Life, 1892-02-11 · page 11 of 22
Life — February 11, 1892 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Political Cartoon Analysis: Life Magazine, Page 87 This page contains two illustrated scenes with satirical captions. "The Mayor" depicts a figure dropping an axe near a house, with text describing a farmer's journey from a "splintered city to the forest"—likely satirizing urban corruption or mismanagement forcing citizens to flee. The caption suggests the mayor is complicit in the city's decay. The lower illustration, titled "The Air Was Laden With Prominent Citizens," shows figures falling from an aircraft, accompanying a narrative about a train crash involving "well-known capitalists from the East." The satire mocks wealthy Eastern businessmen, suggesting their prominence doesn't protect them from disaster—a commentary on class vulnerability or divine retribution against the privileged. Both cartoons employ dark humor to critique early 20th-century American social hierarchies.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*LIFE- laden with promi- nentcitizens, A rail- way train, just en- tering the town and bearing some well- known capitalists from the East, rose bodily from the bridge,then plunged into the river's mud. But these were.de- tails in which the Westwind took lit- tle interest,and they caused him no de- lay. With one more bound he was half way from the splin- tered city to the forest. The farmer, who had long since dropped his axe, now scurried toward his house, believing, cor- rectly, the day of reckoning had come. Before his eyes, as he ran, the house and family, the outbuildings, fences, cattle, carts, and hens, all shot into the air, like water up a fountain. A second later the whirlwind caught him. Of his sensations there is no record ; of the rate at which he traveled, or the length of his journey, there is no human knowledge. It is believed, by those who loved him, that he went straight to Heaven. If SOPH ALR WAS LADEN WITH PROMINENT CITIZENS.” THE SUNPRISE ON KAGLE MOUNTAIN, so he entered in his stocking feet, as one boot came flying through the window of a school-house fifteen miles away, and the other was discovered on the summit of Eagle moun- tain. . . . . . . Time has covered over the gashes in the Pine. If you lie upon the brown carpet at her feet she will tell you the story, while the Westwind, who is sure to be fooling among the branches, murmurs a protest against figuring as a hero, J. A, Mitchell. A TERRIBLE REVENGE. ICKY: Wh-what's the mattah, old fellah ? weally develish ! CHOLLY: Feel that way, old chappie—been wejected. Dicky: You don't meanit? Why, I introduced you to her myself. When was it? CHOLLY: Lawst evening. 1 came right back to town— fellahs all saw my hair was wumpled and feared I'd do some- thing violent, don’t you know—so they sent for the police. They didn’t dare stay in the room with me. Policeman came in and looked at me. Then he said that he'd need reinforce- ments; heard him swear awfully. He went back to the station, but I guess the reinforcements were afraid, for they never came. Dicky: Pwomise me not to commit suicide, old chappie. CHOLLY: I've been waiting for you to make me pwomise that, old fellah. If you hadn't I'd have done it, sure. Awfully lucky I came in. Saved my life. What are you going to do about it, deah boy? Of course you must do something. CHOLLY: Going to wevenge myself. fwitened her to death, I assuah you. Dicky: How are you going to do it? CHOLLY: Going to wait till she is engaged to some one, and then I'm going to cut him. Dicky: What, with a knife ? CHOLLY: Odeah me, no. Just cut him. Dicky: O that will be awful. You look Told her so— comicbooks.com