Life, 1886-08-19 · page 3 of 16
Life — August 19, 1886 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 101: Life Magazine - Mixed Content This page contains several unrelated short satirical pieces rather than a single unified cartoon. The illustrated header titled "Tragic" depicts a romantic scene—a woman at a balcony railing rejecting a man's proposal, with the accompanying verse by M.E.W. describing a summer romance where she refused a handsome suitor, expecting him to propose again but he didn't. Below are four brief fables and humorous pieces: "The Fox and the Crow" (classic Aesop retelling), "The Two Dogs" (contrasting educated versus ignorant dogs), "The One Thing" (a farmer's boast about mining profits), and "Business Traits" (sardonic character types), plus "A Pretty Kiplight" (a drinking-related mishap). These are general social satire without specific political references—typical early 20th-century Life magazine humor targeting human folly and vanity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
T was summer. And Long Branch. He came there. We met. He was handsome and hasty, and I a coquette, He proposed. I refused him. I loved him. But then I thought—do n’t you see ?—he would ask me again. But he did n’t. M, EW. FABLES FOR THE TIMES. THE FOX AND THE CROW. CROW with a morsel of cheese in her beak was ac- costed by a hungry Fox, who begged her to sing, remarking that a beautiful voice must accompany so fair a form. The vain bird at once dropped the cheese and the Fox hastened to seize it. But alas! it was Limburger and one smell overcame the thief, whose dying agonies were heightened by the Crow’s executing “ In the Gloaming.” MorAL: This little Fable shows us that the innocent often develop surprising strength in unexpected quarters. THE TWO DOGS. WO Dogs one day went lion hunting, one of them being a smart dog with a classical education and the other | being very ignorant and unsophisticated. Pretty soon they- struck the track of a Lion, and the educated Dog started off in the direction of the royal beast, while his ignorant com- panion, making an absurd mistake, took the back track and started off in the opposite direction. educated Dog was serving as an inanimate free lunch for an enormous Lion, while the ignorant Dog escaped unhurt. MoRAL: This Fable teaches that classical lore should be pientifully sprinkled with practical knowledge. THERE'S many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the saucer. In a few minutes the | THE ONE THING. 6¢ [ F it was n’t fer one thing, boys,” said an old farmer, as he got down from his wagon, “I'd bet enny amount 0’ money on thet bay colt o’ mine trottin’ a mile in 2.16%. I’d bet a million dollars ef I had it.” The crowd laughed derisively. “What is the one thing?” asked one of the crowd. The distance is too fur fer the time.” BUSINESS TRAITS. SELFISH fellow—The fish vender. A man of mettle—The stove dealer. Is clever at taking people in—The stage driver. Worse than a gross man—A grocer. A hard laboring man with a brief career—The lawyer. Always in a hole—The grave digger. His life a perpetual grind—The miller. A well-bred man—The baker. HLV.S. A PRETTY KPLIGHT. HERE once was a gallant young knight Who thought he would like to get ktight, But when half full of whiskey He became quite too frisky, And got terribly lammed in a kfight. comicbooks.com