Life, 1893-07-13 · page 10 of 16
Life — July 13, 1893 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Bill-Poster's Mistake" and "Haunted" The left side shows three cartoon sketches of what appears to be a bill-poster or advertising worker struggling with large posters—likely satirizing the messy, chaotic nature of public advertising work. The right side presents a dialogue between Mr. Humpstarter and a ghost named "Hermogenes Humpstarter." The specter torments Humpstarter, revealing that his name has become so infamous (apparently from childhood—he was raised by a "religious liquor dealer") that it haunts him socially and professionally. The ghost catalogs the embarrassments: he cannot attend charity events, join society, or pursue public life without ridicule. The satire targets how an unfortunate name can permanently damage one's social standing and opportunities—a commentary on Victorian-era class consciousness and social exclusion based on factors beyond one's control.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
26 - LIFE: THE BILL-POSTER’S MISTAKE. HAUNTED. ERMOGENES BUMPSTARTER !” “Huh?” answered that gentleman, innocently, anda little drowsily, for he was reading his newspaper and it was growing late. “ Hermogenes Bumpstarter !”” “Drop it! Drop it!” was the answer, now abrupt and testy. “ Hermogenes Bumpstarter !” “It’s no use,” groaned Mr. Bumpstarter, sinking down in tears of despair. “I can’t get away from it.” “No,” continued the voice. “ You cannot get away from it. I am the ghost of a name—your name. It is my mission to pursue you through life.” Mr. Bumpstarter thought that he could distinguish a cloudy, ugly form in the doorway, because that was where the voice came from, but he would not have sworn to it—in fact, he was a good man and never swore at all, as he now remembered. “But you want to swear,” continued the spectre, as soon as the thought had been fairly perpetrated. “Yes,” cried the victim. “I do indeed. It was a part of my education that was early neglected ——" “Having been brought up in the family of a religious liquor dealer——"" “But I think seriously of taking lessons. I ama meek man, but ‘fore heaven-—" “ Ah, you are getting on.” “Tam tempted at times to associate with draymen and members of Congress to learn to use language. It was bad enough to be a Bump- starter, but they might have named me John or James, and taken the edge off. Who was Hermogenes, and what am I to him, that I should carry the worst part of him, like a grindstone at the back of my neck, all my days ?” And he lay down on the floor and gnashed his fists. “True. You do not resemble him at all.” “It is such a frightful combination !” “That is it! When you endowed a singing school you became famous enough to make it impossible to change your name. It is laughed at by every pupil in that school. You have kept away from later charities because you cannot bear to write it on subscription lists beside those of happier men. You dare not go out walking in the day time for fear of being recognized and spoken to in the hearing of = = strangers. You keep out of society for the same reason. You once started to go on the stage, but the press and your ac- quaintances would have torn aside the veil of con- cealment intended in the name of Reginald de Silsby and would have made your real name cele- brated. You live in soli- tude and never eat for more than a week at any one restaurant, for fear of being discovered. You * feel that you are blighted, comicbooks.com