Life, 1892-02-25 · page 13 of 16
Life — February 25, 1892 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* contains several distinct satirical pieces: **Top dialogue**: Two hospital surgeons debate whether to reset a patient's arm. The joke's dark humor: the second surgeon suggests *not* setting it so the patient recovers faster—absurdist medical logic mocking inefficiency or bureaucratic delay. **Middle section**: A seaside flirtation joke plays on the double meaning of "trade wind"—the woman's mother misinterprets it as literal commerce/impropriety rather than a nautical wind, humorously revealing her protective prudishness. **"Answer to Correspondents"**: A humorous advice column that dismisses reader inquiries with sardonic responses—mocking a politician's book as irrelevant to current events, congratulating supporters, and insulting one correspondent's family connection to "the Administration" (the government). **Bottom illustration**: "Lucretia" confronts a deceiver, demanding he "swallow his words"—a domestic quarrel scene about broken marriage promises, rendered in vernacular dialect ("wuz," "swoller"). The page combines political commentary, social satire, and domestic humor typical of *Life*'s editorial voice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NO TIME TO LOSE. IRST HOSPITAL SURGEON: Will it be necessary to set that man’s arm over again ? SECOND HOSPITAL SURGEON : Well, | should say so, Why, the man will be well in a week if we don’t. He: WHY DOESN'T THAT ENGLISH GIRL COME ON DECK, AND BE WOOED BY THE BREEZES, TOO? She; HER MOTHER WON'T LET HER, SHE HEARD THE CAPTAIN SAY THIS WAS A frade WIND, ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENTS. DEMOCRAT: No. Mr. Percival's book, “Adventures Among the Hill Tribes,” s noxaing to do with the present political situation in New York State. TWENTY Girts, PHILADELPHIA: We thank you for your appreciation of our efforts in behalf of the horse, Your affection for Lire is reciprocated twenty-fold. MeriistorHetes: No, We have recovered from the grip. See you later. Ampitious: Address him care of his publishers. He has seduced the number from four hundred to one hundred and fifty, He will make his rates known on application, R. B, H.: Of course you can’t help your asininity, The fact that you are closely related to the Administration doesn’t justify your making it conspicuous. thoveh, — Ti eags Lucretia (on the right): We SAtb YOU WUZ A CHUMP, AND A DECEIVER, AN’ THAT YOU NEVER INTENDED TO MARRY ME. MAKE HIM SWOLLER HIS WoRDS, JIMMY, MAKE HIM SWOLLER HIS WORDS! comicbooks.com