Life, 1888-11-29 · page 7 of 14
Life — November 29, 1888 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A True Story" - Anarchist Satire This appears to be a satirical illustrated story about anarchist violence, likely from the early 20th century when such threats were a genuine social concern in America. The sequential images depict: 1. A deacon and wife deciding to kill chickens 2. A man attaching dynamite to a cartridge and lighting the fuse 3. The woman alarmed by the "hissing fuse" fleeing homeward, with the deacon now "ruins for his life" 4. The final panel: "But the deadly hand of science intervenes" The joke appears to be dark irony: what begins as innocent farm work becomes confused with anarchist bomb-making, culminating in an accidental explosion. The satire mocks both anarchist violence and the period's anxiety about radical threats to ordinary American life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE-: 303 A TRUE STORY. point, in human nature which has led to so many unpardonable literary sins (Macmillan). . \R. BRANDER MATTHEWS has collected eight essays into avolume decorated with good paper, type and binding, and entitled “Pen and Ink" (Longmans). Jests, Plagiarism, Prefaces and Poker are among the subjects discussed informally, in the after-dinner manner which admits of good anecdotes and illustrations. The most serious work is in the essays on Locker and Dobson. In the paper on the Philosophy of the Short Story, its features are well defined as compression, originality, ingenuity and a touch of fancy. . . . id Bete London Sfectator, in a recent review of “John Ward. Preacher,” expresses the opinion that its power consists “even more in the side sketches than in that of the Calvinistic hero and his agnostic wife.” The reviewer adds: “John Ward could not, by any possibility, being what he was, have acted as he did in a time when The Deacon and his wife sorrowfully decide that their the temper of the day throws so strong a light on all the more hopefu favorite cat, having taken to killing chickens, must die. and optimistic theological elements of the Bible, and on all the pas- sages in which St. Paul teaches true tolerance.” We may be pardoned for quoting this as confirmation of the point of view taken in this column six months ago. It is not surprising that Anglicans have praised the book, for it advances a theory of Calvin- ism which is only proclaimed by its enemies. . . . | i has been the good fortune of the Saturday Review to compress one of Arlo Bates's novels into a sentence: “ The Pagans would be naughty if they dared, and clever if they could.” Drockh. NEW BooKs SONGS FROM BERANGER. New York: Frederick A, Stokes & Brother. Wood Blooms, By John Vance Cheney. New York: Frederick A. Stokes & Brother. The Virginia Marriage. By May Agnes Fleming. New York: Street & Smith. The Century Magazine. Vol. XXXVI. St. Nicholas, Vol. X1. Parts 1. and I. She is alarmed by the hissing fuse, breaks away and starts for . ab home, rapidly overtaking the Deacon, who now runs for his life. But the deadly hand of science intervenes. comicbooks.com