Life, 1890-06-12 · page 9 of 20
Life — June 12, 1890 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Bad Break" Cartoon Analysis This cartoon depicts a gorilla (a common racist caricature in early 20th-century imagery) holding skulls while interacting with two men in formal dress. The caption reads "A BAD BREAK" with dialogue about a leaking roof in a tenant flat. The cartoon employs a grotesque visual metaphor—likely commenting on poor living conditions or squalid housing in tenements. The gorilla may represent either poverty itself or the dangerous/brutal nature of substandard housing. The formal-dressed figures contrast sharply with this primitive imagery, suggesting the disconnect between landlords/authorities and actual tenement conditions. The humor is cruel by modern standards, relying on visual shock rather than wit. Without additional historical context, the specific target remains unclear, though the message concerns housing inequality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: THE RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. @xRze to a delay in the mails on the Umgagi and Mbawa North- ern R. R., the following from Ltre’s African correspondent has just come to hand. It is, however, the first authentic report of the meeting of Emin and Stanley. F Mr. Stanley approached Emin’s headquarters about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, softly whistling “Little Annie Rooney.” He rapped at the door of Emin’s tent, and Emin himself answered the suramons. “ How do you do, Emin?” said Stanley. “I beg your pardon,” said Emin. ‘You have the advantage of me.” “Iam Henry M. Stanley——” “1 don’t care. I don’t want any subscription books, and I read ‘The Dark.Continent’ a long time ago.” “ But I have come to rescue you.” “T don't want to be rescued.” Liszt, O, Liszt! “Well, you've got to be rescued. Put on your coat and come along.” —Hamlet, Act I, Scene V. A BAD BREAK. ENANT (én top flat): The roof leaks. LANDLORD: Nonsense. None of the people in the other flats say so. TIT FOR TAT. ISS VASSER: Don't you think Miss Spring- love is a charming poetess ? UNCLE SOLOMON: Oh, yes, a very sweet poetess, and her cousin, Miss Chal- mers, is a charming painteress, and her Aunt Lucrece is an excellent sculptoress, and her mother used to be an excellent dishwasheress, and——" THE SAME, YET DIFFERENT. ED: His is a singular absence. NepD: Plural, you mean, -Hefran off with another fellow’s wife. REGISTERED FROM BOSTON. IRST CHICAGO MAN (tna New York Hotel): You registered from Boston, Why don’t you register from Chicago? SECOND CHICAGO MAN (ax old trav- eler): Because I've got tired of having these New York hotel clerks tell me not to blow out the gas. JUST HIS WAY. ERRITT: Did that critic read your poem and give you his opinion ? Tusss: He gave me his opinion. PSSulrans _A VOICE FROM AFRICA. Mumbo Jumbo of Ujiji (greeting missionary): GLAD TO MEET YOU, SAH, BUT I'sE POWERFUL TENDER "BOUT MY ORTHONOXY, AN’ I DON'T WANT TO HEAH NO TALK 'BOUT REVISIN’ DE CREED! “THEKE'S MILLIONS IN IT.” comicbooks.com