Life, 1892-09-08 · page 12 of 14
Life — September 8, 1892 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 138 This page contains several distinct satirical pieces: **Top cartoon:** A social joke about a bore at a party, where the woman suggests they spend the evening "just talking to each other"—implying mutual tedium. **"The Power of Ink" section:** A brief editorial satirizing immigration policy. Life argues the U.S. should close ports to immigrants, blaming "undesirable foreigners" and "riff-raff" for bringing disease and social problems. The piece appears anxious about cholera arriving via immigration—a xenophobic response common during 19th-century disease panics. **Historical anniversaries:** Three illustrated vignettes marking dates: an English theatrical company's 1872 American debut, tobacco's introduction to England (1586), and Commodore Perry's 1813 Lake Erie naval victory. **Bottom joke:** A census-taker asks a woman her marital status; she replies the "jury disagreed"—a joke suggesting legal dispute over her marital status, likely referencing divorce or contested marriage. The page reflects period anxieties about immigration, disease, and social propriety typical of 1870s-80s American humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
He: Do you pawxcr? She (who has been informed that he is a bore He: Neitner vo |, Let's sPenp THE & TO EACH OTHER. JUST TALKING THE POWER OF INK. BYRON. “A drop of ink May make a million think !” “And put by Scribblers into verse, Would surely make two million curse.” cynicus, F course no one who reads LiFe regularly and thereby keeps himself in a cheerful frame of mind, need fear the cholera. But there are a few people who are not wise enough to do this, and for their sakes we should like to see the ports of the United States closed to immigration. The puny efforts made by Congress to limit the pouring into this country of undesirable foreigners have been practically with- out result. If the President has not the power to stop immi- gration, no one would blame him if he called a special session of Congress for the purpose. The miserable riff-raff that is dumped on our shores has brought evils enough in its train, and just before cholera is added to our list of imported bless- ings, is a good time to stop the whole wretched process. D*™: Do you suppose the little children will have golden harps to play on, too ? Weeks: Not if Mr. Elbridge T. Gerry's faith is well founded. ANNIVERSARIES OF THE WEEK. the doct¢ THE THE + TM R STH, 1872. ‘A OF AN ENOLISH THEATRICAL SEPTEMBER 10TH, 1586. TOBACCO FIRST INTRODUCED INTO ENGLAND BY SIR WALTER GM. SEPTEMBER 10TH, 1813 PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE. RE you married or single?" asked the census-taker of the lady of the house. “Well, I hardly know,” she replied, ‘you see the jury disagreed.” comicbooks.com Tue Wo Here's a We