Life, 1894-07-26 · page 3 of 14
Life — July 26, 1894 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page critiques American authorities' handling of civil unrest, likely during labor strikes or riots of the early 1900s. The main article "Lesson of the Strike" mocks officials who send inadequately trained soldiers to confront mobs, resulting in civilian deaths. It sarcastically notes this strategy ensures "only your own men shall suffer." "Two Killed at Danville" reports a specific incident where militia fired on rioters, killing two women—Mrs. Michael Glenmore and Miss Clara James—and wounding a union brakeman. The three cartoons (numbered 1-3) appear to show someone named Casey demonstrating explosives or violent devices with the caption "These are the things Casey puts in the blast. Guess I'll try one"—likely satirizing dangerous tactics or anarchist associations with labor unrest. The page criticizes both rioters and authorities for needless violence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XXIV. NUMBER 604. ‘LIFE: LESSON OF THE STRIKE. American in authority when confronted by a mob ms to be so many kinds of a wavering old woman, ifficult to regard him without tears of mortifica- tion, The extent and efficiency of the force at his command seems to add nothing to his confidence or courage in these emergencies. His one idea is to spare the feelings of the mob ; to protect no property unless with their sanction, and above all to avoid hurting them. If soldiers and police are clubbed to death in their efforts to restore order, so much the worse for them, but the rioters must be soothed. An honest workman in the discharge of his duty knocked senseless by a coupling-pin is apparently re- garded as an unavoidable accident by a friendly feeling hand. A mile of burning cars seems only to increase his desire to temporize. A grotesquely inadequate squad of soldiers is sent to confront a countless swarm of murdering pillagers, with strict orders not to use their weapons. In these, the usual cases, the soldiers are murdered in cold blood. This appears to be the favorite strategy of the American civil officer. It of course means the useless death of many brave men, and the equally useless destruction of millions of dollars worth of property. It is certainly an original idea to manoeuvre with the intention that only your own men shall suffer. All of which is great fun for the rioters, but a cruel joke on the soldiérs and police who are honestly endeavoring to do their duty. Why not march a certain number of United States soldiers into Mr. Armour’s slaughter-houses and have them quietly knocked on the head by professional killers? This would not only insure a more painless death, but would avoid irri- tating the mob by appearing to coerce them. The following, from a daily paper, illustrates another charm of this mode of warfare. TWO KILLED AT DANVILLE. MILITIA FIRED OVER HEADS OF MOB AND TWO WOMEN WERE HIT. DANvILLe, IIL, July 9.—Two women were killed and one man fatally wounded at Grape Creek, six miles south of here, this noon, by the fire of a squad of militia. A non-union brakeman was dangerously shot at Danville junction to-night. The dead—Mrs. Michael Glenmore, widow, shot twice in the body; Miss Clara James, 17 years, shot through “THESE ARE THE THINGS Casey PUTS IN THE BLAST, GUESS I'LL TRY ON! QUITE AS WELL. JR doctor wrote a prescription, And gave it to Biddy one day ; “Take it at once in some water,” He cried, as he hurried away. So Biddy swallowed the paper, And after a space truly brief Declared, with simple conviction, Tt granted her instant relief. the breast. The wounded—Jennings, non-union brakeman, shot in the neck, may die; unknown, shot through the body by soldiers, fatally hurt. The militia fired over the heads of the crowd and hit Mrs, Glenmore, who was stand- ing in her own yard. Miss James was seated at the organ in her house. This squad of militia had probably received — instructions to fire over the heads of the rioters if they fired atall. The moral of which is that it is better to kill anyone, no matter who, than to do the slightest injury to the enemy. real HAT are you looking at?” “ Nothing!" “Do you find it?” “Yes.” “What does it look like?” “Nothing.”