Life, 1887-02-17 · page 13 of 20
Life — February 17, 1887 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several short humor pieces and a political cartoon. **"Poor England!" (main cartoon):** The large illustration depicts the U.S. Navy as a threatening warship menacing a small British vessel. The caption suggests America is warning Britain about potential naval conflict. This likely references 1890s tensions between American and British naval power—a period of Anglo-American rivalry over colonial interests and naval supremacy. **Short jokes include:** - A pun on "rare" surgery (rare vs. well-done) - A jab at American materialism: a young man entering the ministry only for the $10,000 salary - Wordplay about "Knights" deserting "Piers" (Knights and Pierces/Piers)—a pun on American social pretension mimicking British aristocracy **"A Cohesive Tale":** Three small sequential cartoons illustrating a domestic narrative (plot unclear from image alone). The overall tone mocks American social climbing, materialism, religious hypocrisy, and reflects period anxieties about naval power competition with Britain.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HOW. HE WANTED IT DONE. RIEND: Now, Charley, I'd advise you to have the operation per- formed by Dr. Sawbones. He fis a very skillful surgeon, and will perform his work in a rare manner. PATIENT (alarmed): Rare? I'd rather it be well done. ENNYSON is said to be engaged in | an adaptation of “When this Old | Hat was New,” for the Queen to sing at | her jubilee. GOING INTO THE MINISTRY. ATHER: I hear you've decided to go into the ministry, Samuel. Son: Yes, father. FATHER: So you're going to work for | the Lord, eh? Son: Yes, father, but I trust it won't be long before I shall get a $10,000 salary. E have Knights and Peers in this Republican land just as they have in England. Only our Knights deserted the Piers for | the sake of higher wages. T is customary to poke fun at the Eng- lish for saying, “’Arf 'n ‘arf,” but we think that a much better way to say it than the German “holluf undt holluf.” POPE, PRUSSIA AND PEACE. COMPLETE understanding has been reached by Prussia and the Pope on questions of Church and State. They are as happy as two P's in a pod. T is said that the French have reason to fear an epidemic of Krupp. POOR ENGLAND! The U.S. Navy (with its fiercest voice): TAKE CARE, OR, BY THUNDER! THERE MAY BE AWA’ A. COHESIVE TALE, comicbooks.com