Life, 1887-02-24 · page 12 of 16
Life — February 24, 1887 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 112: Satire and Social Commentary This page contains several distinct satirical pieces typical of Life's humor: **"A Sad Case"** mocks ex-Treasurer Hollingsworth's remorse after embezzlement conviction. The satire argues that his belated tears and suffering are hypocritical—he should have experienced such torment *before* committing the crime, not after. Life sarcastically suggests boycotting "Nature" for this moral flaw, then darkly offers to send flowers to his prison cell. **"Verses with a Valentine"** satirizes modern romance's commercialization, contrasting old-fashioned valentines (roses, poetry, Cupid imagery) with contemporary reality: "Love, nowadays, is not won but bought: I'll send you for your Valentine—a check!" **The deaf woman cartoon** plays on Miss Doolittle's pretense of hearing while asking questions, then mishearing the answer about Mrs. Browne's illness. **The final dialogue** depicts a suitor rejected because he's merely a bank teller and Sunday-school teacher—"Canada's full now" suggests satirizing either Canadian immigration debates or comedically implying he should emigrate.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: WHY NOT BE PREPARED FOR ACCIDENTS AND HAVE YOUR MATTRESS READY TO BE CARRIED HOME ON? A SAD CASE. DESPATCH to the Z?mes from Vincennes, Ind., says: When the verdict sentencing ex-Treasurer | Hollingsworth to the Penitentiary for three years on the charge of embezzlement was read in court he cried like a | child. He refused to partake of food in any form, and all night lay on an iron bed tossing under the tortures of mind | and body. What a sad, sad case of remorse this is!’ How our sym- | pathies are aroused by this picture of mortal woe! What a | pity it is that Mr. Hollingsworth did not weep like two chil- dren, and toss three nights on four iron beds, with the tortures of five bodies and six minds before he embezzled once ! It is a flaw in Nature’s ways that remorse comes after and not before we fall into evil. Let us boycott Nature. Flowers for Mr. Hollingsworth may be sent to the Indiana States Prison. T seems that Tennyson was wrong in putting the strength of the famous Light Brigade at six hundred men. About | a thousand survivors of the charge have died in the last five | years. ULLNESS under the eyes denotes language, say the | phrenologists. Young men should remember this when they go courting. VERSES WITH A VALENTINE. CANNOT send you in this iron time, A dainty lace and paper thing, With wreaths of roses and a pretty rhyme Of love, devotion and the wedding-ring ; And Cupid's self imprinted on the page, In varied colors, in suggestive way, With bow and arrows, relics of an age We laugh at and despise in this stern day. Lace paper’s out of style, and quite pass¢e Are tinsel roses, while the rhymes themselves Are in our mother’s albums, laid away With school-girl fancies on forgotten shelves. And Cupid’s self can never claim a thought, Nor all the symbols that his worship deck ; Love, nowadays, is not won but bought: I'll send you for your Valentine—a check ! NEW list of household hints contains this: “Salt in the whitewash will make it stick better.” Investigating committees should bear this in mind. M ISS DOOLITTLE (who zs deaf, but won't acknowledge zt to Mr. Browne) : “ Howis your family, Mr. Browne?” MR. BROWNE: All quite well, thank you, with the excep- tion of my wife. She was out in the rain the other day, and got quite wet; the result was a very severe cold on her lungs, which we feared would end in congestion, but she is conva- lescent now.” Miss DOOLITTLE: Indeed! So glad. And how is Mrs. Browne? No, SIR! YOU CAN’T HAVE MY DAUGHTER, AND THAT SETTLES IT! WILL You TELL ME WHY, SIR? I AM HER EQUAL IN EVERY WAY, AND STAND WITH A GOOD REPUTATION. Tuat’s 1T! THAT’S IT! YOU’RE A BANK TELLER, AND A SUNDAY- SCHOOL TEACHER, AND—AND—WELL—CANADA’S FULL NOW. comicbooks.com