Life — January 5, 1893 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

18 ness of touch, an ease, brilliancy and force of expression which are not demanded in other work. Moreover, a sense of humor, a playfulness and a gentle exaggeration are indispensable to the perfect work. The best drawin; illumine the pages of a magazine, however conscientious and true to nature, would seem literal and matter-of-fact if inserted in the pages of Litre. There are few artists who can create a Lady Vere de Vere by putting better clothes upon the usual studio model. As the last days of December approached, the material for the first number of Lite was put into the printers’ With what anxiety and impatience we waited for those first page proofs! And when completed copies of the paper were finally issued, although alternating thrills of pride and shame swept up and down the editorial spines, there was a distinct feeling of relief, Whatever disasters might be lying in wait for us, the first great step was taken, The paper was a reality. We at last had reached the field of battle. And there was one who was exceeding glad to LiFe in exist ence. Although it was probably nobody's ideal of what such a paper ought to be, the interesting fact should be remembered that few professionals were willing to draw or to write for it. It looked at one time as if the drawings, if there were any, would all be made by myself. Had it not been for Attwood, Kendrick and McVickar there would have been few illustra- tions in those early numbers. The first number bore the date of January 4, 1883. others followed with confusing rapidity. Friday, the ei day we went to press, seemed to come around about hands. The * three times a we The first number, probably from its novelty, sold reasonably well. The second issue showed a falling off. When the returned copi me back they showed that not a quarter of the edition had been sold. Of the third issue, nearly all returned upon our hands. And when the returns of the fourth and fifth came in, the three anxious men who counted them made the bloodcurdling dis- that the unsold copies outnumbered the edition printed! Six thousand had been issued, and there were six thousand two hundred returns. It seemed for a moment that miracles were being resorted to that Lirk’s defeat might be the quicker. A more careful examination, however, showed the extra copies were from previous editions. Thus it went for many weeks, and all the time there ran a stream of money into the yawning mouth of the feeble During this period it was imperative and that but determined infant. that the editors would be chipper and amusing the business manager should appear elated with success. This would have been less difficult if the public had taken an interest in the paper, but the ease with which they got along without it was a sickening revelation. That they cared too little for LIFE to pay ten cents for it developed swiftly from a suspicion into a freezing fact. Any hopes that Lirk would spring into existence a per- fected thing had been shattered by a closer knowledge of its realization of their ab- artistic resources ; or rather by Our task, as editors, was not the selection and ar- rangement of clever material. Neither was it deciding as to the precise nature of a cartoon or the artistic relation of one drawing to its neighbor. It s the compulsory evolution, and with no delay, of a cartoon of some kind, and the fore- ing into existence of enough drawings to supply a relentles demand. While Martin and [ were having an uphill struggle in col- lecting material that refused to exist, Miller was, perhaps, ac- complishing a yet greater miracle in securing advertisements for a paper with no circulation, and collecting a revenue from sales when no copies were sold. There came a day in March when LiFe seemed on the pointof rub- bing noses with Defeat. Outside was adriving storm. In- side, 1 was trying, by hard work, to ignore the forebodings of disaster that for weeks had been roosting about the office. Before me lay a letter from a literary light answering a request to contribute. This he was unable to do, but he gave a bit of advice. “Better throw your money into the gutter than put it into such a paper.” Martin Miller usually turned up. note: Dear M.: I was out all yesterday afternoon in the rain and got a soaking. To-day have a heavy cold and the doctor says [ must stay in bed. It ts going badly down town. No sales to speak of. We must brace up. Yours, sence. away, and it was long after the hour when But a boy soon entered bearing a A. MILLER, Brace up! How? On what? As | walked about the office to get up a livelier circulation and a more cheerful state of mind, the door opened and let in the emissary from the American News Co. He was tottering under what seemed about aton of Lires. As he dropped them, the floor shivered, and he straightened his back with a Then I said jauntily, as if nobody cared : sigh of relief. “Good many returns this wee The porter smiled a wicked smile, for he was an old man and was not deceived, “Many? Why that ain’t a quarter of what's down in the cart.” And when he came up for the fourth time and deposited his burden, it was hard to realize that so many copies of any periodical had ever been printed in the United States. If called upon to guess at the number, I should hav id about a hundred million, And it was my lot that evening at a dinner party to hear the gentleman opposite say to the lady beside him : “ Have you seen that new paper ?" “No” comicbooks.com