Life, 1888-08-23 · page 6 of 14
Life — August 23, 1888 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 104 This page contains three separate humorous pieces rather than unified political cartoons: 1. **"The Richness of the Soil"**: A rural anecdote about a farmer describing his neighbor's land improvements and growing crops, illustrated with a simple sketch of a cabin. 2. **"A Pathetic Appeal"**: A brief dialogue between a bird-fancier and dealer about a parrot with superior English, presented as gentle humor about class and language pretension. 3. **"A Mournful Story"**: A sketch showing a gentleman on horseback with an umbrella, captioned with a melancholy exchange between characters named Maud Muller and a man named Judge. This appears to reference or parody the sentimental 1856 poem "Maud Muller." The page represents typical Life magazine humor: domestic vignettes and sentimental parodies rather than pointed political satire. The illustrations are simple pen sketches accompanying text-based jokes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LIFE: THE RICHNESS OF THE SOIL. 66 ITPWOR in seventy-nine when I left ole Kaintuck an’ squat on a good lay o' lan’ up on Pine Crik, a leetle ther most han'som’st valley in this yar county. I sot ther house purty near ther erik, an’ a-thinkin’ ther crik might git on a rampage in thaw- time, I sot ther house on tree-posts, cut erlong ther crik, 'beout two foot up. “Wal, then I went ter plantin’, an’ in June, fer a fac’, pertaters ‘ud begin ter hustle afore we got ‘em kivered in; an’ ther corn, why, ye never heered sech a rac We cudn’t sleep o' nights, ther corn made sech a noise agittin’ up! Sech a crackin’, bustin’ noise ! Ev'‘rythin’ a-shootin’ an’ a-wrastlin’ ter grow! “Howsomever, thet's nothin’ ter what I'm goin’ ter tell ye. One day, ter dinner, I says to my wife, ‘ Maria, why can’t ye hev ther table sot even? Are ye tryin’ fer ter spill ev'rythin' ?? an’ she says, *I ain't done nothin’ ter ther table; It’s settin’ squar’ on ther floor.” “Wal, fer weeks thet yar house kep’ a-gittin’ more onev'ner, an’ last I says, * Maria, thet yar north post is a-sinkin' deown !" She went an’ looked. in't no sech thin’, Ben, ther other posts is a-risin’ up!’ Fer a fac’ them posts was a-growin’, ‘cep’ ther north one, whar ‘twas shady. Why, cud see ther sprouts a-shootin’ out! An’ neow ther house begun ter snap an’ crack, an’ ‘twor a-gittin’ dan- g'rous, ‘cos, yer see, ‘twa'n't goin’ even, Ther three posts was a-keepin’ tergither, but ther other, bein’ shady, wor a-hangin’ back. “WAL, WE DONE IT." “+ Somethin’ hed ter be did, an’ Maria, she’s “beout as cute as ye'll find ‘em, says, * Ben, ye'll hev ter water thet north post. Per‘aps it'll ketch up.’ Wa'n’t thet an idee? Wal, we done it, an’ ye never see sech a racin’ o' posts. Enside o' a month thet north post war up with ther others, an’ then ther house went up plumb. “Ttell ye, *twor a sight, an’ afore winter ther house wor up ‘beout four foot, an’ ther posts a-puttin’ eout branches an’ a-throwin’ o' them reound ther house, kinder embracin’ like! Thet's a-goin’ on five year ago, an’ them posts—trees they be neow—hev ben a-growin’ ever sence ; an’ ye'll hev ter 'scuse me, gentle- men, fer I hev ter start early, fer when I git hum, it takes "beout hef ‘n ‘our ter climb up ter ther house. I tell ye, thar's sile up thar wuth ownin’.” A PATHETIC APPEAL. PINSTER (¢o dérd-fancier): Have you a nice parrot, sir, whose life has been quiet and uneventful, and whose choice of English is somewhat above the average ? DEALER: Yes, ma'am; I have just the bird you're look- ing— PARROT (cmploringly): For gawd’s sake, boss, don’t let me go! ]* going up the ladder of fame, we meet many coming down. A MOURNFUL STORY. E: You are a Maud Muller, I see. SHE (puzzled): Indeed, no, HE: Then I am no judge. And then the heavens opened and rained gently upon him, and he so held his umbrella as to conceal his face from the eyes of men. comicbooks.com