'd like to be one!" When asked "One what?" she replies, "Census. It embraces seventeen millions of women." The satire mocks women's limited career aspirations and employment opportunities in this era—the census being presented as an absurdly modest professional goal. It also satirizes the vast number of women (17 million) apparently unaccounted for or invisible in society. **Text Content:** The page includes literary criticism and humorous anecdotes alongside the cartoon. One piece critiques Andrew Underhill's poetry collection, another mocks a New York physician's sensitivity about duck-hunting, and a final item presents dialogue about magazine preferences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AMBITION. He; Jove! I'D LIKE TO BE ONE! She: ONE wHat? He: Census. Ir EMBRACES SEVENTEEN MILLIONS OF WOMEN. Eleventh street an equally good locality for his stories. These successes show how rich this great city is in ‘‘ma- terial.” There are almost unknown streets where every house is a romance. And yet our writers continue to paint over and over the same old colorless sentiments with con- “ventional backgrounds ! . . . R. ANDREW F. UNDERHILL has collected two score of his poems in a neat and attractive volume entitled “Etchings in Verse” (Brentano's). The more ambitious of them are called “Songs in Minor Keys,” and are the least attractive because least original. They are full | ~ of echoes from Poe. Mr. Underhill does not really like the “gloom” and “ desolation” and “despair.” He only “does it” in verse because it is an academical tradition that that sort of thing is the essence of poetry. But when he turns his muse to the sunshine and the girls his verses are bright, melodious and gently witty. “Denise,” “Valerie,” and “ April and June,” are gracefully etched, with just that touch of sentiment which warms the heart but never breaks it. Drock. LOOSE AMONG LITERATURE. OUNTRYMAN (in book store) : My wife wanted me to git her some good magazine to read. Proprietor: Yes, sir. How would the Century Magazine do? Countryman : Gosh, no! She wants a monthly magazine. SENSITIVE. YOUNG physician of New York refused to go duck- hunting with a party of friends the other day. He said the ducks were too infernally personal in their remarks when addressing him. PEACHBLOW. H, I love a maiden fair— With a wealth of curling hair Of that golden tint that artists vainly seek ; And there beams a love so true In her tender eyes of blue— And a thousand-dallar peachblow on her cheek. Once I softly kissed her cheek— And she looked demurely meek, While I gently squeezed her little finger-tips. Bat the bloom upon her face Was false—as Mrs. Morgan’s vase— And I bore away the peachblow on my lips. 7 S.C. CANNIBALISM AND THE CONGO. HE natives of the Congo are threatened with a famine this summer ; ‘and close upon this dismal announce- ment comes the news that twenty missionaries have recently sailed for Africa. comicbooks.com