Life, 1887-12-22 · page 7 of 18
Life — December 22, 1887 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 361 **Main Content: "Our Advice"** This section discusses Mr. Deming, an author who lives near Malone, New York. The text praises his modest approach to writing—he hasn't aggressively pursued fame or published frequently. Instead, he writes "unambitious stories, which, even when touched with melancholy, are gracious and comforting." The piece encourages Deming to continue writing despite his lack of prominence. **"Prodigies" Section** Brief anecdotes celebrate child prodigies, including a seven-year-old who can blow by ear, a pianist who plays without sheet music, and others demonstrating precocious musical talent. **Visual Elements** The skull illustration and small cartoons at bottom appear decorative rather than satirical. The skull's artistic style suggests early 20th-century aesthetic design.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OUR ADVICE. near Malone, N. Y., on the verge of the Adirondack wilder- ness. There he lives with his brother and delights in the hills and lakes which he has so affectionately pictured in his stories FEW weeks ago he came down to New York to the Authors’ Readings, and found some appreciative friends among the distinguished men on the platform. Those who delight in clear, limpid prose have long known his work and read with pleasure the little of it that has seen the light. But to the mass of intelligent and well-read people in that assemblage his name was practically unknown. 361 PRODIGIES. THERE is a boy in Yonkers, years of age, who can blow by ear any tin horn in the market, seven R. ALBERT VON KONIGSBER- GER KRAUTZ, a recently acquired citizen of this country, has a little daugh- ter, ten years of age, who recently played the hose on the piano, entirely without . . * MONTHS-OLD baby in Au- gusta, Maine, cries hysterically every time she hears * Sweet Violets.” Such critical judgment is wonderful at this age. * . « A PHILADELPHIA boy, Charley Hoffenberg by name, a lad of six, can play one of Chopin's waltzes so that the musical enthusiast cannot tell it from the ** Boulanger March.” . . ° T is said of Wagner that when two weeks old he yelled three acts of “Siegfried” in an evening. . . . MEMBER of the Senior class at Vassar College played the * Battle of Prague" from beginning to end sev- enteen times in a half hour, last Tuesday evening. ‘This beats the record by seven bars. He has not knocked at the doors of fame with insistent clamor; he has not published a new volume every year, filled with an affected knowledge of the world; as Mr. Henry James would say, he is thoroughly provincial. ‘True is it that breadth of viesv, and knowledge and experience of life are admirable qualities in a writer; but when gained at the sacrifice of sincerity, depth of feeling and simplicity of style, they are a heavy burden for an author to carry. So it is that there are a goodly number who hope that Mr. Deming, in the serene afternoon of life, will continue to write his unambitious stories, which, even when touched with melancholy, are gracious and comforting. Droch. comicbooks.com