Life, 1889-04-18 · page 13 of 21
Life — April 18, 1889 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains four separate satirical pieces mocking different social groups: **"Nellie"** ridicules a Boston girl's pedantic literalism—she defends the biblical Joshua story by claiming the sun literally obeyed Joshua's command and "has stood still ever since," missing obvious scientific absurdity while boasting of education. **"Brutality"** satirizes marital hypocrisy: a husband argues his wife should have known he'd treat her poorly after marriage since he behaved badly beforehand. **"A Momentary Lapse"** depicts a Postmaster-General distracted into offering decorative "checks and stripes for parties" when a political operative requests patronage positions—mocking government corruption and confused priorities. **"A Night Scene in Harlem"** uses ethnic dialect humor (Irish and implied Black characters) in a domestic scene, typical of turn-of-century comedy that relied on stereotyped speech patterns. The page's humor targets pretension, hypocrisy, political graft, and relies heavily on period stereotyping now considered offensive.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Nellie: HERE COMES OUR SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER, AND SHE ISN'T AS SMART AS SHE THINKS SHE 1s, MY RROTHER SAYS THAT STORY ABOUT JOSHUA AND THE SUN 18 ALL NONSENSE, BECAUSE THE SUN DOESN'T MOVE, AND JOSHUA DI DO ANYTHING AT ALL Fanny (tivo years older, and from Boston): YOUR BROTHER EVIDENTLY IS NOT ACQUAINTED WITH SCIENCE, MOVE, BUT JOSHUA COMMANDED IT TO STAND STILL, IT DID SO, AND NAS STOOD STILL EVER SINCE. BRUTALITY. RS. FEATHERINGTON: If 1 had known you would have treated me like this I would never have married you. MR. FEATHERINGTON: Pshaw! If you had had any common sense you must have known I would not keep on treating you as I did before we were married. A MOMENTARY LAPSE. R. HOOLIHAN: We've all been earnest workers down our way, and drawn our checks regular fer the party, and now we want a man of the same stripe. POSTMASTER-GENERAL (dream#ly): 1 can show you some sweet things in checks and stripes for parties, at the lowest—er—um—ah—yes, I'll see what I can do for you, Mr. Hoolihan. A Ficut To THE Fin1isH—Rider Haggard’s stories. £ fe ik RL se alate A NIGHT SCENE IN HARLEM. Billy Capricornus (to his best girl); LAVE THAT STHUFF ALONE, NANNY, AND COME TO SUPPER WID ME. THE Wippy MORIARTY HAS GONE TO A WAKE AND FORGOT TO TAKE IN HER WASHIN', THE SUN used TO comicbooks.com