Life, 1892-12-29 · page 29 of 47
Life — December 29, 1892 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page depicts a humorous domestic scene from what appears to be a serialized story. The illustration shows a woman in Victorian dress gesticulating dramatically while two men in suits stand nearby, with the caption explaining she's become "hysterical with the unwonted excitement." The text reveals class-conscious satire: a working-class Irish character (indicated by dialect: "de Fourt' Ward," "leddy") recounts a bare-knuckle boxing match involving "Dodger Carey," discussing sixty-three rounds and betting stakes. This contrasts sharply with the genteel ladies' missionary aspirations for "the temperance cause in Central Africa." The humor pivots on Mr. Keefe's skeptical response: why focus charitable efforts on distant Africa when urban poverty and intemperance at home—which he illustrates with "tales of misery"—demand attention? The satire mocks both the earnest but naive Victorian reformer-ladies and implicitly critiques the era's missionary zeal as disconnected from domestic social problems.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
oN \\\ EN THEY RETURNED TO AUNT MARY OTIS AND 3USS DOLLY THEY FOUND THAT THE FORMER LADY HAD BECOME HYSTRRICAL WITH THE UNWONTED EXCITEMENT.” kem from Sligo, but I was born an’ raised in de Fourt’ Ward.” “ Then you are not related to the Keiths of Boston ? “No, leddy. I was never in Boston but onct in me life. Dat was when Dodger Carey licked Ma- Z honey. Dat fight was a daisy an’ no mistake.” What had Mr. Mahoney done to the other gentleman ?” “Nuttin. It “Indeed. was a it took him sixty-tree rounds to do his man = ting fight, twenty-five hun a ‘\ side an’ expenses to de loser. But Aunt Mary turned a helpless look to Lansdale and Dolly, but those young people were too much interested in their own talk to notice her distress. In despair she renewed her conversation with her hero. After a little she found she could grasp his meanings better. He displayed a curiosity to know why so many ladies should be traveling together on Christmas eve, which she gratified at length, explaining to him the soulful ambitions of herself and her associates, with regard to the temperance cause in Central Africa. In return Mr. Keefe told her many strange and startling things about intemperance drawn from his observation and practi- cal knowledge. He expressed his wonder that so many ladies should expend their time and energy on Central Africa, when there was an excellent field for their labors at home. He emphasized this with tales of misery which, rudely as comicbooks.com