Life, 1892-04-28 · page 13 of 14
Life — April 28, 1892 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical cartoons mocking different social situations: 1. **The Chaperone/Debutante cartoon** (left): A chaperone warns a young debutante about "Jack Dashing," a disreputable man, yet the debutante immediately declares her love for him—satirizing how young women ignore warnings about unsuitable suitors. 2. **The Courtroom scene** (center): An advocate repeatedly shouts questions at a deaf witness, with a judge finally accepting the absurd excuse that the witness was "walking on the railroad track"—mocking the incompetence or absurdity of legal proceedings. 3. **The North Dakota cartoon** (right): A missionary urges a man to flee a city of "destruction," but a "Real Estate Rustler" threatens him if he discourages development—satirizing how frontier boosters suppress criticism to promote town growth over moral concerns. The page critiques social pretense, legal fumbling, and commercial exploitation masquerading as progress.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Chaperone: THat’s Jack DASHING, A DISSOLUTE, UNPRINCIPLED SCAMP, HE 1S THE BLACK SHEEP OF HIS FAMILY, YOU KNOW. LOOK OUT FOR HIM, The Debutante: \xpeev I witt, I LOVE HIM ALREADY. of very little that was better than mediocre. “Farce Comedy" is doubtless responsible to some extent for this state of affairs, a large proportion of the brains in the profession having been made vapid by devotion to that branch of the business. Metcalfe. THEY ALWAYS ARE. MINENT ADVOCATE: Where were you when the shot was fired ? WITNESS (deaf): Har? ADVOCATE (roaring): Where were you when the shot was fired? WITNESS (sted! deaf): Har? ADVOCATE (screaming): Where were you JUDGE (to advocate): Never mind, Mr. Sharp. Of course the witness was walking on the railroad track. IN NORTH DAKOTA. Missionary: BROTHER, WHILE THERE 18 VET TIME, FLEE FROM THE City oF De- STRUCTION. Real Estate Rustler: WW yOu'VE COME HERE TO RUN DOWN THIS PLACE, YOU BETTER BE MOVIN’ ON, ANY MAN THAT INTERFERES WITH THIS BOOM'LL COME TO GRIEF, THIS GENTLEMAN HAS JUST ALIGHTED FROM a Fietu Av STAGE AFTER A RELATIVELY SMOOTH AND UNEVENTFUL TRIP. comicbooks.com