Life, 1890-09-18 · page 12 of 14
Life — September 18, 1890 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 152: Analysis for Modern Readers This page contains three separate humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century American satire: **"Theft"** is a romantic poem playing on the word "steal"—comparing poetic/natural "thievery" (moonlight, music) to romantic affection and kissing. **"Giving It to Him Straight"** shows a child with a new air rifle asking his mother if God counts every sparrow that falls, then smugly noting he'll "keep him busy" shooting them that afternoon—dark humor about casual animal killing, likely commenting on childhood cruelty or indifference to life. **"A Visit to the Seashore"** features a British tourist (marked as "near-sighted," suggesting obliviousness) mistaking debris for "wild animals," asking a local why he thought animals still existed near New York. The local explains it's actually wreckage from someone's merry-go-round destroyed by spring tides—satirizing both the tourist's naïveté and Americans' poorly-maintained amusement infrastructure. The humor relies on period-specific assumptions about class, observation, and rural American practicality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THEFT. HE moonlight steals around the pine, Star eyes steal radiance from thine, Low music steals upon the ear ; Can there be theft when thou art near? I steel my heart for fear of this, I steel my heart—and steal a kiss. I'd steal the sacramental wine, If it were sweet as kiss of thine. Tom Hall. GIVING IT TO HIM STRAIGHT. ss ASKED the editor to lend me a dollar and what do you suppose he answered ?” “1 don’t know.” Rowse (with a new atr rifle): Mamma, does God count “He quoted Lytton = every sparrow that falls to the ground ? MAMMA: Yes, dear, Roenie (proudly): Well, you can bet I'll keep him busy this Yet all that poets afternoon, then. +A loan ?—that worn-out word, So idly spoken, and so coldly heard ; ing and grief hath known Of hopes laid waste, knell in that word—a loan.’ ” A VISIT TO THE SEASHORE. Near-sighted British Tourist : I Say, ME Roy, I DON'T LIKE THIS SORT OF THING, DON'T YoU kNow f I THOUGHT ALL THE WILD ANIMALS WERE EXTERMINATED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF New Yorx ? Native: Tem ain't NO WILD aNtace, THAT'S ALL THAT'S LEFT OF Hank SHRAR'S MERRY-GO-ROUND, THE DURNED FOOL SET IT UP TOO EARLY THIS YEAR, AND THE FUST SPRING TIDE KNOCKED IT HIGHER 'AN A KITE! comicbooks.com