Life, 1890-09-04 · page 7 of 16
Life — September 4, 1890 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis The page contains two distinct elements: **Left side:** A small cartoon titled "A GOOD ALL-AROUND ATHLETE" depicting a rotund figure reading, with text mocking someone named Terence Mahoney as "the finest creation of his very clever man" (likely a literary character reference). **Right side:** A photograph captioned "NOT EVEN A PLOT" with accompanying dialogue between Mrs. Colt and Col. Colt regarding Texas justice and a telegraph pole execution. The caption questions whether a novel with only "a frog, a dude, a minister and a fool" qualifies as literature without a proper plot. The satire appears to critique both literature lacking substance and frontier justice. The Texas setting and casual reference to lynching reflect period attitudes, though presented here as social commentary on crude justice and poor storytelling. The humor relies on readers' familiarity with contemporary novels and frontier culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A GOOD ALL-AROUND ATHLETE, and his exquisite idyll of “Will o' the Mill.” When you have finished the volume with admira- tion, you will still be dis- appointed that it gave you no glimpse of your old friend Terence Mulvaney, who remains the finest creation of this very clever man, Droch. NEW BOOKS. RS. REVNOLDS AND HAMILTON, By George Alfred Townsend. New York: E. F. Bonaventure. The House. %, the Medlar Tree. By Giovanni Verga. Thetrans- lation by Mary A. Craig. An introduction by W. D Howells, New York: Harper & Brothers. By ‘the author of “A Dreamer of ¢ tc, New York: Har- per and Brothers, By Beatrice Lan- doi : Publishing Company. Etextes. By Jessie Agnes Andrews, New ‘York: Lew Vanderpoole Publishing C Sowing the Wind. By Mrs, 2. Lynn Linton. New York: Harper and Brothers. Following the Guiden. By Elizabeth B. Custer. New York: Harper and Brothe: Musical Groundwork, By Frederick J. Crowest._ London and New York: Frederick Warne and Company. The Metropolitan Church and Choir Directory. New York: Metropolitan “Printing and Publishing Company. Viera, By Roman | Zubof. New York: The American News Company. A BIG JaY—J. NOT EVEN A PLOT. “WHO 18 THE NEKO IN THAT NOVEL?” ‘Hero? THERE IS A PRIG, A DUDE, A MINISTER AND A FOOL, BUT YOU DON'T EXPECT A HERO IN A MODERN NOVEL, DO YOU? PSHAW! IF IT WAS NOT FOR THE VILLAINS IT WOULD NOT RE WORTH READING.” IN THE FAR SOUTH-WEST. RS. COLT (wife of Col. Colt, of Texas): As 1 was going by Turner's this morning, I John, I heard Jim Bluff say that if justice had its due you'd have adorned a telegraph pole long ago. CoL. CoLt (springing up from dinner-table): Jim Bluff, you say? Let me —— Wire: Now, John, please finish your dinner, The shooting will keep. comicbooks.com