Life, 1886-12-16 · page 5 of 16
Life — December 16, 1886 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 381 This page contains several satirical humor pieces rather than a unified political cartoon: **"A New Scientific Theory"** mocks pseudo-intellectual working-class speech through a dialogue between Dolphis and Rastus about sound traveling through pipes in tenement buildings—absurd folk "science" presented as discovery. **"Eating from a Sense of Duty"** satirizes working-class dietary constraints, where someone grudgingly eats cheap food (corn beef and cabbage) without genuine appetite. **The main illustration** (signed by Cesare) shows a bar scene where a "Stranger" (likely a Prohibition Society official) confronts the proprietor about liquor sales, with the proprietor denying it was "whiskey." This satirizes Prohibition enforcement and proprietors' transparent evasions. The remaining sections are brief jokes about theater hats, animal stubbornness, Western crops, and a ballet dancer—typical period humor with no specific political content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE A NEW SCIENTIFIC THEORY, OLPHUS (a janitor): I think, Rastus, I’se bout prepared ter contradic de theory dat am universally ‘cepted ’bout sound. : RASTUS (another janitor): Am dat so, Dolphus? DoLpHus: Dat am berry much so. Yo’ see, Rastus, in my capacity ob janitar ob de Hardwood Apa’tment House, I berry frequently has occashun ter res’ agin de dumb waiter down in de cellar. RasTus: Ob co’se, Dolphus, ob co’se. DOLPHUsS: Well, now, Rastus, I has frequently rema’ked dat by er slight leanin’ ob de ear fo’wa’d inter de well wha de dumb waiter slides, de hearin’ ob my ear glides gently up de rope like, an’ ketches on berry easy ter de conversa- shun dat am progressin’ in de perspective apa’tments, all de way from de fif’ flo’ norf ter de fust flo’ souf. ketches on ter de sound an’ den dey bof comes down togedder. RasTus: Dat’s a fac’, Dolphus, suah’s yo’ bo'n. EATING FROM A SENSE OF DUTY. ’M not hungry, John,” said a country girl, as they seated themselves in a restaurant, ‘an’ I don’t b'lieve I kin eat a thing.” “Better git suthin,” urged John, “git suthin’ light, corn beef an’ cabbage, or ice cream or suthin’ like that.” “Well,” she said, “I'll have some corn beef an’ cabbage, an’ ice cream; I s'pose I ought to eat suthin.” fA Proprietor (seeing stranger enter): E1ns, FRIT2. Stranger : | AM CHAIRMAN OF OUR LOCAL PROHIBITION SOCIETY AND HAVE CALLED To Froprietor : MAIG DOT BIER A WHISKEY, FRITZ. So yo’ see, Rastus, hits de hearin’ what goes up an’ How was YOUNG SHARPLES TO KNOW, WHEN HE LEANED ON IT, THAT THE BEAUTIFUL PED= ESTAL, WITH THE BOUQUET OF RARE EXOTICS, WAS HIS SISTER'S NEW THEATRE HAT ? AFFECTIONATE. HEY do say, as a redeeming point in the character of the King of Daho- mey, that he is fond of children, having ing three hundred and forty-two of his own. He likes them best fat, and stewed with palm oil and pepper. A FOREGONE CONCLUSION. ANDLADY (examining a fugitive boarder's trunk) : ““ Why, Bridget, his trunk is full of bricks! How could | they have got there?” “Sure, ma'am, he brought one home in his hat ivery night.” HE MADE A DISTINCTION. AITER, is this steak mule or horse? If its mule its all right, and the natural stubbornness of the animal; but if | its horse its too tough. \ X JESTERN papers tell us that the buckwheat crop is light this year. | We hope the cakes will be similarly af- | fected. ESTERNERS | are a paradoxical lot. Take cyclones, for instance. | They claim to look upon cyclones with | disfavor, and yet they are often quite car- tied away by them. M™ CHAUCER, : an 2 English ballet dancer, has recently received fa- vorable notice. She-is said to be a daugh- ter of the poet. comicbooks.com