Life, 1890-09-11 · page 12 of 18
Life — September 11, 1890 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 138 **Main Cartoon:** "A Hydrophobia Scare in Rome" depicts a chaotic street scene with people fleeing in panic—likely responding to a rabid dog or similar threat. The elaborate architectural setting and crowded composition satirize how trivial or exaggerated fears can cause mass hysteria in urban centers. **"The New Riley":** This poem parodies James Whitcomb Riley, a popular contemporary poet known for his folksy, colloquial style and distinctive line-break technique (the "ladder-poem" structure visible here). The satire mocks how Riley's style—while charming—had become a fad among imitators, who mechanically apply his whimsical approach to mundane topics (wheat speculation, theater hats, bargains) that don't warrant poetic treatment. **"Very True":** A brief joke about New York's ethnic neighborhoods and immigrant hotel workers, suggesting that despite the city's diverse quarters, profit extraction by service workers represents the true "American" element. The page satirizes both literary pretension and urban social dynamics of early 20th-century America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A HYDROPHOBIA SCARE IN ROME. THE NEW RILEY. HE fad among the poets now is imitating Jim; They make their like him; The Whitcomb Riley ending leads you down to an abyss; This. Like Up Suppose we change the thing and boost ‘em erses tumble down in sections, just Suppose you are describing how vou met a summer girl, And wooed, and won, and lost her, in Narragansett’s whirl; You thought you had your heiress hooked and landed high and dry, High. Sky Knocked But she was fooling and your plans got Perhaps you're on the stre You buy a lot of wheat “dirt cheap,” and then you get a seal You let it go for nothing, and before quotations close, Goes. She Up It takes a sudden spurt you see, and .and make your plans to be a bear; And scores of things might be described with like poetic wiles, The theater hat, the iceman’s bill—all Eiffel tower styles; With novelties and mark-down s . and bargain lots in rhyme, Climb. To Got If you expect to sell your wares, you've Then here's to Jimmy Riley, the feller wot kin spell In the style of old Josh Billings, although not quite so well; We've learned that if a poet can make his thinker hop, Top. On Keep And write a ladder-poem, he can Frank Roe Batchelder. VERY TRUE. “e EW YORK isa great place,” said the tourist. “Tt hasan Italian quarter and a Chinese quarter and a French quarter, but where is the American quarter?" “Inthe pocket of the hotel waiter,” answered his Amer- ican cousin. comicbooks.com