Life, 1887-10-20 · page 3 of 16
Life — October 20, 1887 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Page 213 This page contains **literary notes and humor** rather than political cartoons. The main content includes: **"Sous L'Escalier"** — A poem about a wilted flower found under stairs, likely commenting on discarded romance or lost beauty. **"A Steady Improvement"** — A dialogue mocking Yale University's educational standards, suggesting students aren't properly educated and that old academic traditions remain entrenched despite claimed reforms. **"Experientia Docet"** — Three small humorous illustrations at the bottom (unclear exactly what they depict, but appear to be sight gags or visual jokes). The page reflects *Life*'s satirical approach to American institutions, particularly higher education's resistance to modernization. No specific political figures are identifiable.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LITERARY NOTES. HE New Orleans Picayune says that the latest novel by Inspector Byrnes, written over the som de flume of “Julian Hawthorne,” is called “An American Penman,” prob- ably suggested by the play cull- ed “Jim, the Penman.” * . . “DEODORIZED EDI- 4 TION " of the Heptam- cron ts shortly to appear. What next ? CORRESPONDENT suggests that Mr. Hag- gard be asked not what books have helped him, but what books he has helped himself to. QUESTION OF THE HOUR, SOUS L’ESCALIER. HIS rose, poor little crumpled flower! Was one of Ethel’s ; for an hour To-night, it nodded from her waist. Alas, a triumph quickly o'er! Tust now I found it on the floor, Dethroned, disgraced— Just where these chairs, so close together, Under the stairs, leave no doubt whether Or not, they came so by design— One chair was Ethel’s—ah, how fair She looks to-night !—the other chair Was—well, not mine. Bat as for roses, she has yet So many, she would soon forget If one rose fell :— And, there's a game called ‘* hearts,” they say, Whose point is, throwing hearts away— She plays it well! RECR: 213 A SURPRISING DIS- COVERY. R. STEAD, of the Pal? Mall Gazette, in a re- cently published volume, gives a list of the boos which have in- fluenced him. A reader of the Gazette is surprised to find that Mr. Stead has not been influenced by such volumes as the Decameron of Boccaccio, the Heptameron of Queen Margaret, Balzac’ Contes Drolatiques, Comstock's Night Side of New York, and other volumes more or less of the same general style as the Gazette. A PROBABLE COMBINE. ACOB GQ HARP, ailed ing Sing, THIS LITTLE CUT IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED To THOSE WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, WITH THE INFORMATION THAT THERE MAY BE HOURS IN THE LIFE OF A MISSION- ARY WHEN PROBATION after DEATIL 1S NOT THE BURNING A STEADY IMPROVEMENT. R. WABASH (of Chicago): Have you read Julian Hawthorne's story, “A Tragic Mystery,” Miss Breezy ? Miss BREEZY: Oh, yes! and I found it very interesting. I think his style has so much improved since he wrote “ The Scarlet Letter.” O, my son, you will not be examined in hammer-throw- ing when you try to enter Yale. A bald-headed pro- fessor will ask you for the name of Miltiades’s first wife, and it won't help you a mite if you name all the players on the National League, or give correctly all the intercollegiate records. It ought to help you, but it won't, for that old cubi- cal-headed professor is away behind the time. Reforms come slowly, and they still hold on to the old notions at Yale. But just you wait till those old trilobites are laid on the shelf in a dark, dusty cabinet, and you will see the cause of higher education boom like a Southern iron to-vn. EXPERIENTIA DOCET. comicbooks.com