Life, 1893-04-27 · page 7 of 20
Life — April 27, 1893 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 269 Analysis **Top Cartoon:** A satirical commentary on wealthy American fathers arranging marriages between their daughters and English noblemen. The caption jokes about shoe size—the father wears a very large shoe, implying his wealth/importance. The humor targets the "cruel, practical joke" of American heiresses marrying impoverished European aristocrats for titles while the noblemen gain money. The text explicitly criticizes this practice as unpleasant and mercenary, suggesting American parents lack "finer sentiments" by participating in such commerce. **Bottom Section:** Contains an unrelated poem ("A Question") about female agency, and a discussion of newspaper coverage of exclusive clubs' discriminatory membership practices, touching on anti-Semitism and class prejudice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
269 COMMERCIAL. HEN wealthy Americans in- duce English noblemen to marry their daughters by throwing in with the girl a million or so of dollars, they gratify a very ignoble ambition of their own, and at the same time play a cruel, practical joke on the daughter. If the noble- man is honestly in love with the girl, there is, of course, less cruelty in the trade. But it is a very un- pleasant fact that the American damsels capable of arousing love among the nobles always happen to possess innumerable shekels. That the nobleman of limited income should be willing and ready for such a bargain is easily understood. That American parents, however, with any pretensions to the finer “THAT 18 ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SHOE THAT MABEL'S FATHER WEARS.” sentiments should be capable of “IT NEVER STRUCK ME THAT HIS FOOT WAS VERY LARGE.” such a commerce, is a thing some “WELL, I JUDGED OF ITS SIZE RATHER FROM FEELING THAN FROM SIGHT.” other Americans are unable to understand. A QUESTION. Perhaps those parents think they are looking out for the HICH is the greater sin? She can sing well, happiness of the daughter. Yet oft’ declines, protesting she cannot ; Perhaps. Then yields at last, and holds us in a spell ‘Where all her false denials are forgot. HOUGH Nebuchadnezzar turned himself out to grass, Another, songless, basely we deceive, we are not to infer therefrom that he was in clover. Assuring her we're yearning for her din ; 3 She yields politely, daring to believe -— One lies ; we lie ; which is the greater sin ? Roe L. Hendrick. A PREVAILING notion among club men is that the newspapers are taking altogether too much interest in club doings. Of course club men themselves are primarily responsible for anything that appears in print about club affairs, The recent newspaper criticisms on the rejection ot young Mr. Seligman by the Union League Club is resented by many club men on the same ground that they would resent similar invasion of their private homes by the same critics. To be sure a man once said that he would be as willing to join the Fifth Avenue Hotel as the Union League Club, thereby reflecting on that concerns inability to keep its own secrets. The publicity given to the Seligman affair, though, forms a dangerous precedent for every other club. The club isin a way a family, and if its members do not care to include Jews in its membership, it is no more a fair subject for public criticism than if they also objected to the inclusion of ossified men, or Italian peanut venders, or any other persons who were asaclass objectionable to them, no matter how estimable they might be as individuals. But if club men will talk club Teacher's Witt is THE CAPITAL. OF IRELAND? secrets outside of club houses they must not blame the news- The Boy: THE CAPITAL OF IRELAND IS STORIES OF STARVA- papers for commenting on them. TION AND BRITISH OPPRESSION. comicbooks.com