Life, 1886-09-16 · page 12 of 16
Life — September 16, 1886 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page contains miscellaneous satirical content typical of Life magazine's humor section. **Top:** Two etchings labeled "On the Banks of the Nile" show giraffes in exaggerated poses. Accompanying them is a poem by W.J. O'Reardon mocking human nature—describing man as a contradictory creature embodying both virtue and vice, nobility and depravity. The satirical point is humanity's inherent inconsistency. **Bottom:** A "Scraps" section collects brief jokes and puns, many relying on wordplay (e.g., "crows" without "caws," a parson's dark humor about graveyards). These include commentary on military life, vocal technique, and social absurdities. One anecdote mocks a young lady who rejects her suitor after her father intervenes violently. The illustration shows a woman with a child and a clergyman—likely accompanying the graveyard joke about the parson's reluctance to be buried in a new cemetery. The overall tone reflects 19th-century genteel satire targeting human foibles and contemporary social customs.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MAN. \ \ J HAT a queer combination of cheek and | perversity, Insoience, pride, gab, impudence, vanity, Jealousy, hate, scorn, baseness, insanity, Honor, truth, wisdom, virtue, urbanity, Is that whimsical biped called man ! | Who can fathom the depths of hisinnate depravity? | To-day he’s all gayety, to-morrow all gravity. | For blowing his own horn, he has a propensity, Even under clouds of singular density. Oh, mystical clay-bank called man ! He can be the source of beastly brutality, Be modest and meek, or indulge in hilarity, Don airs and graces of saintly totality, Or equal the devil in daring rascality, This curious enigma called man. ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE. W. J. O' Reardon, SCRAPS. | RUM-FISH, served with pickled beats and a roll, is a a new seaside camp dish. * * * E VERY respectable buffalo minds his own business. * * * VOCAL teacher contends that is difficult for a woman to sing pure soprano who has false teeth. “We pre- sume it is easy for her to sing falsetto. * * * ROWS never kick up a disturbance without caws. * * * CORRESPONDENT suggests that the next Grand Army reunion be held in the City of Mexico. * * * WESTERN paper says there are some pretty tough | nuts in the army. Does it refer to the kernels ? * * * HERE was a young lady named Vaughan, Who treated her lover with scaughan, And he gave up his suit When her father’s big buit Shot him hastily forth on the laughan. * * * TUDENT: Have you Xenophon’'s “ Anabasis ?” BOOKSELLER: No, we're out of Xenophon’s, but we have Goodwin and White's. * * * O sail out upon the broad ocean, A sweet little maid took a nocean, THE PARSON DOESN’r LIKE THE NEW GRAVEYARD AT ALL, AND But when the yacht rolled ; 5 HE SAYS HE’LL NEVER BE BURIED THERE, She exclaimed, ‘‘ I'd give golled WELL, FOR MY PART, IF THE LORD SEES FIT TO SPARE MY LIFE, fo get rid of this horrible mocean.” | 1 HOPE TO BE BURIED THERE SOME DAY. comicbooks.@