Life, 1888-08-16 · page 12 of 14
Life — August 16, 1888 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 96: Social Satire This page contains three distinct satirical pieces typical of 19th-century American humor: **"An Unpardonable Sin"**: Mocks corporate priorities. A streetcar superintendent reports that a driver hit an elderly woman and broke her arm, but the company president only becomes outraged upon learning the driver also failed to collect fares—revealing that theft matters more than injury. **"A Son of the Old Man"**: A con artist ("bunco-steerer") encounters someone who knew his father. The stranger assumes Sam was imprisoned for horse stealing, as that was what happened to Bill Waffles's "only son"—implying Sam is either illegitimate or his criminal past makes him unrecognizable as family. **"The Untutored Savage"** (illustrations): Depicts children at a beach; the caption's title suggests satirizing unsophisticated behavior. The final essay mocks an English visitor's observations about class discontent in America, defending social inequality as universal and inevitable.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: AN UNPARDONABLE SIN. GUrERINT ENE (of bobtail horse-car line): The driver of No. 75 ran over an old lady to-day, and broke her arm. PRESIDENT: Well, people ought to be more careful. SUPERINTENDENT: And the amount of money in the box indicates that he is careless about fares. PRESIDENT: Wha-at? Discharge him at once! A SON OF THE OLD MAN. UNCO-STEERER (Co stranger): Isn't this Mr. Stag- gles, of Staggletown ? STRANGER: Yep. BUNCO-STEERER: I guess you don’t remember me; I'm Sam Waffles, son of William Waffles. STRANGER: Wha-at? Are you Bill Waffles’s son? Why, Sam, I'm gosh durned ef I ain't glad tosee you! How long you ben out? BUNCO-STEERER: Been out? STRANGER: Yep; the only son old Bill Waffles ever had was sent up five year fer hoss stealin’. THE UNTUTORED SAVAGE. OUR SUMMER RESORTS. Helen: Ot, ETHEL! THERE'S A MAN-OF-WAR COMING DIRECTLY TOWARD US, ‘thel: DO LET ME TAKE THE GLASS! I HAVE BEEN HERE SIX $ AND IT 18 THE FIRST MAN OF ANY KIND I HAVE*SEEN, RS. KELLNER, of Alabama, flavored her ice-cream with lau- danum in place of vanilla, and found that it went dowa suc- cessfully with her friends. Whereby it seems the way is opened for alleviating much of the misery incident to Sunday-school picnics, and for ameliorating the experiences of wall-flowers in secular life. . . * UST ridicule has overtaken the recent English visitor to America, who is reported by the 7ridune as saying: “The poor are discontented because they cannot enjoy the good things which wealth alone can buy; the wealthy are discontented because they have enjoyed alt these good things, and find them flat, stale and unprofitable; while the moderately well-to-do are discon- tented because they have neither the social freedom enjoyed by the poor nor the social consideration paid to the rich.” What this British person has observed in this country he will find at home and in every prosperous community he visits. He need not complain of it, because it is incident to human life. Let him look on the bright side and reflect how great a consolation it is to the poor that the rich are not perfectly happy, and what solace the rich find in the conviction that though money does not satisfy they are no worse off for having it, As for the well-to-do, if they give up their social freedom and get nothing in return, the more fools they. B.S. M. comicbooks.com