Life, 1887-03-31 · page 3 of 16
Life — March 31, 1887 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 173 from Life Magazine This page contains satirical commentary on contemporary events. The text references: 1. **James Russell Lowell's authorship debate** — discussing whether Richard Third was written by Shakespeare or another author, with mention of the "Baconian center" (those who believed Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's works). 2. **Emperor William's birthday** — attributed to Bismarck's credit. 3. **Interstate Commerce Commission** — Cleveland's appointment of five railroad experts, compared to Whitney's shipping knowledge. 4. **US-Canada relations** — noting the absence of war and efforts by England's "future King" to manage a rising American star, improving relations strained by the "cod-fish controversy." The decorative border contains whimsical illustrations of figures and various scenes, typical of Life's satirical visual style. The cartoons appear to be humorous commentary on these political and cultural topics of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BEER TOOK HERE Ain YRS, eM AneBODY Gone ff E PREIS wo race twese KS ea YO OARNED THINGS Bde morro BACK? [i 57 ORTRR ATT LSS ss A, KAZ se) ns = Zs MARCH came in like a lion and will go roaring down through the ages as a month replete with Me =! events. Mr. James Russell Lowell enlightened the literary populace of Chicago on the authorship of Richard Third, which he attributes to another pen, than Shake- speare’s, much to the satisfaction of the Baconian center. Emperor William has indulged in the luxury of a ninetieth birthday for which Bismarck, as usual, takes most of the credit. The clouds of war have been to a large extent pushed below the horizon for a temporary period, and out of fifty-five million candidates for the Inter-State Commerce Commissionership, Mr. Cleveland has chosen five men who know almost as much about railroads as Mr. Whitney knows about ships. War between the United States and Canada has been conspicuous by its absence, and the kind efforts of the future King of England as stage manager to a rising American Star, have done much to lessen the hard feelings between the two English-speaking nations, arising-out of the cod-fish controversy. comicbooks.com